Bahrain on 9th Anniversary of Feb. 14 Uprising: A Wasteland with No Future

2020-02-16 - 12:41 ص

Bahrain Mirror (Exclusive): Nine years have passed since the eruption of the February 14 uprising. Only the name of Bahrain is left untouched; as the country has turned into a police state devoid of any political parties, opposition, independent civil organizations, a powerful legislative authority, journalists, voices, opinions or freedoms. It has become a country with no future.

It has become a state with miserable people, extreme public anger, high frustration, a high public debt, high levels of corruption, a beggar regime that plays around with the country's resources, a defense budget that devours the state budget, a dilapidated and wasted economy, a high cost of living, taxes that empty citizens' pockets, political naturalization, preference for the employment of foreigners over citizens, 5,000 political prisoners, hundreds of expatriates, hundreds of stateless people scattered across the globe, dozens of death sentences, more than 100 martyrs, and a country tipping on the edge. This is Bahrain today.

Bahrain today has nothing but public discontent, frustration and certainty that no future awaits the people of this country. This is what you will find on the table in every meeting and forum and every dialogue that takes place in homes and in the street. It is no longer a point of view limited to those who are deemed to be linked to the opposition, as loyalists have joined them in sharing this outlook. It is enough to take a quick look at social media and WhatsApp groups to see the level of public frustration, complaints, discontent among citizens, and cries about what the island kingdom has come to, with all the corruption, high cost of living, taxes, random political naturalization, preference of foreigners and lack of appreciation of Bahrainis.

These are the same issues over which Bahrainis took to the streets in 2011. This devastating economic situation is the same situation the then active political parties, which have been dissolved, warned about. National voices have demanded enabling the legislative council to hold whoever practices corruption accountable. They have also warned about the consequences of political naturalization, and how this process would lead to diminishing the citizens' shares in jobs, housing and income.

Today, nine years after the movement began, all that has taken place with all the Bahrainis who have been imprisoned, killed, displaced, tortured and accused of treason because they wanted to protect their country from what it has become now, has become a bitter reality. There is nothing left in Bahrain but a wasteland.

Meanwhile the King sits all dressed up over the ruin he has led the country to.

Arabic Version