Bahrain went to the polls amid fears of vote rigging and violence on Saturday. Late yesterday, Islamists had the last laugh by registering a comfortable victory in the parliamentary elections held in the kingdom for the second time in four years. The election results sent shock waves across the pro-government Sunni camp. The Islamists literally drove a wedge between the warring Shi’ites and Sunnis and turned the votes in their favour, leaving the liberal candidates far behind. Some 300,000 Bahrainis exercised their franchise in the polls to elect 40 MPs and 40 municipal councillors with 206 candidates vying for the parliament and 165 for the municipal council. The island witnessed violent scenes and sordid campaign as electioneering exceeded limits of decency. However, no untoward incident happened, thanks to a mature behaviour of the Bahrainis beginning to enjoy the first fruits of nascent democracy.

However, the main Shi’ite opposition had questioned the mode of conduct of the poll, which according to them was orchestrated to favour of the minority Sunnis. They had the apprehension that the government wanted to crush down the majority community of Shi’ites, who make up 60 per cent of the island’s 700,000 population. Shi’ites won 16 seats in the poll – three seats more than they expected. This result would certainly force the government to ponder twice before making a strategic move on course to fulfilling the promises of democracy. The Shi’ites, who represent the Al Wefaq Islamic Society, had boycotted the 2002 election because of the strife between the government and the opposition and have sympathy for Islamists whose triumph was not a stray situation typical of Bahrain.

Other Arabs states, especially Iraq, Egypt, Lebanon and Palestine, too were closely monitoring developments in Bahrain in the face of sizeable Shi’ite presence in their respective countries. All these countries are being faced with external problems from Israel and internal issues vis-à-vis Islamists. Hezbollah has already become a force to be reckoned with in Lebanon and the confidence of Islamic hardliners is on the rise following Iran’s achievements in nuclear enrichment. This is an area of concern for Arab Gulf countries too because their Iranian neighbour is slowly emerging as an influential political force in the region and is backing the Islamists. Iran’s latest overtures to hold tripartite talks with Syria and Iraq must be seen as a move in this direction. The poll results in Bahrain, indeed, embolden the clout of Islamists.
The Peninsula, November 27, 2006

Prostitutes and drug dealers are welcome in the Netherlands. Just don’t wear a veil.

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EUROPE’S MUSLIM communities increasingly are portrayed — especially by European media — as havens for religious intolerance that flourish thanks to the overly tolerant policies of liberal governments. It’s true that until relatively recently, some Western European governments shrank from confronting clerics or others who promoted extremist ideology or encouraged terrorism. It’s also true that some European artists and politicians have been threatened or even killed for criticizing or mocking Islam. But another important part of the dangerous increase in tensions between Europeans and Muslims is the blatant bigotry of many mainstream political leaders, journalists and other elites against Islam and its followers.

Sometimes the bigots portray their crude attacks on Muslim beliefs and culture as a defense of freedom of speech — as when a Danish newspaper last year chose to publish gratuitously offensive cartoons about the prophet Muhammad. Sometimes they claim to be promoting better communication, as when British parliamentarian Jack Straw recently asked Muslim women to remove their veils when visiting his office. Luckily for the enemies of cynicism and disingenuousness, there is also the Dutch government — which no longer bothers to disguise its ugly prejudice.

On Nov. 17, just five days before Wednesday’s hard-fought general election in the Netherlands, the incumbent center-right government promised that, if reelected, it would introduce legislation to ban the wearing of burqas and other facial coverings in most public places, including courts, schools, trains and even streets. The ruling Christian Democratic Appeal party finished first in the voting, but the makeup of the next government remains unclear. If enacted, the prohibition would affect no more than a few dozen of the country’s 1 million Muslims, who make up some 6 percent of the population. But the point is symbolic: A country famous for tolerating prostitution, drug use, euthanasia and public nudity considers Muslim veiling beyond the pale.

Rita Verdonk, the immigration minister who is rapidly becoming the face of the new Dutch intolerance, claimed that the measure was needed for “reasons of public order, security and protection of citizens.” Nothing subtle in that connection: As far as Ms. Verdonk is concerned, burqas and terrorism are synonymous.

Like other Europeans, the Dutch have reason to worry about terrorism; the country has been traumatized by the assassinations of a prominent right-wing politician and a right-wing filmmaker in the past few years. But attacking Muslim culture — as opposed to those who practice or promote violent acts — is no way to diminish the threat. It won’t be surprising if more Dutch Muslims respond to their government by putting on burqas — or by answering intolerance with intolerance.

The Washington Post, Saturday, November 25, 2006