Source: Allvoices.com
If you’re new to my blog, I think it would help to read my previous posts on the Bahrain crisis, otherwise this might not make so much sense to you. I recommend the following:
1) The Bahraini Protests; An Attempt to Understand (an analysis done on the first week of the crisis)
2) My Bahrain TV interview about the crisis
3) Reflections on The Bahrain Crisis And Recommendations for Moving Forward
Allow me to relay the story from my perspective. And let me remind you that everyone sees the world through their own lens; and I see the world through a Royalist-leaning, “silent majority” perspective. Here goes…
Before February 14th
In the days leading up to February 14th, I did not take the uprising seriously at all. I knew there was talk of protests on Twitter and the social media, but I was far too busy with other things to give them much thought. The most interesting bit I read about the upcoming protests was on my friend Mahmood Al-Yousif’s blog. Mahmood did not think the protests would succeed. Here’s what he said at the time:
“In Bahrain [compared to the Egypt uprising], I fear it’s a completely different situation. So far.
I am disgusted by what I read in various sites and feeds. The over-arching direction in the Bahraini sphere is not only religious, but overly sectarian. Have a look at this video which reached me this afternoon:
“read the comments which are dripping with hate and sectarianism (on both sides) and then just go over to the various Facebook pages set up for the cause here and here amongst others I’m sure and see the quality of discourse there. Do you really think that any such movement would succeed? And if they do succeed, do you realistically think they will last long enough to launch a new a modern democratic country?”
The start
One thing no one can dispute, is that the protesters were well organised, and their logistics and coordination were fantastic. They claimed to be peaceful from the start and maintained this claim throughout the crisis. But some protesters were peaceful, others were provocative, while others were violent.
The great contradiction in my opinion was the fact that the protest was called the “Day of rage”, while proclaiming that it was peaceful. Also, they claimed to speak on behalf of “the people of Bahrain” while they were mostly Shia citizens.
Then things took a nasty turn when the first protester (God rest his soul) was shot (allegedly in the back) by the riot police. This event just seemed to have added fuel to the flames. The protests escalated which led to another person dying on the next day. More anger and more fuel.
Bit by bit, the protestors were gaining sympathy, nationally and internationally. And then things reached a whole new level of interesting when the pearl roundabout came into the scene (apparently the roundabout was named the GCC roundabout, which seemingly no one realised until the GCC forces showed up).
The protestors were removed violently from the roundabout, and army forces were brought to keep it clear. The protestors were determined to take it back, and as they approached some idiot from the army shot at them, and if I recall, killing one and fatally injuring another.
This was probably the hight of the sympathy for the protesters. Bahrain (and I’m sure many people around the world) held it’s breath! A terrible stand off took place, where both sides (government and protestors) showed remarkable stubbornness.
And then the Crown Prince came on Bahrain television.
Whew! A voice of calm and reason in the sea of madness. Thank God for Prince Salman. You know the story, troops were withdrawn, and the Pearl Roundabout – which no one ever thought of as a significant monument – became the protestors’ symbol.
What a major victory for the opposition! I think more or less everyone was relieved. The Crown Prince called for dialogue with no restrictions and no conditions. The King endorsed the Crown Prince’s initiative, and hope was in the air.
The opposition were seen as heros by many, and people thought it was just a matter of time until this crisis would be resolved. Bahrain would become a better place for future generations. Thank God for wise men!
The charming resistance leader and his beautiful words
By all accounts, Sheikh Ali Salman, the leader of Al-Wefaq (the main opposition society, which is Islamist Shia) was charming (not to mention good looking), grounded and logical. He spoke about unity for all Bahrainis. He said that he did not want an Islamic Republic, but a just, constitutional monarchy.
Sh. Ali Salman (Source: allvoices.com)
He said Bahrain was not just a land for Sunnis and Shia, but also for people of other faiths and non-believers too. A land where everyone (including expatriates) had the right to live in dignity. What wonderful words! It seems whoever heard him speak was charmed by him (I never heard him speak myself).
He only said things that pretty much everyone agreed on. And since the Crown Prince agreed to dialogue, I thought this can only end up being good for Bahrain.
He said that they were committed to peaceful demonstrations, and renounced violence. Nice! What a leader! No wonder so many of our Shia brothers and sisters (not to mention some Sunnis) where so impressed! And the fact that six other political societies joined his cause only gave him more credibility.
They were on a role. The world had their attention, and so did the government. Speaking of the government, it was caught completely by surprise, and was totally unprepared for this kind of organised, well orchestrated operation. They had lost the first round, so to speak. Their PR and crisis management was a disaster, and the opposition was having a field day. Bahrain TV did not know what to do with itself, and did not even acknowledge the Lulu roundabout until very late in the game.
The strange contradiction and what I saw at the Lulu roundabout
The Lulu roundabout had a carnival atmosphere to it. It was like a desert picnic camp. There were families hanging out in tents and even a popcorn machine (which became rather famous). There were debates and speeches taking place daily or almost daily.
But there were some pretty glaring contradictions. Though I did not walk around at the roundabout, I drove around it two or three times. I saw the peaceful protestors hanging out there, but I also saw the disturbing posters saying “the people want to overthrow the regime!” Wait a minute, is this about peaceful reforms, or overthrowing the government? I thought. The roundabout also had posters with slogans such as “death to Al-Khalifa” and “down with Hamad.”
