SILVER LININGHungry wolves [Archives:2008/1128/Opinion]
Dr. Mohammed Al-Qadhi
Wherever you go across Yemen, beggars will flock around you, asking for help. I visited Aden and Taiz during the last two weeks and the only visible common feature is the increasing number of poor people hanging around car drivers at traffic lights or other stop stations. Everyone is desperately appealing for help, while others are drifting aimlessly, talking to themselves. The economic hardships are hard for some people to handle and they lose their minds as they find themselves unable to make ends meet. Pains, cries and suffering feature the daily life of millions of Yemenis. This is incredibly a scaring panorama.
Many people leave their villages for towns in the hope of finding an opportunity to make a living)even if through begging, though it hurts their self-respect. I know people in the villages used to lead a decent life and would never think about employment of their children. Nevertheless, now public employment is their main concern. Not only this, they run after the social security support (2000 riyals per month), even if this sum does not make much difference to address their hardships and dire needs.
I feel very sorry for the people who enthusiastically went to the streets to express their support to President Saleh during his elections campaigns in 2006. They were promised that there would be no more price hikes. These promises have never seen the light of day.
The government is not only forsaking its responsibility of generating a decent life for its people, but also relinquishing its ethical and legal duty to protect their lives. After losing heart in the capability of the government to protect her life and her children, Anisah al-Shuaibi appealed to Sheikh Sadek al-Ahmer, chief of Hashid tribe, to protect her and her children. Al-Ahmer responded positively to her tribal plea and provided housing and support to the helpless woman who has been hunting for justice after her rape by security personnel in jail. She has been facing hard times following her report of the rape crime to human rights organizations and media. She has been courageous enough to tell her story in public, heedless to the nasty social stigma she and her children will have to face in the rest of their lives. She had faith that the state would hold her perpetrators accountable for their reprehensible deeds. Unfortunately, she has continued to face the consequences of her resolve to find justice, experiencing harassment even in streets.
This attitude where people lose faith in the state and its ability to do them justice is eminently dangerous, as it gives chances for individuals and groups to replace the state and exercise its duty.
People across the country are facing hard times because the government is not doing its job and exercising the rule of law. Their pains demonstrated through protests here and there are concretely visible. The government, however, is doing nothing concrete to address the causes of the growing problems that are embroiling the country in a critical situation.
Both the ruling party and the opposition parties are distant from the substantial concerns of the public. They keep busying themselves with monotonous discourses that mean nothing for people with empty stomachs. They need a way out of this impasse. The people in charge might let down their citizens and neglect their appeals for help for a while, but the citizens' frustrations will turn them into hungry wolves, and we all know what hungry wolves can do.
Dr. Mohammed Al-Qadhi (mhalqadhi@hotmail.com) is a Yemeni journalist and columnist.
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