Pars Today

In the Persian Gulf island state of Bahrain, the regime, which is allied with the US and the Zionist regime against the wishes of the Bahraini people, has held a theatrical show by pressuring a section of the population to cast ballots for what it calls the parliament, while the real representatives of the masses are locked up for demanding democracy and civil liberties.

The following is a Viewpoint Column that appeared on Monday in Iran’s English language daily ‘Kayhan International’ titled: “Farcical Polls Will Not Avert the Inevitable in Bahrain”.

Kayhan International wrote: “Forget the claims of voter percentage turnout at the farcical polls held in the Persian Gulf island of Bahrain for the so-called parliamentary and municipal polls, which the repressive Aal-e Khalifa minority regime is trying to tout as an example of democracy in a bid to hoodwink the world.

“Legitimacy was conspicuously absent during the recent regime-orchestrated campaign in which the two main parties representing the overwhelming majority of the Bahraini people were absent – al-Wefaq led by the illegally jailed religious leader Sheikh Ali Salman, and the secular Waad.

“This means both figures of voter turnout – the 67 percentage claim of the regime and the 30 percent cited by the opposition, are irrelevant – since democracy does not come through the barrel of a gun by an increasingly isolated clique of rulers that survives because of clinging to the straw called Saudi Arabia, which in turn precariously exists under the auspices of the US.

“With hundreds, if not thousands, languishing in jail; with a greater number driven into exile; and with many unlawfully deprived of citizenship despite being descendants of the original inhabitants well predating the late 18^th century seizure of Bahrain by the Aal-e Khalifa pirates of the Khor Abdullah waterway (between Kuwait and the Iraqi port of Umm al-Qasr), not just the recent elections but the entirety of the administration of the island state lacks legitimacy.

“Repression, imprisonment, torture, and killing of the sons of the soil, or attempts to change the demography by settling foreigners and granting them Bahraini passports including the right to vote, will not ensure the survival of the regime.

“And neither will the protection provided by the US 5^th Fleet which yesterday suddenly lost its overall commander, prolong much the rule of the minority regime – heaven knows whether Scott A. Stearney died a natural death, or committed suicide out of frustration, or was stealthily murdered by the Pentagon for difference of opinion.”

Kayhan International pointed out that “In 2011 when the first sparks of the peaceful protests lit the skies of Bahrain at the now criminally demolished Pearl Square in Manama for reforms and dismissal of the elements blocking the just demands of the people, the rulers had the chance for defusing the crisis in its embryonic stage through dialogue with the lawfully elected representatives of the masses in the lower house of the bicameral parliament.

“Arrogance, ignorance, and intransigence, on the part of Aal-e Khalifa, coupled with instigation for use of brute force against the unarmed people by the Aal-e Saud clan, which greatly feared mass demonstrations of the same kind spreading to mainland Arabia, made the minority rulers in Manama miss the golden opportunity for peaceful solution.

“The elected parliament was not only unconstitutionally dissolved but even Islamic sentiments were desecrated by attacks on religious gatherings, trampling of sacred symbols, and burning of copies of the holy Qur’an, in addition to forbidding of the weekly Friday Prayers.

“These are unpardonable crimes for which the unapologetic perpetrators are answerable to the Muslim Ummah in this world and will surely be held accountable in the Divine Court on the Day of Resurrection.”

As noted by Kayhan International: “Now with stances hardened on both sides – the regime and the repressed masses – farcical elections for the rubber stamp houses of parliament are not the solution and cannot avert the inevitable.

“The disgruntled people of Bahrain are well aware of the situation in the region. They will neither lose hope in God’s justice nor be cowed down through repression. Their eyes are open to the situation in the region – how the dictator Ali Zainal-Abedin had to flee Tunis; how the seemingly powerful Hosni Mubarak, (who used to orchestrate similar farcical elections to ensure 100 percent vote for himself), had to yield to the Egyptian people’s demand; how Saddam’s genocide of the Shi’a Arabs and the ethnic Kurds could not guarantee survival of the repressive Ba’th minority dictatorship in Iraq; and how the Yemeni people are resisting the full force of Saudi Arabia’s US-backed brutal bombing.

“The future belongs to the people and not to the tyrannical powers, including the Great Satan, the US. This means lesser devils are living on borrowed time, and sooner than later, the Bahraini people will become masters of their own destiny.”

AS/MG