A retrograde, unfortunate step Thursday, 20 May 2010 06:52

It is nothing short of shocking to hear that the Bahrain government has put a ban on Al Jazeera’s operations in the country. For Al Jazeera it is nothing unusual. It has been banned from broadcasting or had its operations curtailed at one time or the other by most Arab governments, including neighbours Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. For Bahrain’s image as a forward-looking, modern state, it is a serious blow.

Al Jazeera condemned the measure, saying it did not even have a bureau in that country. It added that a team from its English channel was denied entry for an interview with a UN official on Tuesday.

It is not clear what prompted the retrograde step but ironically it came on the day Manama was hosting the second Gulf Press Union conference. Bahrain News Agency only said the Ministry of Culture and Information had taken the decision in response to the Qatar-based satellite TV channel “breaching the professional media norms and flouting the laws regulating the press and publishing.” It did not elaborate. But the broadcaster had  recently aired programmes on poverty and the treatment of expatriate labourers, both sensitive issues in Bahrain like in all other Gulf countries. Some observers see in it a reflection of tensions between Qatar and Bahrain that have persisted since the two countries settled a dispute over the Hawar islands in 2001.

Be that as it may the measure is certainly unfortunate. And more so coming on a day Bahrain’s Culture and Information Minister Sheikha Mai bint Mohammed Al Khalifa proposed establishing a special fund to serve as a lifeline for any GCC newspaper facing financial difficulties, while opening the GPU meeting.