DURING a short trip to London last week I visited some of my old British acquaintances, and discussed Bahrain extensively with them. Two of the gentlemen had lived in Bahrain for a long time and were fully aware of the so-called national dialogue taking place with participants who are talking but not communicating.

One of them described the opposition as “diehard revolutionaries” like the ones depicted in every book written about revolutions, featuring the same actors on the stage. Prior to the Bolshevik revolution, a discussion took place between Sergey Nyechayev and Georgi Plekhanov. Nyechayev said “it is our duty to destroy everything”, to which Plekhanov retorted with the question: “Are we then going to rebuild it?”

The shocking answer from Nyechayev was that destruction was their duty, rebuilding was not their task.

Surprisingly what my old British friend said applies to Bahrain as a carbon copy. This is not theory but reality. All the small business houses and properties on Budaiya Road are now completely destroyed, which was highlighted in both our English and Arabic newspapers yesterday. We revealed that people are even frightened to leave their homes. Bad news for Bahrain’s society, but an outstanding achievement for the opposition! Who will invest in Bahrain after seeing images of sheer destruction, like a war zone? Can the opposition be proud of what they have done? Certainly not a single declaration or condemnation has been forthcoming. Their absolute silence reflects absolute complicity.

So how can a national dialogue flourish without the voice of reason. Dialogue means give and take based on exchanging thoughts, not on dictation and rejection. In fact one of my associates said that the opposition has declared economic war on Bahrain. These two British gentlemen suggested that the way out is definitely not dialogue. Implementation of law and order at any cost must be the first imperative. For the destiny of Bahrain cannot be ransomed to a bunch of theocrats and their stooges. They can see for themselves what is happening in Tunisia, Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, Iraq and Iran where more than 40 per cent of the working population cannot find jobs. In the case of Syria the percentage is even higher.

Given the present political and economic environment how can the economy flourish, hampered also by an explosive population growth? In fact my two associates could not understand why authorities in Bahrain are not administering the rule of law in its strictest form. They argued that Bahrain’s government is pandering too much to human rights organisations at a time when the rights of the silent majority, hijacked by thuggery and mob action, should be their priority consideration.

For them to ignore this could prove fatal, because if law abiding citizens and residents lose hope what else will be left in this country?