In the city of Manama, Bahrain at about 3:30 am, protesters were awaken by shots of "police firing pellets, rubber bullets and tear gas" and chasing them out of the Pearl Roundabout, a landmark in the capital. These protesters, inspired by the demonstrators on Tahrir Square in Egypt, were calling for more rights. Many were injured and ambulances were denied access into the roundabout, until many hours later. The Pearl roundabout is now surrounded by bardwire and partolled by the army. What was the governments' explanation for this? They stated: "A disenfranchised Shia population is very dangerous because it has the ability to destabilize Bahrain and it also is vulnerable to Iranian penetration", he also stated that the Bahrainian government had also uncovered many terrorist Shia cells, and they had no choice but to "clamp down" before things got out of hand.
Do you think the Bahrainian government had the right to be scared and use force?
3 comments:
Whatever the case may be, I think that it is never (I may be using this word a little strongly) necessary for the government to use violence against protesters. Violence will most likely just lead to more anger, and then ultimately to more violence. It's an endless cycle that does not ever need to be initiated. Also, if the government is trying to maintain peace in the country, then their actions are seen as merely hypocritical, cowardly, and unjust. By not having an alternative way to sort things out, the government is suggesting that they literally have no other options than to sit back and give troops or other army officials the right to use force against citizens, which only increases the country's disunity.
I know that it's easy in theory and not in practice, but compromise seems to be the best form of negotiating between the government and the people. Hopefully things will work out between the government and the people, but that takes sacrifice on both sides.
I think that the actions taken by the government of Bahrain were rational, but perhaps a little short sighted. If they could have solved this peacefully, the government might actually have begun to mend it's image rather than tarnish it further. All of these oil dictatorships are powder kegs anyways, it was bound to spread to Bahrain. On a side note, who protests at 3 in the morning??? Man, they must have been seriously pissed.
I agree with Zoe in that the government shouldn't use violence against protesters. If the government uses violence against the protesters, the protesters will in return become more violent which will eventually lead to chaos. It's better to figure out a plan that protesters will possibly consider and agree with rather than wasting time on getting rid of the protesters, or using violence against protesters in this situation. People just want change and to live a better life and the government should try to make plans to improve their economy and ways of governing so that everyone can come together and agree to a plan. Violence is not a solution to solving problems, figuring out plans and negotiating with protesters is what the government should be doing.
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