Being sectarian in Egypt doesn't contradict with being national and patriot. However, some people try to link patriotism to the acceptance of being humiliated as second degree citizen. Such talk is apparently applied to the Coptic Christians who are expected to beg for their rights and praise the Islamists if they give them some of it.
On the other hand, being sectarian in their point of view means you don't accept being a "non-Moslem under Moslem rule" and refuse to be protected by the majority of Muslims and the Islamic Sharia instead of the state and the rule of laws.
Being sectarian is not a crime when it means: belonging to a group of people like Coptic Orthodox and Sunni, but being a non-Moslem under Moslem rule is considered a crime that prohibits Coptic citizens from being superior officials like prime ministers and presidents. This exactly was the reason behind Islamists demonstrating against a Coptic governor in Qena before he takes his office, which led to his dismissal, and not to appoint a Coptic vice-president in spite of stating it clearly in the electoral platform of president Morsy.
Being sectarian here doesn't mean to be a racist, if you only claim your rights. For instance: Copts claiming a unified law of building houses of worship or law to criminalize religious discrimination. Such demands help all Egyptian community, and not only the Copts. Remember that real citizenship means equality among all citizens.
Sometimes workers demonstrate to demand their rights in social justice. Such demonstrations should not be classified as sectarian demonstrations as it works for achieving social justice in the Egyptian community.
In fact, some religious crimes are described as sectarian strife in media, which is wrong. However sectarian is a crime according to many people, especially the ruling Islamists, I'm still honored to be called sectarian.