There were also posters showing undignified Photoshopped posters of the GCC leaders (long before GCC troops were brought in). And of course there were the gory posters of the rioters who were killed and injured. They were everywhere.
There were more contradictions. While the charming Sh. Ali Salman preached peace, others were calling for a complete overthrow of the government. I remember one day my wife being very distressed, and when I asked her what was wrong, she told me about a chilling Pearl Roundabout speech she heard online, that was so full of hate. It really bothered her. She advised me not to listen to it, and I took her advice.
The most arrogant opposition in the world?
The strange thing is, when the Crown Prince offered dialogue, he was snubbed! Sh. Ali Salman said something to the effect that “in order for dialogue to take place, the right framework must be put in place first.” They would not enter dialogue without having (lots) of demands met first. Talk about being difficult. The demands reportedly included a new constitution being written first, the government to resign, release of political prisoners, and much more.
What kind of dialogue is this where you demands have to be met in advance?? This is not a win-win attitude but my-way-or-no-way attitude, very destructive. In my opinion, no matter how justified you feel your demands are, for God’s sake you should still enter dialogue – that was endorsed by the highest authority in the land!
The government tried
Realising that this pseudo-peaceful rebellion is serious, the government reacted positively. As I recall, they did the following:
- A mini-cabinet reshuffle, where prominent (Shia) government official Dr. Nezar Al-Baharna was put in charge of the all important Ministry of Health.
- 20,000 new jobs were to be created in the Ministry of Interior
- New (quick) housing developments were promised
- Billions of dollars of aid was brought in from other GCC states
And the promise of dialogue was still on the table. And? The Crown Prince was still snubbed. The opposition’s demands still had to be met, or no dialogue!
I can’t imagine how distraught the Crown Prince must have felt. I imagine the only thing that kept him sane was his love for his country. So off he went and came back later with more concessions. They were, as reported by the Gulf Daily News:
1) An elected parliament with full vested powers and prerogatives
2) A government reflecting the will of people
3) fairly-demarcated electoral constituencies
4) Naturalisation
5) Combating financial and administrative corruption
6) State properties
7) Addressing sectarian polarisation and animosity, in addition to other principles and topics.
You’d think this was pretty good, right? Nope, still not good enough. THIS is when I started having serious doubts about this opposition (I know, I’m slow sometimes). It left me to conclude that the opposition wanted nothing to do with dialogue. They had a totally different agenda.
Meanwhile… violence
As the days went by, the protestors started becoming more confident and brazen. A new protest was planned in front of the Royal Court in Riffa. What?? Are you crazy?? Why would you want to do that unless you purposefully wanted to provoke the government – and the pro-government street.
As you can imagine, pro-government groups showed up in the main roundabout in the Riffa area, ready to defend their king. According to rumours, many were army personal in civilian clothing. I suspect there is some truth to that, but I still cannot condone going to the Royal Court, especially after they’ve been given the green light to stay at the Pearl Roundabout. How can this be good for the protestors?
How would they feel if pro-government demonstrators went to the Shia dominated villages, chanting death threats to their religious leaders? How would they like it if someone took photographs of Sheikh Ali Salman and Ayatollah Isa Qasim [a very high ranking Shia cleric and resistance leader] and started tramping them?
It didn’t stop there, now the violence started to affect family. On one of the days buss drivers decided to support the protestors, and you could see dozens of busses lined up near the roundabout. There were a group of busses who took up all three lanes of the highway near the roundabout. They drove extremely slowly, causing a long line of traffic behind them.
One of my poor relatives was stuck right behind them. Every time she tried to pass they’d block her. At some point she saw a gap and went for it. One of the busses stopped her. She told me the driver rushed out out and tried to violently open her door, which thankfully was locked. He tried to open the other doors, and when he found them locked too he started banging on the window violently. My poor relative was scared out of her wits! She later told me “how he was like a volcano of rage. I tried to talk to him but he just wouldn’t listen. He was so angry!”
What made the terrible situation worse was the fact that none of the other people stepped in to stop him. In fact they egged him on! Someone only stepped in and pulled him back when they saw her taking out her phone. She told me it seemed like they were more worried about her filming the madman than actually calling someone. It took her days to get over the incident.
The most amazing thing about this story is that she forgave him. she said to me “you know Suhail his bus had all kinds of photos of people that died. Maybe one of them was related to him. I don’t know what possessed him but I choose to forgive him.” Quite remarkable I thought. She never went public with her story.
The Bahrain Financial Harbour
Now the supposed peaceful movement decided to block the road from the Pearl Roundabout to the Financial Harbour. Again, how can you call this movement peaceful if you’re disrupting the lives of every day people? How can this movement be peaceful if you’re terrorising families and children? On one of the days a the protestors attacked (or rather violently provoked) a lady in her car while she was trying to get to work in the Financial Harbour.
Whenever Sheikh Ali Salman was confronted with these facts, he dismissed these acts as being done by hooligans who have nothing to do with his “peaceful” movement. He said they were the responsibility of the police and security forces. How convenient. Aren’t you speaking on behalf of the protestors? If you are, how can you not have control over them??
