A great post on the Bahraini blog Chan’ad Bahraini about the big demonstration there last Saturday in favor of “Constitutional Reform First!”
50,000 or so people from a national population of 400,000 is no mean feat. (Plus, in all these proportion-of-population assessments you have to remember that–in societies where many people are still young children– very few of those youngsters get hauled along to participate… Except in the Israeli-settler demonstrations.)
“Chan’ad” (it’s the name of a local fish) describes himself as an Asian born in Bahrain. He evidently speaks and writes Arabic, and seems well-clued-in.
Saturday’s demonstration was organized by the Shiite-Islamist group, Al-Wefaq (the agreement). In that post I linked to above you can see some great pictures of it, apparently taken by Chan’ad.
In this post from last Wednesday, Chan’ad writes very interestingly about Wefaq and about the relative political quiescence of all the other supposedly “oppositionist” organizations in Bahraini society:
- Not only is Al Wefaq the most popular political society on the island, but these days it is also the most active one. If you have been following recent activities you may have noted that Wefaq has provided support (logistic or moral) to the causes of the BahrainOnline detainees, State Security torture victims, the BCHR discrimination report, constitutional reform, and even for the protection of the Tubli Bay mangroves.
I commend Al Wefaq for supporting these important causes, and I also credit the Wefaq high order for recognizing the political value that this gives them. However I can’t give my full support to the party because Al Wefaq is an Islamist group, and I disagree with them in principle. But it leads to the question… where is everyone else??!! Are there no other political players to compete with Al Wefaq? In particular, I’m thinking about the National Democratic Action Society (NDA), since it is the largest political society without a religion driven agenda. Their presence in supporting all the grassroots human rights and social causes is miniscule compared to that of Wefaq.
Yes, they usually issue a statement in support of something… and sometimes they even hold a seminar… but their physical presence is rarely seen on the street. Whenever there is a protest for something you can be sure to see Wefaq leaders Ali Salman or Dr Abduljalil Sengase (of recent controversy) on the scene. But the only time I have ever seen another group make their presence known at one of these events was during the Victims of Torture demonstration last June, in which a small troupe of NDA supporters wore yellow headbands and held a banner with the party name at the bottom. But since then, nothing.
I’d like to see more political societies take an interest in these events, sponsor/co-sponsor them or encourage their supporters to show up, and to make their presence known when they get there. Not only is it morally right to support some of these causes, but it is also in the interests of the party. And come 2006, this will provide more choice for a voter concerned about human rights and social issues…
Chan’ad also gives serious attention to another key aspect of rights-abuse situation in all Gulf emirates and many other Middle eastern societies as well: the issue of immigrant workers. See this from Sunday, and this from Monday.
Btw, chapeau to Head Heeb Jonathan for sending me to Chan’ad.