The citizenship riddle & what we owe our nation

CAPTAIN’S CORNER BY CAPTAIN MAHMOOD AL MAHMOOD

Citizenship. The word comes weighted with responsibility and patriotism. In our fast-changing world, it also comes with many modern advantages and people are willing to change their citizenship if they feel that another country can help them achieve their goals in life, whether personal, financial or nationalistic.

However, one thing is clear. Whether to your mother country that you were born in or your adopted country, you owe 100% loyalty at all times. Patriotic values are what takes a country forward and binds a people together.

To conceal one’s acquired or original citizenship is a violation of trust. Its like a Trojan Horse – an attractive (Bahraini) on the outside and something different on the inside!

This is especially true when one represents the people in a democratic forum but it also holds good if you are just an ordinary citizen.

In our beloved Bahrain, citizenship comes loaded with many benefits that enable and empower us – free health  care, subsidized housing and access to lower - cost utilities and free education and priority in the jobs market are some examples.

We have witnessed continuing efforts by families to include children of Bahrainis where one parent is non-Bahraini, to get these offspring registered as Bahraini.

Many non-Bahraini families, especially from India and Pakistan have also sought and received Bahraini citizenship.

This is not just because the parents save money through these benefits but also because the children are brought up with core Bahraini values and represent a new generation that can serve our leadership and our Kingdom loyally.

As we move towards a New World that is globally integrated, we must balance this with our Bahraini heritage and humanism so that we always have a unique voice that counts on the world stage