When the people are deemed to be the enemy [Archives:2005/848/Opinion]

Any Government that seems to be locked in perpetual conflict with its citizens, inside and outside of the country must start to ask why is all this criticism and hostility being directed against the authorities of the land? Yet, unfortunately, our government tends to view all criticism or opposition to its policies as an act of treason, thus negating all its claims of adhering to democratic values and respect for human and civil rights. In such an aura, it really becomes difficult to understand just what it is that the government wants from its people? The government insists that this is a democratic state, but it tells its people there is no room for honest free expression of opinion! It insists that we have political plurality in the land, but sends out thugs and elements of its many-faced security apparatus to occupy the party headquarters of those parties that thought that the government really was serious about adopting political pluralism. The Government says it accepts opposing opinions. But, when it decides to go to war against some of its citizens for no apparent logical reason that would serve the national or public interest, and some public leaders, some elements of the more outspoken opposition to this senseless war are thrown in jail and subjected to the worst kind of treatment and disrespect, not withstanding their standing in the community and the high respect and broad trust they enjoy at the grass roots level. Not only that, they are subject to legally very questionable proceedings and put on mock trials. For their public conscientious behavior they are judged as traitors and even sentenced to death for telling the government have a heart; spare your people the bloodshed, destruction and madness, for the sake of serving the interests of a few political opportunists and warlords. This is not what our understanding of democracy entails nor is it commensurate with the visions of a state that institutes law with equity and respect for human rights. Yes, you have the right of free opinion they say, but do not cross the “red lines”. These red lines are of course left for them to draw or put in place at their own whims. These red lines, have absolutely nothing to do with national interests or the interest of the public at large. For a year now, the government has been waging a war against a large segment of the population, causing large casualties among our armed forces and the citizenry, but those who sought to bring some sense back into the mind of the government are put in chains and subjected to the worst kind of humiliation, while the government wastes badly needed scarce resources to fill the pockets of the bloodsuckers of the land, who find in war a profitable enterprise.

The government says it is fighting a war against terror, but the terrorists are at large enjoying all the freedom they need, while those who stood against extremism and propagated religious moderation become the victims of this misdirected war against terror.

What is the sense of telling the world that there is a democracy in Yemen, when the state exercises all kinds of repression against those who sincerely believe they are trying to bring back some logical reasoning to government functions? Who would continue to believe a government that lives by dead rhetoric of great achievements, when half the population is living under the poverty line, while the other half hardly manages to get by with their earnings that are hard to protect or direct towards meaningful investments that will help generate economic growth? How can we claim to have achieved great strides in development, when the output of our educational system are unable to find jobs and are forced to turn to illicit means to be able to sustain themselves amidst the absence of jobs to enable them to earn honest livings? How can we claim there is equal opportunity for all, when the gap between the very few wealthy and the vast majority of the population approaching perpetual poverty seems to grow wider day by day? How can one wish to avoid social unrest, when the corrupt and the embezzlers of our society are building their luxurious residential complexes in clear view of everyone, without any sign that they are to be subjected to accountability for the illicit means by which they acquired their vast wealth? But the people of the country who really care about the welfare and safety of the people are awarded death sentences and extensive prison terms, while they have never earned a dishonest Riyal in their entire lives! What paradoxes must we contend with indeed when the patriotic citizens of the land are treated as criminals and the bleeders of the government coffers and the resources of the land are awarded diplomatic passports to enable them to travel overseas to arrange their investments in foreign lands and off-shore bank accounts?

How long can this mockery of statecraft continue, before a serious social explosion flares out that will engulf the rich and the poor in a violent torrent of contempt and anger for the fumbling of government. There is bound to be an ugly revenge for uncalled for deprivation and inexcusable poverty, just so a few of the favored icons of the regime and its cheerleaders can have a passage card for endless plunder that knows no deterrent.

We have come to a stage when the idea of dreaming or aspiring for a bountiful future for the nation has become a national crime that has its own courts to mitigate out sentences left and right to anyone who shows concern about the sorry plight of the majority of the people of the land. Daily, we can see how a significant portion of the population try to fulfill their nutritional requirements by picking out of garbage bins to pick out of the vast waste that the affluent throw away from ther extravagant banquets they throw, as the latter race to outdo each other on the degree of wasteful affluence they can display.

There is no escape from the realities of life, notwithstanding how much decorating and polishing that a strong public media machine tries to fill the air waves with and the vast public information machinery the government has created. The latter itself has become a bleeder of public coffers for all the hypocrites and hired pens that project a misleading image of the government and glorify the icons of the regime and turn its misdeeds into great accomplishments.
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