Algerian Berbers mark "Berber Spring" anniversary

Algerian Berbers celebrated Monday the 35th anniversary of what is known as "the Berber Spring," also called "Black Spring" by hardliners.

The celebrations were in reference to the deadly repression inflicted to the first wave of the Berber civil rights movement which claimed recognition of the Tamazight language and Berber identity.

Today, the anniversary is celebrated calmly through staging short marches in provinces belonging to the Kabylie region, in the northern center of Algeria, including Tizi Ouzou, Bejaia, Bouira and Boumerdes, in addition to the capital city of Algiers.

Cultural activities, including poetry recitals in Tamazight and exhibitions displaying the traditions and rituals of Berbers are also held to mark the event.

However, clashes between anti riot troops and Berber activists were reported in the province of Boumerdes, 55 km in eastern Algiers.

The movement of Berberism started in the beginning of 1980, as students and activists staged marches in Algiers and in other places in the Kabylie region to claim the recognition of the Tamazight language, amid a movement of Arabization that the government launched in the early years of Algeria's independence from colonial France.

Deeming Berberism a source of division and threat to national unity and stability, authorities brutally repressed it, and several activists were killed.

In 2001, the killing of a young boy called Massinissa in ambiguous circumstances inside a national gendarmerie office in Tizi Ouzou, triggered a wide scale protest movement leading to the death of over 120 youngsters by anti riot troops.

In response, incumbent President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, issued a decree making Tamazight a national language for the first time. This decision cooled the protest movement.

However, a separatist Movement for the Autonomy of Kabylie (MAK), led by Ferhat Meheni, still claims Kabylie independence from Algeria. This separatist movement has not gained popularity among the Kabylie population.

Berbers are Algeria's original inhabitants comprising of several ethnic groups. There are the Tuareg people based in the desert, the Mozabi community in the northern desert, the Chawi Berbers east of the country, the Kabyle Berbers in the northern central region, and finally the Shenwi Berbers mostly in the Tipaza province, 70 km in western Algiers.

However, Kabyle Berbers have been in the front line when it came to claiming their cultural rights, including recognition of their language and identity. Endit