Kuwait: The Audacity of the Protests

Note by the Editor: (Arab Region's volatility is evident. Breeze of the Arab Spring has the feel of a pleasant atmosphere of freedom in the monarchical systems where the people do have the morsels of rich food but are longing for getting their free will and opinion have a weight anywhere in decision making. Man's nature detests the invariability so change always remains a call of his nature. Freedom of expression, which is severely impeded in authoritative system, is a great want of the people in the Arab world. Kuwait has a political system, actually a mash of dogmatic and an irresolute democratic practice. Restlessness is often demonstrated particularly when media leaks the scandalous stories about corruption of the ruling family. A new factor, very recently arose with its alarming force is the rise of Shiaism in the region. Though talk about the export of the Iranian Revolution has been since long on the tongues of the Iranian leadership but now it has started causing heavy quivers in different parts of the Arab world. Turkish leadership had, only a little ago, warned about gradual headway of sectarianism in the Muslim countries, particularly in the Gulf States. Syrian situation is speeding up this factor. The Gulf States must sense the gravity of this factor. Apparently restlessness in Kuwait is thought to be a political matter, a result of sour relation between the ruling family and the opposition groups but actually there is much more giving the situation an inflammatory turn. Shia Sunni communities have been living in almost all of the Muslim countries for centuries with the feeling of coexistence. But now the situation seems to have a sudden upheaval. Resurgence of antagonistic sectarianism in Bahrain seems to having a spread to other neighbor states also. The Gulf States, in spite of their monarchical system with no accountability and check on the acts and policies of the rulers, have done a lot for the betterment of their people.Their infrastructure and provision of the facilities to their citizens is no doubt an enviable achievement. Rising from rags most of their people are now playing in riches.  But one thing is must to be kept in consideration. Only the towering skyscrapers, charmingly illuminated streets and huge shopping malls have never been taken to be the signs of power and progress. If it were the power of a community, no doubt the Gulf States are not lesser than the West.  But we have a historical lesson of the Mughal Empire in this case. When the Mughals Emperors showed their avidity for building tombs, forts and gardens with unmatched charm of embellishment, the West was grooming for the development of art, literature and science; moving toward its tremendous industrial progress. Casting their eyes on the wealth and natural  resources of India the Western powers had enormously expanded  military power to triumph over India taking everything in their hands.  Then what happened? All the landmarks of the Mughal realm remained nothing more than a source of archaeological study and the Europeans captured the lands putting the Mughal Raj to its end. Why? The Mughal emperors paid no heed to the fact that without a indomitable military power neither the land are defended nor the cultural advances are protected. The rulers in the Arab region have the sense of the fact or not but the people have started to understand it. Since the toadies and stooges of America and the West were dethroned in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Yemen and the people of these countries have heaved a sigh of relief from the yoke of the Western masters with their determination to live with honor and freedom, the same sense has become the longing of whole of the Arab world. In the wake of deliberate anti-Muslim policies of world's sole super power America and speedily growing Islamophobia the people in the Gulf region are not happy with the humble and self-purchased policies of their rulers towards America and the West.The demonstrations in Kuwait are enough to make all the rulers should understand the fact that will have to satisfy their people and lend their ears to what the people say and desire. Munir Ahmed Khalili)   The article below is written by Dr. Hamad Al-Majid Kuwait’s heated political situation and the tense relationship between the government and the opposition there has taken on a new and worrying dimension in the wake of the Arab Spring revolutions. I say worrying because given Kuwait’s geographical location it is indirectly connected with the tense situation in Syria. Iran, which is locked in a life or death war for its political and ideological influence over Syrian territory, possesses a stockpile of devastating sectarian weapons that it is poised to use as the Syrian regime moves closer to collapse. Should Iran taste defeat in Syria, it will use these weapons against the secure and stable Gulf States as a means of revenge. Iran’s latest vile threat [about intervening to protect the Kuwaiti Shiites] is akin to Tehran brandishing its knife to Kuwait and the rest of the Gulf States. This is what the Kuwaiti opposition must be aware of and take into account, for it does not make sense to raise the ceiling of their demands amidst such heated regional conditions. One cannot expect to put forth the same demands as they would in more stable conditions, or more precisely, less heated conditions. I understand that some people would object to this and say that the Kuwaiti opposition should not raise or lower their demands in accordance with the situation in our volatile region, where conditions are never stable anyway. Although this argument may seem logical at first glance, it is not correct. Our region, although it has never been absolutely calm since the end of the era of Western colonialism, has certainly gone through intermittent periods of tranquility. These are the times when demands should be raised, for example in the period that followed the Iran-Iraq war and the period that followed the occupation of Kuwait. At the same time, the Kuwaiti leadership must understand that the current heated Kuwaiti political situation is far different than anything it has experienced in the past. In the wake of the Arab Spring, political opposition groups are mobilizing like never before. I remember visiting Kuwait last winter and my friend driving me to Al-Erada Square, where I witnessed an unprecedented mass gathering. I said to my friend that even though I follow political movements in Kuwait with interest, and there is often a push and pull between the government and the opposition there, this gathering – of more than 70,000 people, a greater figure than the million who assembled in Tahrir Square if relative population figures are taken into account – could not possibly be considered separate from the Arab Spring revolutions. When I say that a country ruled by a stable and prosperous monarchy, like Kuwait or elsewhere, cannot be considered separate from the Arab revolutions, I do not mean that we will see a repeat of what happened in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Yemen and Syria. Rather, I mean that Kuwait will be affected to some degree. The degree and method of regime change in Yemen was different to that in Egypt, which in turn was different to Libya, and the same goes for the extent of impact and response that these changes have had. In the Kingdom of Morocco, the leadership has successfully absorbed the variables of the Arab region. The King noticed the warning signs with demonstrations in key Moroccan squares, and said: “It is up to me”. Subsequently, the leadership brought in Abdelilah Benkirane, leader of the Islamist Justice and Development Party and one of its fiercest political opponents, and appointed him Prime Minister. Morocco extinguished the revolutionary sparks in their infancy. This is what the Kuwaiti leadership must pay attention to, for it is not a sign of weakness for political leaders to meet with their opponents in the middle of the road in order to defuse a problem that could grow and develop into something far worse.