United Bahrain

It was pretty interesting to be a part of this work. Check 0.57 sec and 1.01 min for a surprise...

Vocals by: Flipp, May AlQasim, Mohammed Janahi, Rashid Hanthal, Hamad AlFardan. Oud by: Ahmed AlHermi. Bass by: Yasser AlBanna. Track Arranged & Produced by: DJ Outlaw. Video Filmed & Directed by: Ammaro Productions. Additional Footage by: Fardan Raffii. Video Editing by: Elements Productions. 

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Our lives have turned up side down

Lives of many expatriates have turned upside down due to the unset. The death of a Pakistani, and the injured Bangladeshi guys have frightened the whole expat community. The story behind the attacks against Pakistanis and Bangladeshis is because the Sunni Muslims from those countries have obtained Bahrain nationality for past years. I think the government has taken this step to increase the Sunni community in the country which ultimately made the Shia majority to stand against this procedure.

We have been asked not to go to office or anywhere out of the house these days. The situation is not that bad but still it is better to avoid any unnecessary incidents. GCC Army has arrived the country to help the government to calm down the situation which has made huge arguments in the whole world again. However, we are stuck at home for the send day as well.

We bought some food items, telephone cards, water and few other things to use in case if an emergency occurs. So far the situation is all right but the roads are still empty. Shops and restaurants close earlier than the regular time and people buy things in bulk and store at house. The lives has somehow or the other turned upside down for us.

Here are few text messages I got yesterday. Don’t know how far they are accurate.

“From ministry of interior source: Troops from the GCC’s Peninsula shield military force have arrived in Bahrain to help maintain order and security in the Kingdom. Public are advised to refrain from being out and to always bring CPR for identity”

“Protestors are given a warning & a deadline to evacuate pearl roundabout. Emergency is declared. Army will spread out in every city. Martial law is introduced.”

“Stay at home, keep important food, water, bread, candles, torch, charge the mobiles and listen to the radio” 

Bahrain Unrest Cont.

Sunday was another terrific day here in Manama. Clashes took place in the city in front of Bahrain Financial Harbor when the Police tried to redirect the protestors from there to Lulu, where the Perl roundabout is. There were video footages on YouTube at showing how the Police attacked the so called peaceful protestors and how the protestors counterattack.

Office was dead quite from the morning. Clients were not responding to the calls or mails. Roads were jammed with traffic in the morning. Many offices and shops closed early due to the unrest. We were also asked to go home after lunch. Our accountant Sameer’s cousin was trapped inside University of Bahrain as the anti government protests were making issues at the uni. Anita was worried about the kids as they got very late to come back home after school due to heavy traffic. I heard about the death of one Pakistani guy in the evening. Few other men were also hospitalized due to attacks.

I learnt the fact that the Shia majority has faced difficulties throughout the years as well as how the current ruling family has developed the country. Well its too early to decide which party is right as there are many arguments for and against. The protestors want the ruling family to give up the regime but the Sunnis are supporting the government. Whatever the end result will be, I think it should happen through a peaceful dialog but not through violence like this.

The situation here is bit similar to what has happened in Sri Lanka in 1980s between Tamils and Sinhalese.  Why I’m telling like that is because that time there was a conflict between the two races due to misunderstandings and political agendas. One race wanted to be dominant over the other when it comes to power. Even though the major issues were solved by that time, later it evolved as a terrorist issue which ultimately resulted a dark cloud in the history for 30 years.  As a child who grew up with a war in the country, I have always learnt that it was against terrorism but not against a specific race. It was not an ethnic problem but a war against a terrorist group who wanted to divide the country. But the ugly truth as per many wise people was that the ethnic conflict between the majority and the minority races was the seed of that unpleasant war.

As per what I see here, I’m afraid that the same might happen to Bahrain if people do not try to understand each pothers problems at this stage. At the end of the day, we all are people with different beliefs in mind but with the same red blood in the heart.

Glad to know the friends are safe....

Finally I managed to speak to Sayuri and Susantha ayya today. There are safe and sound away from their home. They live in Saithama, a city close to Tokyo, but have gone to southern area of the country for skating while the earthquake took place. They are now stuck there as the trains are not operating. She said that they felt the earthquake but no major damages to that area. According to her, some parts of the country near the capital, is suffering from no electricity or water due to the situation. She still doesn’t know what has happened to her house in Saithama. Hope everything will be safe with them and all the citizens out there in Japan. I sent a message to all our gang via facebook informing that Sayuri and family are safe. I knew that all my other friends are worried as well.

