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.

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.   

Clashes in Bahrain

Anti government protests which started on last 14th, have affected the whole country. We were warned by many parties about the potential issues prior to the starting date. 24 hour petrol by air and land gave the yellow lights of the upcoming incident. The protests were started on 14th ,the day which marks the anniversary of the Nation Action Charter of the Kingdom. So there was a big rally organized to support the government while there were anti-government protests as well. Finally, 14th February, Valentine’s Day was very warm with full of actions. 

15th was an Islamic holiday. The whole day was very boring since I couldn’t go anywhere due to the protests. After spending the morning and afternoon inside the room, I went to the Andalus Garden for a walk. There were quite a lot people in the garden, doing their regular exercises and sports but the roads were not that busy. Gudeibia police station was crowded. I came back home soon, after getting messages about the problems. Roads in Manama was closed and also all the shopping malls.

Heard about the death of two Bahrainis on 14th and the there was a rumor about the death of the third person on 15th. We don’t have a way of getting proper news as we don’t have cable television as home. Only available one for us at the moment is Channel 55, which shows only the development projects and the government news, again in Arabic. Tried listening to radio, but didn’t work. Only source which I knew was internet. So I started watching and reading Al Jazeera and BBC but I doubt about the accuracy as I know how they acted during the war in Sri Lanka. While GDN and Daily Tribune (Local Papers) were mainly talking about the pro-government rally while the foreign media focus on anti-government activities.

16th was a working day. I went to Sitra in the morning. The roads were peaceful and calm. The centre point of the anti government activities was the Pearl round about. Heard about the peaceful protests at the centre point and in other areas. The environment was warm as there were two deaths. Many people I met were talking about the circumstances which might arise due to these deaths. The helicopters are in 24 hour duty still and the police cars can be seen everywhere.

17th is a shocking day. Heard about the clashes at the Peal round about early in the morning. Almost all the offices and the shopping malls are closed. My meetings got cancelled, and we closed the office at around 12.30pm. Finished the work in the morning while watching Al Jazeera for the updates. According to them, two more are dead due to the army attacks and many people are admitted to Salmania Hospital. But the rumors were saying that it’s more than eight.

The anti-government protests are organized by Shia, the majority with 70% of the total population. They are demanding the Prime minister who is holding the tile for 40 years to resign, Housing and Jobs for all the people and many more. I do not know how far these demands are fair.

The life is becoming very different after the arising of these issues. Internet is extremely slow. Have to go through hell to log in to fb or Google. Last weekend was full of fun and never thought that I will be stuck at home this weekend. Though the protests were expected, honestly I though it won’t drag for days. 

Find Al Jazeera Bahrain blog here