Turmoil in Aheblun
Self-immolation fuels protests
The self-immolation of Tafsut Meftah that started the Hebilean Revolution
January 3935 - On the 22nd of May 3934, 39-year-old Tafsut Meftah, an unemployed mother of three from Agadir, set herself on fire in protest to her humiliation at the hands of Aheblun's corruption and its theocratic legislation. Dying in hospital two days later, Tafsut Meftah's self-immolation triggered mass protests that soon spread throughout the breakaway province, as well as numerous copycat incidents; so far, over a hundred people have set themselves on fire, most of them from disadvantaged backgrounds, sparking a widespread mass protest movement that the Independent State has much difficulty containing.
Aheblun had experienced much discontent and rising criticism against President Ag Takfarinas, but so far the government had successfully crushed dissent. But Meftah's self-immolation was the spark that triggered Aheblun's first organized and widespread protests. Throughout the last year Hebileans of all walks of life and ethnic backgrounds have joined hands protesting against Aheblun's dictatorial regime and its economically bankrupt policies. Starting with local protests at Meftah's funeral in Agadir, the protest movement soon spread throughout the country. Although the government has tried to suppress the protest movement, including by ordering the police to use live ammunition against the protesters, that seems to have only fueled the fire, as more and more Hebileans, angered by the government's heavy-handed tackling of criticism, have joined the movement.
The largest of the organizations protesting against Aheblun is the Democratic Arouch Movement. Taking its name from the Laarac (Lɛerc, plural: Leɛrac), the traditional Hebilean form of village-level democratic assembly, the Democratic Arouch Movement forms the backbone of the anti-Apostolic protests throughout the breakaway province. Organized horizontally and with no formal leadership, the Arouch Movement is joined by Badaran refugees in its protest against the regime, proving that, after decades of ultra-religious governance, the ethnic cleavage that once served as justification for Hebilean independence was replaced by the more immediate concerns of high unemployment, theocratic rule, and corruption.
Hebileans and Badarans jointly protesting against the theocracy