On the second evening (I think) of surrounding the Bahrain Financial Harbour, my wife and I passed by that area. There were some youths there with loudspeakers chanting “DOWN DOWN WITH HAMAD! NO TO DIALOGUE!” You can imagine how upset we were when we heard that.
When I look back at the events, I guess it seemed kind of obvious that the only thing they wanted was to take over. God help us all if that had worked, because these young men were blood thirsty.
The fascinating spell that refused to break
What really fascinates me in all this, is that many of the believers in the cause still did not admit that it was not peaceful. I’m talking about intelligent and logical people. Here’s a parody of different conversations I’ve had, and have heard others have:
Pro government person: So I guess the cat is finally out of the bag, huh? These protests were not so peaceful.
Anti government person: what are you talking about? The protests were peaceful. It’s those government thugs (baltajia) that were using violence!
Pro: Look, let’s be fair here, not all the protestors were peaceful. Also, provoking the police, blocking key roads, terrorising people and stopping trade is not exactly peaceful. I know people who were attacked, and there were many reports of people being attacked.
Anti: Show me one shred of evidence that violence was used!
Pro: They showed it on TV…
Anti: Everything Bahrain TV shows is lies! Besides, what about those people that died, should we forget about them??
Pro: Of course not! Every loss should be mourned, including those of the security forces and the innocent bystanders! But I still don’t understand why people intentionally went to die! Especially since the option of dialogue was on the table! Why walk up, bare chested, to security forces in the midst of the chaos and dare them to shoot? It doesn’t make any sense!
Anti: Only a real Bahraini would understand. Someone who read Bahrain’s history…
The spell just won’t break! Look, if you’ve seen my other writings you’ll know that I think the government made some big mistakes and carries a large part of the blame, but to insist on the innocence of the protestors like this is just bizarre!
Basically, the uprising was a poorly-veiled attempt at overthrowing the regime completely, and replacing it with whoever was the smartest at hijacking it.
Okay, moving on to another topic…
What about Iran?
The government says it has proof of links the opposition had to Iran. I haven’t seen this proof, but for me, as the days went by the link to Iran was becoming quite obvious.
First, the opposition spoke mainly through Iran-backed media. If this movement was not backed or supported by Iran, why did they talk to Iranian and Hizbollah media? Second, why did Iran show such intense interest in the Bahraini protestors? Shouldn’t they have worried more about their own protesters, who reportedly were being killed by their security forces?
Third, why not appear on Bahrain TV? No one can deny that Bahrain TV was irresponsible, and extremely reactive during the crisis. But as time passed they seem to have gotten their act together, and on several occasions invited/challenged Sheikh Ali Salman to the studio. As far as I’m aware, these request were ignored, and the opposition continued to talk to the international and the Iranian media only. I know this does not constitute proof, but is sure looks suspicious to me.
Speaking of BTV…
I know I know, probably the world’s most biased channel! But I have to give credit where credit is due. This was a dying channel that probably had less than 10,000 viewers. They were used to showing plain vanilla programmes and parroting Bahrain’s Leader’s declarations. Just like everyone else, they were caught completely by surprise and did not know how to react.
As time passed, they seem to have found their voice and went on the offensive. For the first time things were discussed that were Taboo before the crisis. True, maybe 90% of their guests were pro-government, and their hosts were not exactly subtle, but can you really blame them for being like this? According to one estimate, the opposition had 41 channels supporting them, and as I mentioned most were Iran-backed. The opposition had eloquent spokespeople and what seemed an unending archive of photos and films of the alleged abuse they received. The government (and BTV) felt cornered, and they went on their own, biased offensive.
It seemed presenter Mohammed Al-Sheroogi had a particular grudge to settle with Al-Alam channel. He delighted in disproving opposition claims that were made on that channel.
I hope BTV tones it down now, and works on helping to rebuild Bahrain, rather than fanning the flames. The opposition and the rioters were beaten. The government brought in allies to make a point and to send a message, “we are not alone.” What BTV now needs to do is modernise, and make sure they are a constructive partner in building a better and more just Bahrain.
Social media, videos, photos and “proof”
The amount of videos and photos that were shot/created/embellished during this crisis could probably fill a whole museum! For every tears-inducing photo shown by the opposition, there were others showing you how violent they were. There are photos of what looks like a protestors head being blown to bits, while there are others showing you rioters ramming their cars into the police men, killing them. And on and on it goes. Welcome to 21st Century propaganda. Damn scary!
So what’s a sane person to do? All you can do is look at the (supposed) facts in their totality, and make your own conclusion. I did that, and what you are reading now is my conclusion. And I respect anyone who wants to disagree with me.
A parting message…
This, by any stretch of the imagination is NOT over. The angry rebellion has been squashed, but not silenced. Unless the government acts proactively soon, there will be a new generation of youth brought up to hate the government and all it stands for. They will hate the ruling family even more than the ones we saw in the last few weeks.
The rioters will go to their homes, and tell their children of the brave rebellion of February 2011. How their parents and older brothers and sisters stood for justice and peace, and how the government ruthlessly cracked down on them.
