Alwaght-The ruling Aal Khalifa regime in Bahrain has been urged to release over 300 students languishing in the country's notorious prisons and detention centers.
The country's main opposition bloc, the al-Wefaq National Islamic Society, once again issued the urgent call ahead of the new school year in the tiny Persian Gulf state.
Al-Wefaq says the students are being held in Bahrain’s prisons, mostly due to politically-motivated charges.
The opposition group has also lashed out at the Manama regime for practicing “sectarian discrimination” in granting academic scholarships.
Al-Wefaq’s criticism came after the Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR) also voiced concern over the prevalent discrimination and lack of transparency in the country’s system of scholarship distribution.
“There are several cases of Shiite students with GPAs over 90% who received no scholarship, but a mere grant of up to BDH400 (around USD 1,060) annually, which does not cover even a half of their tuition fees and cost of living,” the group said in July.
Bahrain has been witnessing almost daily protests against the Al Khalifa dynasty since early 2011, when an uprising began in the kingdom. Since then, thousands of protesters have held numerous rallies in the streets of Bahrain, calling for the Al Khalifa royal family to relinquish power. Hundreds of prominent opposition figures, including Sheikh Ali Salman, the secretary general of al-Wefaq party, have also been imprisoned by the Bahraini regime.
Many Bahrainis have been killed and hundreds of others were injured and many more unfairly incarcerated in the ongoing crackdown on peaceful protests and dissent.
Human rights groups have slammed the Bahraini regime for its brutal crackdown.