The Anniversary of Bahrain's February Protests
03 March 2016By Salman Aldosary
Sunday, February 14, marked the fifth anniversary for Bahrain's protests as
thousands of citizens were protesting and calling for political change in the
tiny island kingdom lying at the banks of the Gulf Arab states, thus repeating
the ''Arab Spring'' experience after five years.
Back then in 2011, Egypt and Tunisia's regimes fell and the enthusiasm to drop
the regimes was at its peak. Protestors thought the trend of toppling regimes
was ripe for action. As long as it happened in Egypt or Tunisia, what would
prevent its recurrence in Manama?
Protests, which were driven by sectarianism, arose with protesters demanding
political reforms then quickly turning into calls to overthrow the regime.
However, that was not surprising as it was previously planned for.
The disaster lied in the associations, known for their great political work,
demanding to topple the regime that they voted for at the national charter and
have worked for it.
Most Bahrainis felt that they were backstabbed by those they once trusted and
were elected as a mere part of the reform project.
Today, all this has become a miserable past and the forces forging negative
change couldn't affect the whole society. With time, Bahrain regained its
peaceful ambiance after only hundreds, who used to be thousands, protested in
the name of the largest Bahraini opposition political society, ''al-Wefaq''.
Bahrain returned to what it was, yet the Bahrainis have changed.
We won't be exaggerating if we say that Bahrain has suffered a lot since
February 2011 that was an unprecedented historical blow, of which it was able
to recover without affecting the regime's structure or the country's
institutions. The crisis revealed Bahrain's true friends and enemies as it
watched friend states line with its opponents. Amidst all that, the real blow
was actually losing the trust and the increase of sectarian discord among its
citizens.
After Bahrain was known for reducing sectarianism to its lowest, the sectarian
rift has increased as it never did in a century.
Although Iran had played, and is still playing, the major role in its project
to topple the regime, yet it wouldn't have been able to do so without its
supporters in Bahrain, who, unfortunately, were Bahrainis.
What happened in Bahrain cannot be excluded from what happened in other Arab
countries, and we cannot say that only these protestors had this desire. I
don't only mean Iran or its allies in the region, but I mean that there are
people from the Gulf and other Arab states who supported these protests in a
way or another; TV channels, intellects, academics, journalists, activists,
and tweeters with documented and monitored stances, just like those who want
to jump so fast from a boat into the sea without taking any consequences into
consideration.
Bahrain was able to survive with minimal losses unlike those who wanted change
as they corrupted much more than they reformed, and they set back the
political process.
Bahrain, which was heading its counterparts, is unable to proceed with its
project today before rebuilding trust among its citizens.
Day after day, Bahrain is becoming stronger and whoever chose destruction
instead of construction is losing. Their popularity decreased, their argument
weakened and their way out narrowed. They had bet on protests but they failed,
they had waited investors to flee away but they didn't, they had sought the
country's collapse, but it was stronger than they could ever imagine. They
were left with only one choice… to try to return to their homeland. I really
hope they will.
Salman Aldosary is the
editor-in-chief of Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper.
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