There are two steps the government needs to take right now to avoid this. First, establish a Truth and Reconciliation Commission. As I said in a previous blog post “I think the very fact that people will be allowed to speak openly will help them to heal. The proceedings should be aired live without edits on a dedicated Bahrain TV channel for all the world to see.” This must be headed by someone the public (both Shia and Sunni) perceive as impeccable.
Government officials who are perceived as corrupt (and I hope we won’t have any anymore) shouldn’t be allowed within ten miles of the Commission. They should not be seen as endorsing or championing it in any way. Otherwise it will die before being born.
Second, the government, hand-in-hand with it’s people, must remove any causes for hate. Societal injustices must be corrected; corruption must be thwarted; the legal system must be modernised; the representational bodies must be reevaluated, and about another dozen other things.
The new generation must hear stories of struggle, but also of social triumph. They should hear stories of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission which was open and transparent, which led Bahrain to a new and better future.
They should hear of true, grass-roots reforms that were introduced by hard-working people that loved their country above all else. By people who did not look at sect or religion, but who valued each other as human beings.
I believe this can be achieved.
And I pray for it.
Sorry, should have said “Bahrain’s native population” is 500,000. There’s actually 1.2 million people in Bahrain.
Also Suhail, we are not the silent majority. We are the silent influential minority, and as Ashamed points out, we ought to be standing up for what’s right. We ought to be doing our part to put our influence to good use, for the betterment of ALL this nation’s people, and not just maintaining the status quo.
Excellent article.
Dialogue & reforms are Critical and apart from disarming the Protesters, the government needs to also disarm the vigilantes in Riffa/Muharraq. Favoritism or implied one does not help.
Some citizens don’t seem to understand how close to anarchy we were last Sunday. When protesters turn rioters and anarchists, it isn’t long when people of the same side will start getting affected by this anarchy & “wish for the old days”.
Who exactly is regulating these youth who went on rampage on Sunday morning? Videos showed groups of teens and even 10 year olds having a laugh while civilian traffic police requested them to move the blockages from in front of the highways. Where were the parents, community leaders, clerics and other opposition leaders? There needs to be accountability and not denial.
I cannot imagine the US or UK not doing the same if Wall Street/Central London was held hostage like this.
Nicely written but only as your personal view. loads of wrong information and ideas! and the hugest mistake is stating that “You’d think this was pretty good, right? Nope, still not good enough. THIS is when I started having serious doubts about this opposition (I know, I’m slow sometimes). It left me to conclude that the opposition wanted nothing to do with dialogue. They had a totally different agenda.”
ofcourse if were really reviewing the news (I said the news and not the government media!) you will find that at the times of the head quarters of opposition societies being attacked, the opposition said that they are ok with the dialog as a response to the CP message. see this link: http://www.alwasatnews.com/3112/news/read/532432/1.html
But we all know that at the same exact day, the army cleared the roundabout with violence.
U wrote a good article with a big effort, but missing one of the biggest issues and blaming the wrong people is really unfair. We demand that you re-write this post.
Give yourself a brake !
a polite WARNING to everyone. This blog is not a Forum for people to blame each other and get nasty. I notice it’s heating up in here and from now onwards I will block overly negative on offensive commenters.
Thank you Suhail for a truely unbiased article. I have als shared it on Twitter. My only disagreement or rather a highlight is the part that you quoted Ali Aalman with him claiming that he does not want an Islamic Republic but a constitutional monarchy for all. It reminded me of the exact same speech I heard by a cleric. Attached is that speech rather than my words. Thanks again Suhail. http://youtu.be/yIGxYa_-59w
“Give credits when credits are due.” By unkown.
This blog has exactly the kind of mentality that we should be having all over the net. Special thanks goes to the person who has this blog, Suhail. Also, to everybody who have replied.
“History repeats itself.” By another unknown.
Empires, governments, or better word, systems through out the history are repeating themselves one way or another. The strugle has always been between the Have and Have-not, or Poor Vs Rich. Honestly, we all are desperate to fulfill our basic needs. Having said that, it does not really matter who is playing each role. Therefore, labeling people does not really make a difference. In this story, it happened that a country is afraid of certain group, oppressed them, made sure they do not have power, and eventually lead them to be desperate for those who would show them hope, which we refere to as leaders. Leaders are needed exclusively to achieve a certain purpose. Once the leader cannot represent the crowd’s will, (s)he is practicly not a leader. Officially, it is more complicated.
In this story, the leader is/was Khalifa family, the oppressed are anybody who feels that Khalifa is abusing their trust, this would include not only citizens but his own family members. The other factors are accessories.
Now to finish this equation, you need a prove that there is miss-trust in this system.
A wise person once said “The only form of sustainable government is democracy.” (That should be either by Winston Churchil or by Mahatma Ghandi)
Suhail, while I agree with most of your comments, as someone who worked in the media for more than 10 years, in both sides of the fence (journalism and PR), I would go a step further than you on the point of BTV.
