Cultural events 'should not clash with our values'

Manama: Cultural events hosted by Bahrain should take into consideration Islamic precepts and local traditions and should not clash with the core values of society, Bahrain's prime minister has said.

Shaikh Khalifa Bin Salman Al Khalifa said that robust local values and religious figures should act as "safety valves" against developments and events that society cannot tolerate or does not wish to accommodate.

His statements came as Bahraini society appeared sharply divided over the formation of a parliamentarian commission to investigate an allegedly sleazy show performed by a Lebanese troupe in Bahrain at the inauguration of the annual Spring of Culture festival.

Moral limits

The Islamist-dominated Council of Representatives said the inquiry was necessary to take action against those who trespassed moral limits and offended Bahrain while liberals said the commission was a malicious initial step to hijack public opinion and impose an austere religious agenda.

But Shaikh Khalifa urged the nation to deal with this and other issues with a high sense of responsibility and avoid exaggeration."We do not want such issues to take a direction that will not lead to the objective of achieving public interest," Shaikh Khalifa on Sunday told a crowd of visitors at his weekly majlis.

But as the deputies named to conduct the formal investigation were getting ready for their first discussion of the case tomorrow a visit by Shaikha May Bint Mohammad Al Khalifa, the culture and heritage undersecretary in charge of the festival, to the parliament speaker and the glowing tributes he gave her publicly exposed growing cracks within the commission.

"The commission should be fully independent and I reject any attempt to steer its work," Mohammad Al Mezel, representing Al Wefaq, said in a press statement.

But Ebrahim Al Hadi, from Islamic Menbar, endorsed the speaker's public support to Shaikha May and praised her work.