Sat in the Kingdom of Bahrain, trying to surf the Internet. I must be out of my mind right? Of course I am. 

My friends have sent me a link to a site which makes T-shirts, asking me what I think of the T-shirts which promote love, friendship and goodwill. Certainly this must be a legitimate cause anywhere else in the world, but not in my Kingdom of Bahrain. Someone with a brain the size of a bird must have decided that websites which sell T-shirts are against the laws of the Kingdom of Bahrain and its Constitution, and that I, a subject of the Kingdom of Bahrain, shall refrain from accessing any sites of such nature until further notice. 

So my dear friends around the world, please note that I am no longer in a place where I decide which sites to access and which I should not, for I am no longer a human being with the right to self-determination. I totally realise that accessing a site is no big deal. I know I can continue living without having to see a site which produces and sells T-shirts online. I am sane enough to know that I have lived all my life not missing out on things because the T-shirt site is blocked in my country. This is not why I am annoyed. I am annoyed because I am now a subject and no longer a human being in my home country, that I am someone who has draconian rules shoved down my throat from the minute I wake up to the minute I knock myself off to sleep and accessing this T-shirt site is only one hurdle I had to cross today.

Who decides why I can or cannot access my T-shirt site and why? And who determines what information I can access and what I can't and why? And who is the dodo who still doesn't know that every roadblock now has an eight-lane tunnel dug under it, where those surfing the Internet are not only breaking the speed limit without concern for your blocks but are also doing doughnuts in broad daylight?

And then you read in the papers.. but that is another story for another day. 

5 comments:

Unknown said...

hmm well girl after all your leaving in a country as Bahrain. Everything is controlled dont know why!!One of the days i was trying to access a website which has nothing to do with the violation the regulations of Bahrain.. they do need to reconsider this censorship

Regards,

Yousif

Unknown said...
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Anonymous said...

Hey!!!

I'm Rifat. I'm from Bangladesh, but I live in U.S.

Wow! In U.S.A, you're pretty much free to do anything you want to on the internet UNLESS it's illegal. Hmm. Are most Arabian countries like that? Or is it just Bahrain?

Anyway, I really liked this post. Thanks. Maybe we can talk sometimes.

Oh, and check out my blog: www.rifatmursalin.blogspot.com

Unknown said...

Dear Bahraini girl, just because your t-shirts were banned doesn't mean you're not a free thinking human being, you are expressing that will right here on this blog. It is definitely a tragedy that you cannot express yourself on those t-shirts anymore, but just remember that you still have the capability to think for yourself!

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