Pakistanis in Bahrain fear for their lives, brutally lynched

[Sinister Cultural Marxist]

http://english.aljazeera.net/video/middleeast/2011/03/201132573018707527.html

This is sad but not surprising. South Asians have long been the ignored and exploited underclass of the Gulf, they don't deserve this violence.

It is also sad to think how outraged many "Leftists" are over the racist victimization of Africans in Libya, but not in Bahrain. Is it because the government in Bahrain is more pro-American, and people are in denial about the racist reactivity among the protesters?

Anyway, this should be taken as a critical lesson for revolutionaries everywhere. Libya is proof of this too. The ruling classes will often try to make elements of the working class compete with one another along racial lines and other arbitrary differences. The working classes will almost invariably blame the newcomers, not the ruling classes, unless they are properly educated. This is true in Bahrain, Libya, the USA, Europe ... everywhere.

[daleckian]

Is it because the government in Bahrain is more pro-American, and people are in denial about the racist reactivity among the protesters?


More because a lot of what we know in Bahrain isn't bombarded to us everyday by the media, the same way Libya is.

[Blackscare]

More because a lot of what we know in Bahrain isn't bombarded to us everyday by the media, the same way Libya is.


So the amount of media coverage one's death warrants determines how outraged leftists should be now?

[Luís Henrique]

So the amount of media coverage one's death warrants determines how outraged leftists should be now?

Of course. The media is bourgeois, so if the media tells you the sky is blue, you should automatically start yelling that it is actually red.

But actually the fact is some people are very afraid to let Gaddafy go, and will cling to any bit of information or misinformation that seems to show that those who oppose him are bad people. So if some African people in Libya are beaten by angry mobs who believe they are mercenaries, this is proof that the Libyan rebels are reactionary and racist ("pogromists", I've read somewhere), and should be opposed. As no one holds similar delusions about the Bahraini rulers, any evidence of possibly racist misbehaviour of Bahraini oppositionists will be quickly put aside: it isn't useful to anyone.

Frankly, some people would either ignore or deny the fact that some units of the Red Army committed antisemitic atrocities, or else reach the conclusion that the October Revolution was reactionary. The sensible idea that a popular revolution will eventually attract backward layers of the working and middle classes seems to be beyond the reach of some leftists.

Luís Henrique

[daleckian]

So the amount of media coverage one's death warrants determines how outraged leftists should be now?

you can't be outraged what you don't know about. No media outlets really report what's going on in Bahrain since Bahrain is essentially a US ally. I mean, Egypt was too, but Egypt was too large to really ignore.

[RadioRaheem84]

How can I be outraged about something I don't know about?

Seriously, the premise of this thread is ridiculous.

[Sinister Cultural Marxist]

RadioRaheem-

(1) I've posted about it before (http://www.revleft.com/vb/bangladeshi-migrant-workers-t151637/index.html) (though about Bangladeshis), (2) I wasn't talking about you in particular (though its interesting that you thought I was :P) but in general to those who have used the racist killings to smear all of the rebels.

Anyways, the main point is that this has been happening for a couple of days actually, there were reports of Bengalis being victimized too which I saw on the BBC a while back. But I do think people should remember, as far as Libya and Bahrain are concerned, that these kinds of reactionary activities by rebels are caused by false consciousness, but that this false consciousness itself has a social and historical origin and context. The importation of foreign labour is a part of that.

[Raubleaux]

I also wasn't aware of it until you posted it. I did not feel very invested in the Bahrain events since it seemed to me to have a lot to do with the Shia/Sunni dynamic. Did not see much on either side worth being excited about.

[pranabjyoti]

http://english.aljazeera.net/video/middleeast/2011/03/201132573018707527.html

This is sad but not surprising. South Asians have long been the ignored and exploited underclass of the Gulf, they don't deserve this violence.

It is also sad to think how outraged many "Leftists" are over the racist victimization of Africans in Libya, but not in Bahrain. Is it because the government in Bahrain is more pro-American, and people are in denial about the racist reactivity among the protesters?

Anyway, this should be taken as a critical lesson for revolutionaries everywhere. Libya is proof of this too. The ruling classes will often try to make elements of the working class compete with one another along racial lines and other arbitrary differences. The working classes will almost invariably blame the newcomers, not the ruling classes, unless they are properly educated. This is true in Bahrain, Libya, the USA, Europe ... everywhere.
The problem with south Asians is the fact that they themselves often like to align with the authority and take pride in "hard work", "work culture". I often heard that NRI (Non Resident Indians) saying about how "hard working" Indians are in comparison to European and American general working class. The present generation has been taught to hate and avoid trade union activities, because such activities will "force" the authority closure of factories and that will end in loss of jobs. Basically, feudal mentality if deep rooted in South Asia like (probably more) other parts of Asia and by that mentality, a factory owner or authority feeds the workers working in the factories and workers must be "grateful" for that. What else kind of treatment of people with such mentality deserved?
IMO, probably South Asian workers themselves are responsible a lot for the treatment they are receiving now in middle-east and worldwide. Probably, historical process is now punishing them for their backward mentality.

[Nehru]

The problem with south Asians is the fact that they themselves often like to align with the authority and take pride in "hard work", "work culture".

This is totally true. I think SAs still have this feudal mindset, the master-slave relationship. Every relationship - teacher-student, parent-child, employer-employee - becomes a master-slave relationship where the ones with authority are often seen as 'superior' by the ones without authority. Workers themselves love and support the bourgeois (in a weird sort of way like a loyal slave defending his master) and attack fellow workers if they go against them.

