Pars Today

Bahrain is in the grip of widespread protests by the people demanding end to the house arrest of the respected senior religious leader, Ayatollah Sheikh Isa Qassim, whose health is deteriorating every day due to lack of proper medical treatment, because of the intransigence of repressive Aal-e Khalifa minority regime.

In this regard, here's an article that appeared in Iran’s English language daily Kayhan International titled: “Aal-e Khalifa Should Heed the Lessons of History.”

“A decade ago, with democracy taking a slow but steady course, with elected candidates, especially of the long suppressed majority community, sitting in the bicameral parliament – although in the lower house subordinate to the unelected Shura or upper house that wielded executive powers – hopes were high of smooth transition of power from the autocratic minority regime to the real representatives of the masses in the Persian Gulf island state of Bahrain.

“In 2011, as the Islamic Awakening from Tunisia and Egypt swept into the Arab states of West Asia, the joy of the Bahraini people, whether the majority Shi’as or the minority Sunnis, knew no bounds.

“They sensed it as an excellent opportunity and peacefully assembled in tens of thousands at the capital Manama’s landmark Maidan Lu’lu’ (the now demolished Pearl Square), to openly voice their grievances in the hope that Sheikh Hamad Aal-e Khalifa, who claims to rule constitutionally, would be wise enough to respect the democratic desires of the masses by sparing the country of any untoward incident.

“To their horror, the minority regime, which could have seized the opportunity for a gradual peaceful transition of power to the majority, resorted to violence and brutal repression, firing upon the unarmed masses, scattering them like animals, chasing them to the privacy of their homes, forcibly dragging them to prisons, torturing them (in several cases to death), dismissing them from jobs, desecrating mosques and hussainiyahs, expelling MPs unconstitutionally from the parliament, closing down newspapers, illegally stripping citizens of their nationality, banning them from holding the Friday Prayers, and confining them, especially the leading religious leader, to their homes by depriving them of all civil liberties, including medical treatment.”

Kayhan International pointed out: “According to the latest reports, the health of the almost 80-year old Ayatollah Sheikh Isa Qasim is fast deteriorating, as a result of the regime’s denial of any specialist medical treatment at hospitals.

“For the past year-and-a-half, Bahrain’s senior-most religious leader, who had always advised Sheikh Hamad to respect the people’s aspirations by working out a peaceful solution to the 6-year long crisis, has been forced to stay in his house with devotees preventing the regime that has illegally stripped him of his citizenship and wants to expel him, from violating the honour and dignity of his home.

“Fears are being expressed that in case of any danger to his life, the situation will spin out of control and engulf Bahrain in a wildfire which not even the armed forces of godfather Saudi Arabia could put out, let alone the brutal mercenaries hired by the regime from Jordan, Pakistan, and other places to change the demography of the country.

“There is no guarantee a hitherto peaceful struggle for freedom and self-rule could take a different course if weapons were to suddenly surface amongst the long-suppressed people, who have refused to yield to savage oppression.

“It is still not late for Sheikh Hamad to positively respond to the people’s demand and show respect for Ayatollah Isa Qasim, as well as drop all those absurd charges against Hojjat al-Islam Sheikh Ali Salman, the imprisoned leader of the al-Wefaq party in parliament, and release all detained activists, in order to spare Bahrain of a bloodbath.”

Kayhan International said: “Sheikh Hamad very well knows that the ancestral trees of Ayatollah Isa Qasim and most of the detainees predates by several centuries the presence in Bahrain of the Aal-e Khalifa rulers who were originally pirates from Khor Abdullah near Basra, and on being driven out by the Ottoman navy had seized Bahrain from a weakened Qajarid Iran at the turn of the 19^th century, and then sought British protection.

“The regime should not deceive itself that the indifference of the UN and the support of Riyadh, coupled with the presence of the US 5^th fleet in Bahrain, will help it massacre the masses in a bid to prolong its rule.

“It should heed the lessons of history, especially of the recent past, when powerful potentates in neighbouring Iran and Iraq, such as the Shah and Saddam were thrown into the dustbin of history.

“It should not be in a delusion that MBS (Saudi Heir Apparent Mohammad bin Salman) will spring to its rescue in case of any mass uprising, especially in view of the fact that his spate of political blunders might soon make Washington change him overnight. There is also a big question mark on the survival of Saudi Arabia itself.”

The daily concluded by noting: “With the defeat of the terrorism in Syria and Iraq, thanks to the popular forces, it is anybody’s guess how long the state terrorism of the repressive Aal-e Khalifa minority regime would last in the face of the simmering volcano of the people of Bahrain which could burst any moment.”
AS/EA