Bahrain Mirror (Exclusive): Deputy Head of Bahraini Public Security, and member of the ruling family, Khalifa bin Ahmad Al Khalifa, decided to deactivate his Instagram account, following a scandal that involved him insulting and cursing the Shiite citizens of his country, and their beliefs. He said that they are "polytheist bastards and worshippers of graves", and these are the lightest of the insults, since it is extremely inppropriate to mention the heavier insults.

In fact, this is not the first time a ruling family member addresses the country's citizens using insults and offensive rhetoric. In 2014, ruling family member and writer Dr. Lualua Al Khalifa described, in a local newspaper, the Bahraini Sunni tribes who recently migrated to Qatar, as "a bunch that sells Bahrain for dirhams and dinars."

Commenting on the extensive responses after his brother's scandal of insulting the Shiite citizens on his Instagram account, Khalid bin Ahmad Al Khalifa, the deputy head of Public Security's brother, said on Thursday (August 25, 2016) that "insulting and cursing the Shiite sect is something normal and there is no shame in doing so", adding that "Shiites are nothing but pigs".

Both Khalid and Khalifa, sons of Ahmad Al Khalifa, embody the typical model of a Shia-hating ruling family member in Bahrain, who is capable of evading the state laws and regulations. They are aware that no one will dare hold them accountable. They build their path on this basis, and act upon it.

In a previous statement, lawyer Fatima al-Hawaj said that "more than 400 verdicts were ruled against ruling family members by execution courts in Bahrain, yet they are all still pending, even though the plaintiffs resorted directly to the Ruling Family Council."

In the case of both Khalifa and Khalid, the maximum that they would face is being forced to deactivate their social media accounts. Khalifa's account was deactivated, after he had around 45,000 followers, while his brother Khalid's account is still open and running.

Last year in 2015, Nasser bin Khalid Al Khalifa, the son of the Royal Court Minister, and Bahraini military officer, was forced to deactivate his Twitter account. He had been using it since 2011 to insult the Shiites and describe them as "polytheists" and "worshippers of graves." However, this was not the real reason behind deactivating his account, it was rather his scandalous open role in supporting the campaign "equipping a conqueror", which helps equip extremist fighters and send them to fight in Syria.

In 2014, the Twitter account "Mnarfezhom" (Arabic for: the one who makes them jitter) run by Mohammad bin Saqer Al Khalifa, was shut down, after four years of creatively insulting the Shiites and describing them with derogatory terms stemming from extreme hatred, such as "Rawafid" (rejectionists), the "Magi", and the "sons of pleasure".

Mohammad bin Saqer belongs to a branch that is considered to be the less fortunate second class of the ruling family. Despite that, he acted as if no one can hold him accountable. He was not forced to deactivate his page until "enough was enough" after he broke into the Manama-based Foreign Ministry building, and held his gun against a Ministry employee called Nayef AbdulHamid al-Kuwaiti. This year, 2016, he was fined with 50 dinars for insulting a Sunni lawyer.

Mohammad Al Khalifa, 50-year-old Al Khalifa member, drives in his black Range Rover through poor villages that are inhabited by the Shiite majority, with his rifle at his side. In December 2013, he pulled over in front of protesters who were demonstrating against his family's monarchy, and shot a number of bullets at them. A video documenting the incident showed how he addressed the citizens saying, "Come here you sons of pleasure."

By pleasure (Muta'a), he refers to a law in the Shiite Muslim Sharia, known as the temporary marriage, yet the extremists of the ruling family use it as a weapon to promote sectarianism and doubt the honor of the opposition, which merely demands equality. Phrase such as "Sons of Muta'a (pleasure)" became a norm in the political and media rhetoric exploited to combat the critics of the authorities.

Nonetheless, such behavior is not limited to the minor members of the Bahraini ruling family. Khalid bin Ahmad bin Khalifa, the Royal Court Minister, had once described the Shiite citizens in a poem that went viral during the 1990s protests, as "vulgar".

For his part, the ruling family poet, Ahmad bin Mohammad Al Khalifa, considers in one of his poems that Shiite women "used to fornicate and get impregnated by the Portuguese", and that "their eyes are green for that reason," and thus "they walk in shame till this day with their green eyes."

Last year, in 2015, Bahraini Justice Minister Khalid bin Ali Al Khalifa addressed Sheikh Isa Qassim, the most prominent Shiite cleric and leader in the country, describing him as "vile". He claimed that "vileness is this person's level of thinking, and how he expresses himself", in reference to Sheikh Isa Qassim.

The same official's insults addressed at al-Wasat Editor-in-Chief, Mansour al-Jamri described him as "foolish" while commenting on his daily columns, were too many to be counted. Phrases like "stop this foolishness" and "shut up you fool" are among his favorite when addressing the editor-in-chief of the most prominent local newspaper.

The fact-finding committee presided over by Judge Mahmoud Cherif Bassiouni to look into the events of 2011, has acknowledged the facts stating that protesters were tortured and threatened with rape and subjected to insults directed at their Shiite sect." This year, 2016, the government declared in a "skit" that it has completed the implementation of the committee's recommendations in full.

It seems that the implementation of the recommendations is so serious to the extent that the deputy head of General Public himself volunteered to insult the Shia Imams and disrespect their beliefs blatantly, after such a task was previously assigned to "junior militants"!

Arabic Version