Further, I spoke to Thamali one of my friend from uni who is now in Japan. Happy to know that she is safe too.   She was very scared and told me that she thought she might die yesterday. the thing is we Sri Lankans have no major experience in earthquakes and I have never even felt a minor one in my life. So this is a total new experience for a Sri Lankan who is there.

We cannot predict the Nature

Another weekend has come. I couldn’t have a proper sleep for the whole week. So after a very long nap on Thursday night, I got up around 12.30pm on Friday with the breath taking news of the Tsunami. After the magnitude 8.9 earthquake in the sea near Japan, 10 meter huge tidal waves have hit the country. It took my mind to the 2004 tsunami devastation in Sri Lanka. What an unpleasant time was that…

While watching Al Jazeera and CNN, I tried so many times to contact Sayuri who lives in Japan. I was so worried as there was no way to know whether her family is safe. After couple of hours we heard that the waves hit Philippines, Hawaii and US main land resulting no major damages. The death toll was to rise up to 1300 by today, the Saturday according to Al Jazeera.

This was the 7^th most powerful earthquake in the recorded history and the worst in Japanese history. I think fortunately the death count was low comparing to 2004 incident due to the proper communication and evacuate system in Japan. What happened back there in Sri Lanka was that we were not aware of tsunami as it was completely new to us. That was the first time in most of the Sri Lankans ever heard the word tsunami including me. So people were so excited to go and experience the sudden change of the sea rather than going away from it. I think every Sri Lankan lost either a friend or a relative in 2004 tsunami. The whole country was like one funeral that time.

One bullet train is reported to be missing in Japan. This is exactly as what happened in Thelwaththa in 2004. I remember the story of how one my cousin sister had a narrow escape from that incident with her child while her husband is still missing.

One of the main issues now Japan is facing is the possible nuclear radiation which might occur due to the failure of the cooling systems in Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. An explosion has occurred in on of the plants and Al Jazeera was sowing the white smoke coming out of the plant. The media are talking about the possible results of a nuclear radiation which terrifies the whole world.

You might be in Japan, Hawaii or New Zealand, our hearts are with you... May the world be safe and united for the benefit of all the global citizens...

Travelling by Bus

After shopping, we got in to a bus for the first time after coming to Bahrain. There were two types of buses. One large bus which is similar to the tourist busses in Sri Lanka. The other one is bit small, similar to the regular intercity buses there. 

One very interesting fact was that there was no conductor in the bus. When you get in to the bus, you have to give the money to the driver. I don’t know whether they offer tickets, but we did not get any. (Jeewani told me today that they gave tickets. 6th March) Inside the bus is branded in few ways. Sandwich panes were used to brand the sides, back of the seats and the holding hangers. There is a TV at the front which shows advertisements mainly.

From Manama to Adliya it was 200 phils. Unexpectedly in a country like this, we noticed few sellers going to each bus selling small small things. Well it was interesting that Sri Lanka is not the only country which has those things.

Exploring the city

Last weekend was also spent at home. We tried to go to Budeiya but the roads were closed. The most awaiting trip for last few weeks was postponed again. Sachi, Jeewani and I spent around 30 minutes to find the right bus stop, more than one hour waiting for a bus before we got to know the roads are closed.

Yesterday, we went to Manama to buy some groceries for us. We managed to find the Lulu centre and Central market after walking nearly 45 minutes from Adliya to Manama though small lanes. Those lanes were similar to the cross streets at Pettah in Sri Lanka. There we can find almost everything we need at a very cheap cost. Most of the sales people were Asians at those shops. When a customer passes by they speak in all the possible languages and invites to their shop. Since we were talking in Sinhala while we were walking, they called us in Sinhalese many times. After talking to few of them we realized that they have learnt some words and the numbers to attract the customers, but do not speak our language.

Bahrain Unrest

Situation became very different suddenly after the huge clashes during the first week. There were so many pro-government rallies were organized with the support of many Bahrainis.  Unfortunately they didn’t attract the international media as much as the anti-government protests.

 As it’s expected, BBC and Al Jazeera are only talking about the anti-government protests while the state media only talk about the pro. The crown prince called for an immediate dialog with the relevant parties and took away all the army troops from the Perl round about. The roundabout has become the main centre for these pro-reform protests. 

I got a chance to pass the area couple of time during last few weeks.  A remarkable number of women were noticed at the place. Young men were e waving flags and showing the images of the victims to the people who passed by. Many young people were very active in the demonstrations. A very young woman or a man walking around wearing the flag on the back is a common scene in the city.

Both anti and pro government rallies were organizes in a major scale for last couple of days. I witnessed one pr- reform rally near Central market yesterday. Thousands of people marched together holding flags and making different statements.