Peaceful, my ass

So when did boats on fire and tear gas be considered "peaceful?" Either way, here's the scoop on the riot pics that I took the other day. This is from the Gulf Daily News, one of the English daily papers here.

GDN, SEPTEMBER 30, 2006

A DEMONSTRATION against political naturalisation yesterday was described as "ironic" by organisers. As thousands of Bahrainis held the protest in Sanabis, organisers described how hundreds of naturalised Bahrainis in full riot gear stood by. But other than the demonstration ending half an hour earlier than intended, everything went smoothly and as planned, said National Democratic Action Society (NDAS) general secretary Ebrahim Sharif.

"It was a very peaceful demonstration," he told the GDN.

"The only thing we did not understand was why we were asked to change our route by the Interior Ministry."

Organisers at Al Wefaq National Islamic Society, the NDAS, Islamic Action Society, National Gathering Democratic Society and Al Menbar National Democratic Progressive Society were earlier advised by the ministry to change the demonstration route to avoid massive traffic jams in the area.

"The original plan was to start the demonstration near the Bahrain Mall and finish near the Dana Mall," said Mr Sharif.

"But if you look near the Dana Mall, there were hundreds of riot police, all naturalised Bahrainis, waiting and what's more shocking was that they blocked the roads with barbed wires.

"We refused to change the route because we have used this many times.

"The government said this is a major highway, but we said it was going to be at 3.30pm on a Friday during Ramadan.

"Not a lot of people would be using this highway.

"They have allowed demonstrations here in the past before Ramadan and we do not see why we can't have it now, except maybe that they want to limit our movement."

Dozens of police cars and Public Security Jeeps also blocked the roads leading to the Bahrain Mall.

The overpass was also lined with police cars and a helicopter, believed to belong to the ministry, circled above.

"Because of the blockade, we decided to end things sooner than we wanted to," said Mr Sharif.

The protest began at about 3.30pm and finished at about 4.25pm. It was all very peaceful, said a Bahraini mother, one of the many women who attended the demonstration.

"There must have been at least 5,000 of us here, and we proved (the police) wrong.

"They thought there were going to be riots, but we showed them that we are all very civilised and just wanted to make a point to our government."

Al Wefaq High Committee Against Political Naturalisation chairman Sayed Saeed Al Majid said that the demonstration was a conclusion of the pent-up anger against giving "undeserving people" Bahraini citizenship, adding that it devaluates the Bahraini passport's worth.

"People are enraged against this naturalisation, which comes at a time when Bahrain is facing trouble accommodating the rise in the number of its citizens, whether in education, housing or medical care," he said.

Critics argued that many people are being given Bahraini nationality for political purposes.

Mr Sharif said that in 2002, there were about 243,000 voters in Bahrain. In just four years, voters have increased to 295,000.

"This is an increase of 52,000 in a four-year period, how could this be?" he asked.

"We have taken into consideration the changing of the minimum voting age from 21 to 20, but then the number should have only increased to about 36,000.

"There are 16,000 that have come out from nowhere.The only explanation is naturalisation in the last few years."

*THE organisers of the march were urged to change its route to avoid crippling the movement of citizens and residents in the area, Capital police directorate director-general Colonel Isa Al Musallam stressed yesterday. He clarified that the decision was not issued to prevent the rally or restrict freedom of expression and the right of

citizens to protest. He said the police had informed the organisers and one of them had signed the written request submitted to them. He underlined the importance of organisers abiding with such lawful requests and that failing to do so is a violation of law.