Kuwaiti intellectuals and academics have warned of the growing dangers of tribal and sectarian tendencies within the society, saying that they were having ominous effects on society.
According to a study presented at a forum on citizenship in Kuwait, 70 per cent of Kuwaiti students tended to look at issues through the prism of sectarianism and their tribe.
Dr Eisa Al Ansari, the author of the study, said that the university immunity supposed to shield students against subcultures and "narrow" tendencies has weakened under the onslaughts of sectarianism and a sense of belonging to the tribe.
"Today at the University of Kuwait, you could detect these negative elements in the conversations between students, in their verbal standoffs and in their writings," he said. "The sense of belonging to a tribe or to a sect could replace the sense of belonging to a state," he was quoted as saying by Al Siyassah daily.
Political science professor Mohammad Al Faili said that drawing a line between loyalty to the tribe and to the country was crucial.
"To be proud of your tribe or your sect is not something that is shameful. Our society is a mixture of ethnic backgrounds, sects and tribes and this is what makes us who we are. However, our loyalty to these elements should never override our loyalty to Kuwait," he was quoted as saying by Kuwait Times on Monday.
Several intellectuals in Bahrain, another Gulf country where sectarianism has gained dangerous ground in the last few years fuelled by partisan media, have repeatedly warned against the consolidation of sectarian tendencies that would erode the status of the state and undermine national unity.
