Protests in the island nation of Bahrain have started to take a violent turn, with the death toll rising to five on Thursday. Indians are worried about the demonstrations assuming Cairo-like proportions in capital Manama's Pearl Square.
Dano Cherison, for instance, went to pick up a friend on Thursday morning from the airport, and it was then that he was forced to come face-to-face with the magnitude of a revolution that had started to sweep the country. He said,
“When I drove to the airport at 3am there were a few protesters and policemen about. But when I drove back at 4am through the Pearl roundabout, I saw the police in full force and youngsters — probably teenagers — protesting. I heard a couple of gun shots in the distance…it felt surreal.”
Cherison, who runs an ad agency, had to give his employees the day off, but that isn’t the only reason he feels resentful — “The malls are shut and the highways and roads are blocked. We are glued to our TV sets and depending on friends’ messages for there is no other way of knowing what’s happening as we can’t step out. I am now gauging whether having a long term business in Bahrain is a good idea.”
On his way to work on Wednesday morning, Cherison spotted more than 400 protesters in pitched tents at the Pearl Roundabout. “It was like a semi picnic area,” he recalls.
Saira John (name changed) works as a marketing professional at a leading university in Bahrain. Though the university asked its employees to try and turn up for work, John opted not to. “Because, you can’t,” she exclaimed.
“Everything’s blocked. We are all stuck at home, wondering ‘What next?’”
Thomas resides in Adliya, an area that he described as “peaceful”, even during the protests. “I went for a drive on Thursday evening and could see that the situation is under control. The military had taken over and there were no protesters to be seen. The situation seems be under control but life is still not normal.”
Even though Thomas was fairly certain that things would be back to normal by Sunday, his optimism might be proved false by the still loud noise of protest coming from Pearl Square.
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