CBSE Class 9 Answered

Bahrain is an island country situated near the western shores of the Persian gulf. It currently has an undmoctatic sytem of government.

Inspired by the Arab Spring, Bahrain's Shia majority initiated widespread protests for democracy in early 2011. Though the government initially allowed protests, a month later it requested security assistance from Saudi Arabia and other GCC countries and declared a three month state of emergency. The government then launched a crackdown on opposition that led to thousands of arrests and dozens of deaths. There have been many open clashes between the protesters and security forces ever since. Curiously, the Arab media has given scarce attention to Bahrain protests as compared to its earlier zealous reportage of the Arab Spring movements. Many have criticised Bahrain’s heavy handed attitude towards the pro-democracy protests and have cited USAs close relations with the Al Khalifa family as a reason behind international silence over this issue.