I don’t think that BTV should “find its voice”, I think they should shut themselves down. Look at Western governments (VOA in US, BBC in UK)…their “state broadcasters” don’t behave like this. They are quite independent (especially BBC). That’s not to say that the governments don’t sway the media in more sophisticated ways using their PR machines, but that is the ethical way of the state getting its point accross. Besides, any government or organisation that is talking about itself will lack credibility in people’s minds. You will always subconciously give more credibility when a third party is reporting.
If I was handling the government’s media, I would have ensured that Reuters, AP, BBC, CNN, Aljazeera, AFP, Deutche News Agency and all the other big ones were invited to witness the operation first hand. That way there can be no doubt.
On the other hand, if I was handling the opposition’s media, I would have ensured that they kept their religious guys out of it, had one spokesman and delivered a few messages only that the entire country could agree on. For example, how the resources are (mis)managed in Bahrain, corruption and social services.
But the alliance between Waad and Al Wefaq showed itself to be a mariage of convenience rather than a true alliance because they could not get their messages straight! It got mixed up with Sectarianism, Anti-Sectarianism, Iran, anarchistic behaviour, etc. And then the opposition (including Waad!) showed how desperate they were to get media coverage by anyone who was willing to listen by condemning BTV while at the same time going on other propaganda channels without credibility such as Al Alam and Almanar.
BUT… how much of the sectarian divide was instigated by the government, Including BTV, to draw attention away from real issues? Hmmm.
Please list the 41 mostly “Iran-backed” TV stations that supported the protesters?
Without listing them all (and I expect, explaining their links to Iran), your article looks naive and biased.
Thanks.
Mr sohail… i m 42 and was born here in bahrain.. my mother came to this land when she was 6 years old …
i read ur blog .. i think u were on both side or not on both side… i really dont agree with all ur views… i think i know the things better than u … because i live in Abraj Al Lulu… 1st of all the category u mentioned above of protestors is not true , because i had felt it from very close… they were all there for the change of regime itself.. 1st they started from PM, then to King.. you can say that 10% of them were peaceful other were not so no need to think about that some of them as innocent … and the things u told about mercenary policemen … brother they are much loyal to this country then ur peaceful protesters and respect and obey the person who is the source of giving them bread… and they r uneducated .. the ppl like nurses, doctors , and other who r carrying sowrds , knives , killing innocent ppl .. torturing … are holding PHD degrees..
on 17th feb the opreation started round 2.30… police came on spot at 9.30 .. 1st warning was given at 11.00 from there after every half an hour they told them to leave… and ur so called peaceful protestor throw bottles and shout abusive words to police and al khalifa family… and untill 2.30 so many ppl already had left roundabout.. and some were sitting in cars to attack when police will come forward…
u told BTV need more training and to be balanced about there news… than what about other channels like Manar, Al ayam, press tv, aljazeera… they were or are balanced… did they show anything pro government … they showed all the footage of salmaniya hospital, fake injuries of protesters, police shooting on protesters .. did they show injuries of policemen.. did they show injuries or death of innocent expat workers in bahrain.. they r changing the videos showed by BTV in their own stories … so what is that ??? this is what BTV need to educated of…
and what ever you say …. yes bahrini shites are more loyal to iran clerics than bahrain govt. by all means…
about your 2nd blog .. the interview on BTV the best thing I like is “I am Royalist”
the ppl who r throwing stones r without orders and the ppl who r shooting r doing only with orders .. bczz mostly they r risking their lives more then the other side..
and to say I like mohammed kayani’s words better than ur’s..
very nice of ur comment on salmaniya medical ambulance.. what they said on that they can not go to the pearl roundabout…
about 3rd blog… very well said about royal families … and yes they have all the rights to enrich themselves.. if in a democratic countries politician enrich themselves without thinking about the country or ppl .. so why cant they? After when they every thing for there ppls………..and what u said in the name of God… u mentioned ppl r so easily caught and murdered when its in the name of God.. so govt. and police do this .. and what about when the other side caught poor labour ppl murder them brutally .. is this also for the sake of God ??????
and thanks for the nice stories of u about royal family…
king hamads 1st mistake was to think shias as there own .. they were never and will never and that I think everyone has seen now.. 2nd..give them freedom of speech.. and bringing up the opposition ..3rd to brining back the political exiles back to Bahrain and the bigger one to put them in govt. … 4th amnesty for them…….
