Saturday 07 / September / 2024
Today marks the 54th anniversary of the eternal Renaissance Day, when late His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said, may God have mercy on him, assumed the reins of government in the country, succeeding his father. On this happy occasion, I am pleased to present the following article to the readers.
It is difficult for me and for everyone who witnessed this day to forget and ignore 23rd July 1970. Before that, I spent about 30 years of my life in the dark, living as if we were animals without a tail, when Omanis were deprived of electricity, clean drinking water, health and educational services, and all other necessities of life. The reason for this state of affairs was the lack of an income source base for the country, and when oil was found and the first shipment of it was exported in June 1967, the country’s construction movement began, albeit slowly.
A piped drinking water distribution project was implemented in Muscat and Muttrah, and the construction of Muttrah Corniche began. Co-educational schools were established in Muscat and Muttrah. Late Sultan Said bin Taimur was against the idea of borrowing from abroad, and in my opinion, he was right because how could he repay the loan when the Sultanate had no income. This may also have been the reason for the policies of his predecessors, where the country remained in recession until the source of foreign asset income, crude oil, was secured. In that era, the Sultanate of Muscat and Oman was the only country in the world that did not have any foreign debts.
I was in London on 23 July 1970 with seven other PDO employees for a 40-week educational course. A representative of Shell International Petroleum Company, which was responsible for our stay in London, visited us at the college to reassure us that there was no need to worry about what happened in Muscat and that all things were stable there and under full control of the government. Shell appears to have matched the change in rule from father to son, with change in other countries where some undesirable events such as unrest, murder and other crisis usually occur. Or it may have received a request from the company in Muscat that someone from Shell should visit us for the purpose of reassuring us of the change in government in Muscat.
None of us wanted to point out to him that we had been waiting for this day for a long time and with great longing, and the day has come, thank God. I’m sure he was surprised that none of us were upset about what happened in Muscat but instead noticed the smiles on our faces. I wish everyone of my generation, as there are many still alive, would write about where they were and their reaction when they heard the news. During that period, many Omanis were working in the Gulf countries, and for those inside the country, how did news of the change reach them? There were no media such as radio or newspapers in the country. 23 July was later known as ‘Renaissance Day’. This day, by all standards, was a blessed day that transformed the country from an age of darkness to an age of light.
The writer should include in the book the lifestyle that the people of Muscat and Oman lived, so this information will be a history for generations that did not witness that dark period, and if there is someone who wrote about that era, there is no harm in writing, as the writing style differs from one person to another, and some things may be mentioned that others did not mention. Your descendants may not be able to see what others have written about the lifestyle that the people of Muscat and Oman lived, so that this information will remain history for generations that did not witness that period and the hardship and harassment their ancestors faced.
When I visit the cemetery, I see old graves whose owners were perhaps buried 150 or 200 years ago, and most of them are piles of sand and stones without the names of their inhabitants, I wonder who these dead are? Why did they not write anything about the period in which they lived and some information specific to that period? Don’t be like them, write a little about the environment in which you lived. We were not created to live a few years and then die, and after a while it becomes as if we had never lived. Is this the wisdom of our existence? I don’t think so.
The Sultanate celebrated its National Day on 23rd July 1971 and 1972, since Sultan Qaboos assumed power, may God rest his soul, succeeding his father. In the first year, the military parade was held in the morning in Al Wadi Al Kabir in Ruwi, where the area was semi-desert, and in the second year on the grounds of the old airport in the Bait Al Falaj area, and I attended both events. National Day was later moved to 17-18 November due to hot weather conditions in July.
I sent a congratulatory telegram to His Majesty Sultan Qaboos from London. He responded by thanking me for the congratulatory telegram. His telegram was published in my book (Pre-1970 Oman) which was published in 2019. One reader commented on the book with the following, and his words are recorded at the end of the book: “The book is very interesting. I enjoyed reading it very much. I was very surprised when I saw copies of old documents. How did you manage to preserve them all these years with all their minute details? When I read your reaction and respect to His Majesty the Sultan’s telegram, I am pleased by your expression and respect for him. This telegram is a treasure that should be kept for your children because I do not think many people were lucky enough to be honoured with it”.
I am sure that no Omani born before 1970 will forget this day. I will continue to celebrate it privately throughout my life. How could I not remember this day when the darkness in which we were living turned into light for the homeland and the Omanis.
The aforementioned book is not limited to events before 1970, as the reader might think. Rather, it is divided into two parts. The first section talks about achievements, i.e. the situation after 23rd July 1970, in a few pages, and the second section talks about Oman’s historical past in a number of pages. The book is in English and I wrote it specifically for the employees of the Petroleum Development Oman from which I retired in 1988.
In my letter to the Managing Director, I expressed my view that the new employees of the company would be happy to learn about the lifestyle that Omanis lived before 1970. The company’s Managing Director responded to my letter by saying: “The historical overview you have captured of life in Muscat and Oman is indeed interesting and far removed from today’s reality and from social development and infrastructure. I have no doubt that many readers, new employees and current employees alike will find it very interesting and educational. I will soon reach out to our External Affairs Director for his guidance to share the book more widely. Again, thank you for your book”.
A copy of the book was delivered to the embassies of the United Kingdom, India and Iran, which had consulates in Muscat before the 1970s, and only the representative of the United Kingdom, His Excellency Ambassador Hamish Cowell, responded to me via e-mail, saying: “Thank you very much for the kind gift of a copy of your book (Pre-1970 Oman). I am very much looking forward to reading it, as it has arrived at the right time and is a welcome addition to the Embassy’s library on the occasion of the Sultanate of Oman’s celebration of its 60th National Day”.
What I deeply regret is the lack of response from any official in several ministries to whom I presented a copy of the book in the name of the minister. I am used to this behaviour. I deliver copies of my books to the offices of some Omani ministers, retired ministers and under-secretaries, doctors, engineers, and others, and I do not even receive thanks from them. One of them tried to thank me for the copy of the book I sent him to his office, but he sent a WhatsApp message to my grandson, whose first name is the same as mine.
May God have mercy on Sultan Qaboos bin Said and help his successor, His Majesty Sultan Haitham bin Tarik, his cousin, in everything. Happy new year to the Omani people.
(The article is personal opinion of the author)
