Sunday, April 25, 2010

Can't we all just get along...??


So I heard "through the grapevine" that last week a huge fight broke out between Dhofari and Northern students from one of the colleges (in Salalah) leaving one Northerner in the HOSPITAL.

It all started with "seating" at a play. I guess a Northern student sat in the unmarked "Dhofari Only" section which led to an exchange of words. Later, a bunch of Northern guys decided to set the record straight and gathered a lil posse of a dozen strong. Well, little did they know that they would be matched and then some with 40 Dhofaris! Hello didn't they know that was coming?! Fight quickly escalated and left one guy in the hospital. These students are purportedly seniors, and the guy who is in the hospital is supposed to GRADUATE in a months time! So sad and immature. I truly hope the poor guy in the hospital gets out in time for graduation, IF he's even allowed to graduate.

I'm told there is a lot of tension between Northerners and Dhofaris and that it is not uncommon for them to get into confrontations, even in class? I was naively under the impression that these kind of immature things happen in High Schools, not between graduating seniors in College!

On a different note, I can't help but wonder....
What did the guys wear to fight? I can't imagine them in their nice Dishdashas and Kummas, that would be a little restrictive, no? Maybe the Dhofaris were prepared wearing Izar and a t-shirt?. But what about the Northerners hmmmm?.

Has anyone else heard about this? Please share your thoughts and more info!
*photo inspired by Dhofari Gucci

12 comments:

  1. Hey. Actually the guy was staring at the Dhofari girls during the play, so two of the Dhofari guys walked up to him and asked him to please not stare at the girl because he was being rude, .. but he just ignored them so they got REALLY REALLY REALLY pissed off.

    The fight happened on a Friday night and they beat him up. A couple of students from the college told me.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hey I heard it was over seats not girls. And yeah it happened during the play. I go to the college. And no it was not on friday!

    ReplyDelete
  3. What difference does it make why they fought. I can't stand when these kids make a big fuss over the dumbest things. I had a student get pissed off claiming I favor Northern students over my Southern students. No, actually I don't. But I do appreciate that they tend to care more about learning.

    Lets just say thank god it was a fist fight and no kanjars were involved.

    ReplyDelete
  4. umm ququ ( not logged in opps)April 25, 2010 at 9:12 AM

    Am sad to hear about this fight..nopes i knew nothing bout it untill i read it here. A fight for arabs means a real fight nto something like a few punches and then ohh its over. Knifes might have been involved if there was time to call more freinds and go as a big group but i dont know of this, im jst expressing what i think.

    There has always been tenstion btwn the northern people and the dhofari's and it goes back to the 70 when the revolution took place..thats what im told by hubby and my father who had contact over the yrs around dhofar.

    May Allah guide every omanI to accept eachother as brothers in deen & bring peace between their hearts.AMEEN

    All i knw is i shall not be raising our son with this racist attitude that goes around thinking one is better than the other due to location or tribe..its pathetic. Allahu alim.

    Love & peace to all the people in Oman!!

    ReplyDelete
  5. That photo is too cute!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hi all, actually iam not flabbergasted,cause the reality is bitter when we just utter it.i know that the relationships between south and north are not that good due to historical and current incidents, according to this things can safely get them in argument and then turns to a fight,so from my point of view, we shouldn't judge people as a group or regarding to their geographical positions,let me clear it by saying the fight wouldn't have happen if the first party asked in a good and polite manner, as well if the second party accepted the request gently but unfortunately it is over so all i have to say is:
    i appeal to their teachers\lecturers to enlighten them to be good with one another not just give them some grammar rules and that's it.
    we should respect people and their cultural trends not just jump or gaze at women it could be or couldn't be accepted in north but it not acceptable in south.
    I believe, we should think before we speak,we should look before we step,we should stop before we cross.
    SO LONG
    AHMED

    ReplyDelete
  7. Well said Ahmed. MashaAllah on ur positive attitude. InshaAllah more shabab of the ummah have such a positive attitude in life and share their time in peace with everyone regardless of tribe/geo location/age/race etc.
    Hiyyak Allah Ahmed. jazakilahu khair ameen.

    ReplyDelete
  8. The photo may be 'cute' but the scandal and its grave repercussions are definitively NOT.

