NEW YORK, Nov 11: US Secretary of State Colin Powell said on Monday “the rulers of non-democratic societies in the Muslim world really have only two choices: lead the way to democratic change, or be destroyed by it, be left behind.”

Underscoring the point that “there is nothing inherent in Islam that is anti-democratic, that is anti-freedom,” Mr Powell added: “For the sake of their own people, we hope they (Muslim rulers) choose well.”

Addressing the students and faculty at the City College of New York, Mr Powell noted: “Indeed, outside of the Arab world, the majority of the world’s 1.3 billion Muslims live in countries with democratic or democratizing governments, with the rule of law firmly established in constitutional foundations.”

Asserting that the winds of change in the Muslim world are not because of American or Western pressure, he said: “Dictators and despots can build walls high enough to keep out armies, but not high enough to keep those winds from blowing in.”

“Even those without experience of genuine democratic and constitutional government know in their bones what freedom is all about. They know exactly what equality of opportunity is when they don’t have it. They have a deep appreciation of freedom of speech and assembly, because they don’t have it and they see the consequences. They know what human dignity is, because Islam exalts it and demands that it be respected, even when those who rule in its name try to take that dignity away,” he noted.

He was of the opinion that “reform is welling up in the Arab and Muslims worlds. Every tear shed from the oppression and injustice of decades is now collecting together, building up an ocean of hope — an ocean whose waves are beginning to slap up against the wharfs of stagnation and injustice.”