It sounds ridiculous to others but totally true in the South Asian context.

[Sinister Cultural Marxist]

Pranab-you're totally wrong to blame the victims in this case. These aren't kids going to America and Britain to live the "American dream", they are peasants paying their life savings and entering virtual debt peonage to work in exploitation conditions in Arabia because there are not enough opportunities at home. The class relations in that area are totally different.

Also, I know you're from South Asia yourself, but it sounds like a huge generalization to talk about all people from South Asia in that manner.

[pranabjyoti]

Pranab-you're totally wrong to blame the victims in this case. These aren't kids going to America and Britain to live the "American dream", they are peasants paying their life savings and entering virtual debt peonage to work in exploitation conditions in Arabia because there are not enough opportunities at home. The class relations in that area are totally different.

Also, I know you're from South Asia yourself, but it sounds like a huge generalization to talk about all people from South Asia in that manner.
I have observed this kind of mentality of many south Asians and I found it some kind of generalized way of thinking of a lot of general people and most shamefully, a part of working class. There isn't enough opportunity for you at home doesn't mean you have the right to stand against the people in favor of the authority, who are organized and have the capability to snatch opportunity from the authority.

[Luís Henrique]

How can I be outraged about something I don't know about?

Seriously, the premise of this thread is ridiculous.

Well, these aren't even breaking news. It has been reported in the bourgeois media, it has been reported in leftist outlets. Perhaps you are the one giving too much weight to Libya, and reading too much about Libya?

But, more to the point, now that you know, do you still support the Bahraini uprising, or are you ready to support the tyranny?

Luís Henrique

[Sinister Cultural Marxist]

Pranab-you're conflating two very different things. One is that of the people who move to America, Britain, Canada, and other places like that for well-paid jobs (relative to Indian standards). They seem to consist more of Sikh Punjabis or upper caste and upper class people from India/Pakistan etc, they are often better educated but still quite poor. Many naturally resent Americans and Brits for working less for more material benefit, much as other "model minorities" did in the past, but it is bad to make generalizations nonetheless.

But those workers are quite different from the ones moving to the Gulf. The people moving to the Gulf are usually far poorer and less educated. If they had a better education and more opportunity, they would join their brothers over here. But in the UAE, Bahrain and the Gulf in general they are a working underclass, and are basically debt peons who take out loans to work there, and need to spend years paying that loan back while they send limited remittances home. They are brought in because they can be worked for a low wage without being able to strike and organize as a "working class" without risking deportation and a loss of their initial deposit.

[RadioRaheem84]

But, more to the point, now that you know, do you still support the Bahraini uprising, or are you ready to support the tyranny?





If the character of the protestors or rebellion in any nation is right wing, reactionary and worse religiously zealous, then I wouldn't support it. Nor would I support the dictatorship.

Why are you making it seem like there are only two choices?

[pranabjyoti]

Pranab-you're conflating two very different things. One is that of the people who move to America, Britain, Canada, and other places like that for well-paid jobs (relative to Indian standards). They seem to consist more of Sikh Punjabis or upper caste and upper class people from India/Pakistan etc, they are often better educated but still quite poor. Many naturally resent Americans and Brits for working less for more material benefit, much as other "model minorities" did in the past, but it is bad to make generalizations nonetheless.
As per my experience, this is a general trend of Indians; probably South Asians. Whether you have high education or not, most Indians are basically influenced by their society and their brainwashing by media so much that the master-slave relationship is very natural to them. So they rarely feel the urge to get organized until such incidents occurred.

But those workers are quite different from the ones moving to the Gulf. The people moving to the Gulf are usually far poorer and less educated. If they had a better education and more opportunity, they would join their brothers over here. But in the UAE, Bahrain and the Gulf in general they are a working underclass, and are basically debt peons who take out loans to work there, and need to spend years paying that loan back while they send limited remittances home. They are brought in because they can be worked for a low wage without being able to strike and organize as a "working class" without risking deportation and a loss of their initial deposit.
Indians are preferred in Gulf (worldwide too) not only for less wages, but for their "submissive to master" mentality. Class consciousness doesn't arise out of high education only, it arises from one's daily experience. But, typical Indian mentality is the mos severe block before class consciousness.

[Nehru]

Pranab-you're conflating two very different things. One is that of the people who move to America, Britain, Canada, and other places like that for well-paid jobs (relative to Indian standards). They seem to consist more of Sikh Punjabis or upper caste and upper class people from India/Pakistan etc, they are often better educated but still quite poor. Many naturally resent Americans and Brits for working less for more material benefit, much as other "model minorities" did in the past, but it is bad to make generalizations nonetheless.

But those workers are quite different from the ones moving to the Gulf. The people moving to the Gulf are usually far poorer and less educated. If they had a better education and more opportunity, they would join their brothers over here. But in the UAE, Bahrain and the Gulf in general they are a working underclass, and are basically debt peons who take out loans to work there, and need to spend years paying that loan back while they send limited remittances home. They are brought in because they can be worked for a low wage without being able to strike and organize as a "working class" without risking deportation and a loss of their initial deposit.

You're right in that the people who migrate to the Gulf do so for very different reasons. Do they deserve sympathy? Yes. But we're trying to understand the feudalistic mindset of South Asians and how that leads to this whole situation in the first place. No judgment here, only analysis.