Opposition demand that .. what u give us is not enough we want more ………… they always want more .. if king had given them a gold mountain and a river of money … then also they have done the same what they r doing now…
I don’t agree with ur opinion on inconsistent behaviour.. but yes I agree that political naturalization was a wrong attempt………… only the ppl who deserve to get Bahraini nationality , should be given like ppl , staying in this country for long than 15 to 20 years must be given nationality .. as myself was born here but still I don’t have Bahraini nationality.. and I don’t regret that, I am happy with my current..:)
As I said above the action of police was not brutal and unjustified , but yes the action of ppl sitting in pearl roundabout was brutal .. and when they ran from pearl round about to the buildings near it for hiding ,, I myself saw them carrying long swords and knives , axes in their hands,, what these things were there with them if they were peaceful and in Gandhi’s footstep.. and about university incident my cousins children r studying there a boy and a girl ,, they called from there and told that the like 200 or 300 ppl r in university … shites boys and girls r gone outside only by hearing sounds of them .. chanting ALLAH O AKBAR and go go hamad … the security of the university called all the girls to get on one side in the library building and close it from inside and send all the boys on the 2nd floor of the building and they all vanished only sunni security ppl were present there.. they close the doors of the classrooms from inside and all the ppl outside were with sticks , swords and knives.. and beating up the doors and standing down calling them with abusive words… and medical ambulances were on the scene and when they came the just delivered some more weapons to them and went with some of there ppl who were injured by security persons.. and it all went for 3 to 4 hours when police was there inbetween they beat soo many ppls.. and destroyed a big property… and if they were beaten later by police or youth in university .. I think they derserved it…
About ur suggestion on govt. jobs applicants equally … they have a very little in MOinterior and defence.. and what they did with it.. I think u may have already have heared about it… that how was they helping there ppl by passing all the msg’s of interior and how was they stoping ppl to reach to the emergency no’s of police and how were they passing there wireless info through phones and how were they creating horror for the ppl by marking the houses of ppl in police and of Pakistani nationals.. and about the ppl in Ministry of health , electricity (go and see in budaiya) I think I don’t need to explain that..
Distribution of housing is going alright here. Govt. cannot accommodate full population at one time … to carry on these things one need times.. and yes there r some cases where there is corruption.. but when govt. gave them 2000 houses in MAlkiya they rejected , bczz they want it in Riffa … when govt. gave them flats in saar and one other place .. they rejected bcz they don’t need flats they need villas .. how can govt .. accommodate a each of there big families in each villa… Bahraini ppl in Bahrain are getting monthly expenses for them, electricity bill for them is less, retired persons get pention, jobless ppls get monthly allowance .. now what else they need ? go and look at democratic countries like Pakistan , india, or iran .. what they ppl are getting , on the other hand they don’t have enough money to eat and still they r paying every month to govt.
Education system in Bahrain is good… not the best but good.. and for sunni shia Islamic education …1st this is sunni muslim country unlike iran.. and 2nd for shites they never look anything beyond there teachings.. what ever u can try … try… but they will only believe what there religious scholars have to say.. and I think u and everyone elso know that…
And on the opposition side… they r not victorious … and will never be.. .king have learnt the lesson by getting away from his father’s steps… and soon or later every one will see that majority shites will never be loyal to royal family.. or Bahrain except some of them..
And please stop calling it “bloody Thursday “ for them … because on that day many of our defenders were also injured.. and yes world is not black and white but let me tell u one thing being here for long time and in the company of many shia’s there is on example in asia “the crow is black. But these ppl said that the crow is white and if u will bring a black crow infront of them .. than also they will say no its white , see with my eyes “
And we are muslims are equall in God eyes.. but what about them who r not… we r superior then them… because in our islam there is no “TAQAIYA” and in there islam it is.. we respect all the “UMMA HATUL MOMINEEN” but they don’t, etc… there r soo many examples and I can fill ur pages with it… but don’t count them with us being a true muslims..
And I am also trying to stay calm from the very first day.. never make comments and never say anything on any social network side… while watching everything with my own eyes .. but like this from the ppl like u … don’t let me be calm.. and sorry u also have to change some of ur opinions and yes I do pray for this lovely country who give me place to live.. and let me live my life..
And yes Bahrain will come out from these crisis but not because of the blood of these traitors… but yes because of the blood of the ppl of security forces and innocent labours who r loyal to there king and this country…
And now for the last blog….
Protestors were organized … yes .. they were bczz they were planning for something bigger.. something much easier from there point of view to get control of this country.. and u r right they were not taking on behalf of all the ppl of Bahrain.. the were all shites.
And what u said about the protesters and there dead etc… I already mentioned everything above .. don’t need to repeat it again… just one thing they were not brutally murdered , they got what they deserved.. and u r educated ppl how called there army idiot.. every army have a red line when they r deployed at any place and if one is crossing it … he will be shoot … so what.. and for ur knowledge it was all fake and that’s u can find on youtube now, it was all planned.. to go there putting blood on there shirts and standing infront of army .. and u can c that army call them that don’t cross redline and go back not one time .. many times.. and after that they fired in air, not on them… and may be u see opposition at that time as heroes but not loyal Bahrainis… they were shouting take army back we will come to dialogue and when army backup they started saying now take khalifa down than we will come.. this was great … right ?
Very nice Mr sohail … ur writing from …The charming resistance leader and his beautiful words to u forget one thing in between sh. Salman freed round 250 political prisoners including the most corrupt mushaima… and I don’t like a part of ur relative story… and u missed the attack on police on way to riffa when police stopped them in Al ali so there could be no chance of violence between pro and anti govt. ppl…and on BFH how they attacked police who were even without sticks.. after they called for riot police who only fire tear gas and I think that was normal.. and inbetween that how these peaceful ppl attacked police cars and police ppls… I think u already had watched these movies..
Basically, the uprising was a poorly-veiled attempt at overthrowing the regime completely, and replacing it with whoever was the smartest at hijacking it. That’s this was all about from the beginning … 14 feb 2011
And yes u r 100% right about iran even hizbullah interference.. even the ppl who r fighting with police and army are hizbullah trained … and how come these peaceful ppl have so much of weapons with whom they r fighting , killing , every day we get weapons from there areas .
