‘Same law for rich and poor’
here is no doubt that Kuwait of my generation … sixty, forty or even twenty years ago, is not the Kuwait of today and will not be. There is also no doubt that very few countries in the world have changed demographically in the last half a century.
Tribal, urban, and sectarian rates have dangerously upended and Law No. 44/1994, related to the ‘original’ Kuwaiti nationality has contributed to deepening the differences and the gap between the components of society, so that when you meet a citizen you immediately feel inside you that you are with someone who does not belong to this country at all!
The Battle of Jahra, a pivotal point in the history of Kuwait, took place in Al-Jahra on October 10, 1920 between Kuwaiti forces and the “Ikhwan”, the spearhead of the forces of the ruler of Najd at the time, Abdulaziz bin Saud.
Despite the huge loss of life that occurred on the Kuwaiti side, and them resorting to take shelter in the Red Palace led by Sheikh Salem Al-Sabah, exposed themselves to the risk of annihilation by starvation and thirst, and thousands of fierce fighters who outnumbered them, besieged them from all sides, those in control rejected the terms of surrender and withstood and the battle ended with the British air force intervention and the arrival of two warships in Kuwait. The Ikhwan realized the difficulty of the situation, and withdrew permanently.
The leadership at the time took that solid heroic position, and refused to bow to the demands of the Ikhwan, and we do not think our current government, who are the descendants, have the same strength and courage, and its ability to restore the tolerant face of Kuwait.
How can we imagine the rejection to bow and come to the terms of surrender and after one hundred years we bow to the conditions of deputies and tweeters and accept the formation of committees to look at the word ‘gender’, and respond to the request to remove plastic statues from a store in a mall on the pretext that they violate our customs and traditions, and there are thousands of such statues, like mannequins in hundreds of women’s and men’s clothes stores.
Therefore, in order for Kuwait to return to its graceful past, even if it is some of its beautiful past, we are required to dissolve the National Assembly, amend the election law, and perhaps also return to the old ten constituency system.
It also requires cancelling the amendment to the Nationality Law of 1994, which allowed naturalized people and their children to nominate themselves before consolidating their patriotism and loyalty to the nation.
There is also need to review the records of those who have obtained the citizenship during the so-called ‘suspicious period’ and these are easy to identify. There is also need for a final solution to the issue of those who hold dual nationalities, at least for those who live outside the country without a logical reason, and it is not difficult to identify those, either.
The most important of all is to continue on the current path set by the government by applying the law on everyone without discrimination.
e-mail: a.alsarraf@alqabas.com.kw