Saddam
Becomes A Martyr Of Imperialist Resistane
By Karthika Thampan
30 December, 2006
Countercurrents.org
It
was at 8.30 AM Indian standard time that Saddam Hussain was executed
at Baghdad. Soon the Malayalam TV channels down south in Kerala started
flashing the news and the news spread like wild fire. Text messages
flew from mobile phones to friends and relatives. Although the news
was anticipated from late last night the small south Indian state of
Kerala stood in disbelief. And the news slowly sank in. Saddam is no
more! Emotionally charged news anchors announced the death, describing
his last moments. Some of them even wore small black flags on their
coats!
Spontaneously, people gathered in market places and street corners and
started out small black flagged demonstrations. People shouted, 'Long
Live Saddam' and 'Down With Bush'. It was grief and anger all around.
Sensing the mood of the people political parties announced a general
shutdown in the afternoon. From 3 PM in the afternoon, all the shops
were shut down,streets became empty, vehicles stopped plying,offices
became empty. Large demonstrations took to the streets. It was a motley
crowd, a strange mix of political ideologies. Perhaps it was the first
time in the history of Kerala that communist party members, Indian National
Congress party members and Muslim League members demonstrated together.
At death, Saddam became a unifier here in Kerala, thousands of miles
away from Iraq. What was that unified the people of Kerala, in their
grief and anger? Was that because Saddam was a Muslim? No, muslim population
is just 20%. Was that because Saddam was a great leader? No, thousands
of expatriate Keralites working in Kuwait lost their belongings and
fled in panic in Saddam's Kuwait misadventure. Were they ignorant of
Saddam's genocide of Shias and Kurds? No, Kerala has a very vigilant
media and much has been written and read about Saddam's atrocities.
Still thousands of miles away from Iraq a people grieved and shouted
angry slogans against American imperialism.
All the television channels described Saddam's death as martyrdom. It
wont be any different in the morning papers as they come out tomorrow
morning. People of Kerala, took the execution of Saddam as martyrdom.
It wont be surprising if Saddam is described as a martyr of Arab Nationalism.
But why here in Kerala? You don't have to search much, Kerala took him
as a martyr of imperialist resistance. Remember, Kerala or India is
not directly affected by American Imperialism. India is one of the very
few countries in the world where there is not an American military base.
With the execution of Saddam, America has sent out a warning to the
erring rulers around the world. If you don't do our bidding, here is
the lesson. But in the process they have elevated the petty dictator
of Baghdad to the level of a martyr. If Saddam's execution was a warning
sent out to the empire, what the empire got was a martyr who perhaps
could inspire thousands of youngsters to rise up and act. And when they
act, will that be the way the empire expect?
Kerala took the message and
experessed their anger and protest through peaceful demonstrations.
But how will they react in Baghdad, Tehran, Kabul or Gaza?
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