Well mr sohail.. u last blog was good one .. to sumup I will say that this ppl belong to a nation which will never be loyal to there khalifa’s…….. and that’s it.. God bless u and this beautiful country.. Aameen
Loyal Bahraini expat
Dear ‘Loyal expat’ – Saying that the protestors got what they deserved is disgusting.
No one deserves to die. Or have you taken the place of god because you’ve lived in Bahrain as a resident for many years?
What if I said expats deserve to die because they are taking the jobs of Bahrainis? Is that fair? That’s not what I think because that would be sick – just like what you said.
I doubt very much that you live near lulu. Your probably emotional because your terrified. Fear is the worst disease. Its eats up your rationality.
Don’t let it.
Dear ‘Loyal Expat’ – perhaps we’d take your hateful, racist rant more seriously if you were capable of writing more coherently than a 12-year-old commenting on youtube videos.
Always considered you a breeze of fresh air in self-help issues not because you were useful but because you were doing things differently. T
To attempt to do it in politics makes a travesty out of your wall of text here. To me you just lost credibility because rather than side with the voices that call for removal of this dictatorship (and history will view them in no other way, apart from the scribble they pay for in citizenship text books) you chose to typify that inclination you have to blog with the wavering knowledge and meek observations.
You’re a great Zen Do dude nonetheless and a fantastic father
All right, perhaps my last comment was a personal attack and inappropriate, so I apologize for that, you may delete it Suhail. I will say this to Loyal Expat though: In what universe is granting freedom of expression a ‘mistake’ by the King? As an expat, who and what gives you the right to decide who this country belongs to and who its real people are? And as a Muslim what gives you the right to decide who is and isn’t a true Muslim? Anybody who says ‘so what’ to shooting people has clearly missed the point of Islam all together. Hate and racism weren’t on the Islamic agenda last I looked.
As an expat living in Bahrain, I find your views very interesting and your conclusions more so. I sincerely hope that there will be changes now and that Bahrain can ‘forgive’ and move forward as it needs to do. There is definitely room for improvement and I hope that things will improve for all Bahraini’s.
Again, I am very impressed! As usual you are fair and wise, but what i loved most this time were the responses. An example of “The fascinating spell that refused to break” is clearly shown here, with “believers in the cause who still do not admit that it was not peaceful”. I’m Presuming obviously that the people who read your blog are intelligent and logical.
Great Interview on BTV btw
Keep writing, Suhail, as long as your heart shares with you the words that need to be put down. You’ll have both fans and denigrators but it’s only when you write for yourself, because the words just HAVE to come out, that you will speak to the largest audience. The pen has always been mightier than the sword.
WARNING: May offend militarists.
Hi Suhail,
Thank you for posting your thoughts for everyone to see. I have a few comments of my own that may help you understand other parts of the political spectrum (i.e. me):
- Dialogue Credibility: How to I know that my point of view will be represented in any dialogue with the powers that be? I don’t know the royal family personally and am not a religious guy (Al Fateh group or AlWefaq). I think for dialogue to be credible it needs to have a democratic basis & it needs to be representative of Bahrainis.
- Opposition Credibility:
The opposition doesn’t seek “credibility” from Iran, the media or expatriates (with all due respect. I love you all and I hope you get proper labour rights and the ability to voice you opinions in a free press in bahrain). It does have credibility from 62% of the popular vote & 18 out of 40 seats in the elected house of parliament.
- Peaceful Protest Credibility:
I was against the protests at Riffa on the principle that the local residential community was against it. The 7 main political parties were against this as well & supported the much larger 100,000 + person rally between Bahrain mall & the Pearl at the same day. Several similar sized rallies were held peacefully on the previous weeks on Fridays.
- Political Standstill:
We can’t seriously think of this as being over. Yes. Life must go on and we should build bridges, but we can’t deny that things are different. Political & public life in this country is at a standstill. This is necessary to break before truth and reconciliation.
- Security, Transparency & Propaganda:
We will all see less criticism of the government now that there is Marshal Law and people fear of being detained without their rights. This is not good for peace & security. Lets be honest. We don’t know what happened at the University of Bahrain. We don’t know what happened on the day of the violent crackdown on the protest. We don’t know who was behind the attacks. We don’t know the sequence of events at any of these incidents or others like the Riffa protests. I do not have faith in the official Bahrain TV version (they have lied to many times). We do know that the security forces have used lethal and excessive force. This is clear and documented at the first days at the Pearl and since Marshal Law was implemented. We won’t have transparency while Marshal Law is in place, Saudi Troops are on our soil, people live in fear and there are many unaccounted for and bodies to be reclaimed.
- Long Term Peace & Government Credibility:
I recognise AlKhalifa as a key part of Bahraini society and I have faith that the Crown Prince had good intentions & hope he will prevail even though I think he may lack the common touch that his grandfather had. In my personal point of view our system of governance has failed to provide for long term peace & prosperity in Bahrain. We need real changes & political reform. We need to be inclusive of all parts society while retaining a true representation of the electorate. We need real accountability & transparency (ability for our representatives to fire ministers at least & give votes of “no confidence” to the government as a whole). We need to respect individual human rights of everyone in our country. We will have neither security nor prosperity if we try to rule by lethal force or external legitimacy (non-Bahraini). It will only result in more civilian deaths and even less credibility for our government & current political system (if that is possible).
