Opinion The Bahrain we knew
Understanding the rage in a state thats been a role model in the Gulf.
A Bahrain of gunfire at a roundabout in a commercial area in the heart of the capital is not the Bahrain we knew. Growing up Indian in the Gulf,you got odd looks,queries about why Indians smelt funny. Bahraini Indians,though,never suffered through such questions.
Not accidentally,Bahrain is the only Gulf state that operated a naturalisation policy. Sheikhs used to sit at their ports,from Sharjah to Dubai,from Abu Dhabi to Bahrain,with rubber stamps and al tajnees al siyasi naturalisation permits. For countries with small nomadic populations,the absorption of others was considered a necessity; they needed a workforce to build their growth. But Bahrain was the only country that continued to grant its residents the right to actually be of the country. Now that very policy naturalisation is being called into question.
The majority of Bahrainis are Shia,but the king,who comes from a line 200 years old,is Sunni. For those on the streets both his rule and the naturalisation policy must be called into question. Indeed,many of those carrying guns for Bahrain are from South Asia,men who protect the emirate because of what they are offered in return. Ask any Indian in Bahrain if it is the hell we are seeing on its streets now.
Bahrain has yet another distinction. It is a tiny island,smaller even than Dubai. But economically,its vibrant banking economy is catching up with its savvy neighbour. Unlike the majority of the Gulf states it went unaffected by the global recession. The cranes never went crazy here,and unemployment has steadily fallen. Following educational reforms,it continues to enjoy higher literacy rates than anywhere else in the region. Indians and Bahrainis are nearly indistinguishable.
But anger between Sunni and Shia still rages. It rages despite the country offering its citizens free healthcare,and dole,should a person be unemployed this is no Egypt,it is no Tunisia.
The opposition,Al Wefaq,continues to cry foul,and it has done so for the past 10 years. In response,Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa,a moderate as compared to his father,has tried to re-initiate reforms. As he said on TV,these reforms have been too slow and have taken too long. The number of Shias in the ministries has increased over the past 15 years; but they are yet to integrate into the ministry of the interior and military. This is part of what the talks we have seen begin are about.
This,too,is a country where women have slowly been given increased opportunities. Look at the number of women at the protests and contrast that with Egypt and Tunisia.
Growing up in Dubai,certain areas were taboo going to a nightclub was never a possibility. Few local girls,if any,went to study abroad but Bahrain was always a role model. With its freedom of movement and its vibrant coffeeshop culture,it mimicked a Lebanon a mental stones throw away. In more ways than one,too,in that both are playgrounds for other,bigger countries. Bahrain was first a backyard for the Saudis and later for the US. The Saudis have always treated Bahrain as a place to escape their draconian laws,a place of alcohol consumption and wild women. This,compounded with their interference in Bahrains politics and its army has continuously angered the Shias.
Shias have become dissociated,therefore,with the countrys politics. Travelling through Shia and Sunni neighbourhoods extensively,Ive never seen a Bahraini flag on a Shia house nor have I seen posters of Shia politicians. Where,then,do these protesters see their country headed?
Naturally one worries about the rising threat of Iran and subsequently Americas position in the Gulf. Bahrain is the home port of the US Fifth Fleet. American defensive missiles might be being put in place,too,perhaps with Iran in mind.
But Bahrain is as important culturally as it is strategically. I remember my first night in a London nightclub and the menacing,disapproving stares I got from Emirati boys I,after all,had grown up in Dubai. Yet alongside me,young Bahraini girls,their hair wild and skirts short,danced the nights away,unfettered. Those were heady days. Bahrain was reforming. But it stopped. Its time for more because if people arent satisfied with the low 3 per cent-plus unemployment rate and some of the highest growth rates in the Gulf,then there is a grave problem.
alia.allana@expressindia.com
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