    Rania - the boy in the hospital is in critical condition. Both of his kidneys were badly injured. One had to be removed surgically. They are hoping the second one will hold on long enough for a transplant kidney to arrive. If not, he will DIE, not merely miss his graduation.

    Who knows what the reason is? Frankly, I do not care! Why? This poor boy, who is dying - please pray for him - was not actually a member of the initially 'offending' party anyway. Yet he is in hospital ... hope you will pray ...

    Also, this action will have great consequences on further development of education in Oman. As I have heard, parents of northern students will refuse to allow their children to attend college in Salalah. Ministry has been petitioned. So far, I know that ALL female students are definitively transferring to colleges in the north closer to home, and what will be the case with the male students - I do not yet know.

    Furthermore, numbers of northern students have left Salalah already, because they claim to not feel safe, and will return only to take their final exams.

    This is so sad - such a beautiful strong country, so much power and culture, tradition, etc. And yet, hate has wormed its way in, festering and growing ... Whatever the past history holds, these kids were not there to experience it, and yet the hate lives on ...

    You are ALL brothers and sisters, for crying out loud! You share history, religion, cultural heritage - does this mean so little?! Peace and love are so close within your reach ... spread this message, and you and the world will be only better for it. Please. There is too much hate and bloodshed as it is in this small world we live in.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Ahmed: Thank you for your thoughts and contribution. I agree we should not judge one another, especially on something as trivial as origin. I hope that we can all learn something from this.

    Dear "Horrible"
    Thank you for the added information. It really is a shame that this young man is in critical condition, and I hope my photo didn’t offend you. Perhaps if you give more details some of us can go visit him, maybe his family? And maybe even someone is willing to donate a kidney if it won’t get here on time, seriously?

    I don't know if indeed ALL northern girls will return home, I guess only time will tell. Moreover, although this is a very sad, tragic and immature situation, the answer is certainly not to segregate North and South even more by pulling students out. Parents, School officials and the community at large should take this opportunity to educate the students and instill the importance of open-mindedness and respect for cultural differences. A lot of rumors are swirling around amongst the students and some facts have been purposefully left out of my post.

    Its true many Northern students do not feel safe because little was done to apprehend the perpetrators. Perhaps the Dean of the College should hold a seminar on conflict management or an assembly with all students in attendance to publicly condemn violence. Surely there is a better way to resolve differences.

    Nice of you to stop by, I think you will make my readers think a little…

    ReplyDelete
  10. As salam alaikum Horrible.

    Thanks for this info. my heart is hurting so bad for him..i cant imagine what his mother is going through..my son is young but i know one day he will be a man here in salalah...i hope i can do something positive to change things here in dhofar even though im not mawatan.

    please keep us updated..maybe u can share with us privately his name and what room he is in so we can visit him or send for him things he/family may need.

    jazakilahu khair ameen.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Ahmed, you are sooo right:

    "the fight wouldn't have happen if the first party asked in a good and polite manner, as well if the second party accepted the request gently"
    and:
    "i appeal to their teachers\lecturers to enlighten them to be good with one another not just give them some grammar rules"
    and:
    "we should respect people and their cultural trends"
    and also:
    "we should think before we speak,we should look before we step,we should stop before we cross"

    Thank you for saying these things, they are very much true and correct, I thought we should all read them again.

    Dear Rania, I am certainly not offended. I happened to see that comment about the pic as I was scrolling down the page. Then I remembered agreeing with it a little while ago, before I heard the rumors, so it was the first thing on my mind when I started the post.

    Also, you are right. Everything one hears about this so far is a lot of rumors. In fact, I do want to point out that the things in the post above are things that were 'heard' and passed on ... I am certainly not a witness, but merely shared the information I heard from several different places, since you asked for it in your post.

    Unfortunately, as a result I cannot give you more information about the injured boy ... I simply don't know. Some say he is in a hospital in Muscat. When I heard what some people say happened to him, my thoughts immediately became that of a mother, and I can't start to think what his parents are going through. He really could be anybody, and deep sadness comes to me to think of any wonderful, young Omani that I may know, no matter if he is from Dhofar, the north, or somewhere in the middle, to be in this situation.

    First, I was upset. Now I just feel heaviness at heart. I wish peace for all mankind.

    ReplyDelete
  12. so - if northern students are apparently moving / being moved from Salalah
    what is the apparent situation with Dhofari students in the north?

    ReplyDelete