I love your writing (especially some of your previous articles) and hope that you find my point of view useful.
Best,
Isa (Yes. That’s not my real name. Marshall Law much?)
I really appreciate this article. I just wanted to mention all the pakistani expact workers that were targeted and seriously injured from all this hate from the opposition party. Thanks again for taking the time to write this article.
It is nice to read an article that tries so hard to aim for balance. If I may take issue with one or two (or three
points: ” But some protesters were peaceful, others were provocative, while others were violent.” Forgive me but at the outset were not MOST of the protesters non-violent? As for provocative… well forgive me but isn’t that the whole point? Otherwise a protest is just people walking around! As to the violence. In the international media I have not seen any evidence of this. Indeed, from all that I have read, the violence has been largely, some would say hugely on the Government’s side. But would be most grateful for any such evidence to the contrary wrt 14th to 17th Feb. I repeat external sources please. eg NGO’s like UN, HRW, Amnesty etc. Thank you. “The great contradiction …Shia citizens.” With respect the Day of Rage was so named after the Egyptian Protest The “Rage” being directed: “against corruption, unemployment and oppression and absence of freedom,” the page said, adding more than 70,000 had signed up online.” Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41288680/ns/world_news-mideast/n_africa/ You can rage against a corrupt regime and perhaps it’s formidably armed state security (Well done Egypt!)but not against your fellow citizens (sorry subjects) even though there is a breathtaking inequality. c.f. That satellite imagery you are not allowed to see… Whilst the only way to determine whether they are the ‘people of Bahrain’ would be a referendum on say a Constitutional Monarchy… (If only one had been on the table from day one.) …I would suggest that ‘the people of Bahrain’ also lack an equitable division wrt political power/government posts/police and army recruitment/etc pro rata with your demographics. “Then things took a nasty turn…” QUITE with reference to the murder of Ali Abdul Hadi Mushaima http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/MDE11/004/2011/en/9eea3bf4-a674-4c97-a4a1-dd64a1d7311f/mde110042011en.html Has anyone been charged? Arrested? Even qiven a severe telling off? Interested people want to know. However your King’s actions have spoken much louder than words. Even more so with the passage of time. I pose a final question. Does a ruler who kills his own subjects WITHOUT DUE PROCESS deserve to be a King? IMHO the line between benevolent Monarch and Despot has been crossed. So much so that I would venture that as far as the rest of the world is concerned the title of the piece is: “How The Bahrain Monarchy Lost All Credibility- and Other Thoughts” But I would be happy to be proved wrong. Yrs respectfully. David G Lermit
رسالة السويدان لشيعة البحرين
التعامل مع الشعب في البحرين بصفته صاحب حق، ومالكا للأرض، وليس “عبدا” لسيده، هو مفتاح الحل، لأن النظرة المتعالية، تزيد المأزق وتعمقه
العدل أساس الملك
من أحب شعبه، أستعبد قلوبهم
Thanks for the nice blog Suhail. I agree with you. Just to share something though. Initially I have been at the roundabout almost everyday with my friends when we believed that the demands for reform were 100% legitimate. It was a fun atmosphere where everyone used to sing and chant national songs. But along came one cleric in the turban and the whole atmosphere changed to hate, violence and all that is not right. The youth who were calling for change were themselves not allowed to do anything on the nice stage that was prepared. Their clerics took complete charge of the whole area and then things turned nasty. Slogans of down down regime, hate against certain people, love and respect to certain countries and groups prevailed rather than calls for reforms. Overthrowing the regime was a very clear indication even before 14th Feb.
I had come across a post on one of the Bahraini forums where this whole thing started. To be honest, it did look that it had a clear interest from outside since they had suggested to get back to their religous cleric on a go-ahead. And so they had been given the green light from their Supreme leader in Iran. even before this started, it had clearly mentioned that it will be bloody and we will win it with our blood and lives. So, the fact that Ali Salman repeatedly saying to all “Maintain calm and peace” was all crap.
Unfortunately some political societies such as Waad took this ooportunity to get voters sympathy in the next elections when atleast they were miserable in the last two times. A cowardly and unethical move by Ibrahim Shareef. The call for dissolving the government was even before 14th Feb when the plans were still being discussed between themselves. They also called for this in their friday sermons across the country days before 14th Feb.
So how can we say that they were peaceful? It was a clear war against their own country which should not go unpunished.
Thank you for posting this article. Very well said, I feel as though you have portrayed the news in an unbiased approach that does reveal the truth. Let the haters keep hating
. Unite Bahrain <3
By the way Sohail really respect you for keeping this blog up. Shows your true neutrality and your position as a good guy
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Thank you.
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Mr. Sohail, brother I commend you on your unbiased reporting. Allow me to say that I am your fan from now onwards.
Kindly pls do log on (register) to our web site pkpolitics/discuss as I feel anti Bahrain propaganda has been extremely effective.
Best of regards
your brother
semirza (moderator at pkpolitics/discuss forum)