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IRAQ: Shia Pilgrims Progress Past Saddam
By Ferry Biedermann
KARBALA, Apr 23 (IPS) - The sound of Shias beating themselves on the chest
has been thumping through Iraq over the past week. It is the pilgrimage to
Karbala in newfound liberty.
"Thank you Bush", many pilgrims shout. They say the U.S. has made the
pilgrimage possible this year in just the way Shia tradition demands: on foot,
with flying banners and with pilgrims stopping every now and then to beat their
chest to express their grief over the murder of Hussein, grandson of the Prophet
Mohammed, at Karbala in 680 AD.
All this was prohibited under the regime of Saddam Hussein. The Shias relish
their new freedom. Their religious leaders called on them to turn up at Karbala
in record numbers and they seem to be heeding the call.
Hundreds of thousands of people have been making their way to Karbala. The
pilgrimage of grief is also the first mass expression of relief over the fall of
Saddam Hussein.
The pilgrimage has political ramifications at this sensitive time. The numbers
are sending a powerful reminder to the rest of the country and to the U.S. - the
Shia majority now demand to be taken into account.
The recent upheaval has also left many Shias keen for new political guidance.
"I expect the Sayids (prominent leaders) to tell me how to behave towards the
Americans," says a pilgrim setting out from Baghdad.
Pilgrims have been gathering for a week at the Kathemiyeh mosque in
Baghdad. They speak of the difficulties of past years, when many had to perform
the pilgrimage in secret.
"The government forbade it, we had to sneak past roadblocks and avoid the
patrols the army sent out to catch us," says one pilgrim. Many are still reluctant
to give names. They fear Saddam Hussein may return.
At Mahmudiyeh village on way from Baghdad to Karbala, a brightly coloured
tent welcomes the weary travellers. Many lie down to rest, and they are given
tea and water.
The local Shia Al-Kretha tribe has always helped the pilgrims, but not quite
this way, says Ahmed Yassin, who set up the tent with his brother Abbas.
"We used to smuggle them past checkpoints, through our houses and our
gardens, and over the back roads," he says. "I have never seen a pilgrimage
like this before."
One pilgrim from Al Durra near Baghdad walks by with two female relatives
trailing behind. "The road is safe," he says, "and we have the Americans to
thank for it. They are our friends, they even said we could leave our weapons at
home because they will defend us."
But not everybody is so well disposed towards U.S. troops. Some complain
about the behaviour of the troops, particularly towards women. "They touch
them when they frisk them," says a man from Nasseriyeh in the south, the scene
of heavy fighting during the war between U.S. forces and pro-Saddam elements.
But most people seem to want the U.S. to stay and finish the job. Saddam
Hussein has not been found, and the country has to be rebuilt, they say. The
religious leadership of the Shias seems more anti-American than the large
majority of the people.
Ayatollah Ali Sistani now holds court in a house off a dusty alley not far from
the main mosque. The 73-year old cleric is the most respected Shia voice in
Iraq. He is often represented by his eldest son, Mohammed Rudha.
"We want the Americans to leave as soon as possible," says Rudha. But he
does not say how soon. He suggests that the U.S. presence is likely to turn into
"foreign domination".
The pilgrimage to Karbala is not political, he insists. But his father has
forbidden all slogans, except one: "Iraq for the Iraqis, No to Foreign Rule".
In a new office nearby, the non-clerical Shia Dawa party sounds a more
conciliatory note. The party claims a large popular following and has survived
years of opposition to Saddam Hussein, says spokesman Hussein Kathem.
It had to pay a price. Kathem was jailed in the late eighties, and he speaks of
thousands of Dawa members disappearing.
He can live with the U.S. forces, for now. "We used to have two main platforms:
one, to get rid of Saddam Hussein and two, to establish a free and democratic
Iraq," he says. "The Americans have done the first and we will now judge them
on the second."
He nods at a stream of pilgrims passing the office gates. "This is a happy
sight."
Once in Karbala, most pilgrims leave politics behind. Thousands circle the
Hussein mosque, beating their chest, and shout: "Hussein, Hussein, look at us,
your followers." Their cries are being heard in the farthest corners of Iraq, and
perhaps all the way to Washington. (END/2003)
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