The bulk of the Bahraini people, like most people in the world, are underrepresented by their government. They don’t get an equal say in how decisions are made, and that leads to them not getting a fair share of their nation’s products.
Bahrain’s population is entirely justified to be unhappy with the status quo. Yet, should any of these oppressed persons have the audacity to hold a demonstration and say “We are not happy” , armed forced will crash down on them so hard that some of the dissenters will die.
This heavy-handed approach – using riot squads to injure and kill civilians – tends to backfire on the government. Instead of silencing the population, acts of police brutality tend to provoke more activism from the public.
Throughout the revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt, demonstrators were beaten and killed. This only intensified public outrage, helping to mobilize a growing segment of the population. The more the state fought back, the stronger each movement grew, ultimately culminating in regime change.
Now, the Bahraini people are on this same path. If the pro-reform movement keeps growing, it will either end in revolution or a massive blood bath.
If you’re wondering which is more likely, probably revolution.
Leaders today face a new threat: cell phone cameras. As much as these dictators would like punish their disobedient ‘children’, with the rest of the world just a single click away, it’s usually better to appease the angry mob and not become a mass-murderer.
Related Posts:
Tags: bahrain, people, power, revolution