“May God take revenge on each and every politician!” The cry of anguish echoes at the respected shrine of Imam Hussein in Karbala, Iraq, as Shiite pilgrims mourn their murder centuries ago and call for justice today.
Thousands of black-clad pilgrims celebrate Muharram, the first month of the Islamic calendar, commemorating the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad and vowing to fight oppression.
Hussein died at the Battle of Karbala in 680 A.D. through the forces of Caliph Yazid.
A significant occasion in the denominational department of Islam, is through the Shiites around the world to be one of the wonderful undivided injustices of history.
For some in Karbala, miles (50 miles) southwest of Baghdad, transgressions continue.
With their faces twisted in pain, two dozen men and boys solemnly bring portraits of some of the nearly six hundred Iraqi protesters, activists and hounds killed since anti-government demonstrations broke out last October.
The Iraqi tricolor flag and the classic black flags of Muharram, carrying “Oh Hussein,” fly back and forth in a rare past summer breeze.
The mourners stand in an organization in front of the bright neon lights of the main sanctuary and sing the same old songs of mourning rhymed during the month, with a different touch.
“We’ve noticed honorable people murdered!” shout, moving their arms to the rhythm of the sanctuary.
Among the portraits is a recent victim: Riham Yaaqub, 29, an activist shot dead in the oil-rich southern city of Basra last week.
Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhemi presented his condolences to Yaaqub’s family, promising to hold his killers accountable.
But commitments to other protesters killed so far have not been fulfilled.
– “Hussein is the revolution!” –
Since protests broke out in Baghdad and southern Iraq on October 1 last year, demonstrators have been compared to Hussein’s comrades, occasionally shouting the slogan: “Hussein is the revolution!”
Some have even set parallels between security forces burning protest tents and Yazid forces setting fire to the camp in the desert of respected followers of the imam.
But the culture of combining pilgrimages and occasions predates the 2019 movement.
Karbala collectives have organized marches opposed to perceived injustices for decades, including organizing small demonstrations against feared Sunni dictator Saddam Hussein.
Although they take up positions at the shrine, marches are a rare melting pot, attracting young people of communist tendency along with pious Iraqis.
Abbasiyah’s convoy is the largest and oldest walking bus, active from and originating in the holy city.
“We are known as a revolutionary convoy, a revolution like Imam Hussein’s. We must pass on the suffering of the Iraqi street to the world,” said Hatem Nawras, an elderly participant.
For Alaa al-Sarraf, who has been taking part in the Muharram chants for nearly two decades, “Hussein represents an awakening against injustice.”
“We have a song story that is based on what the street wants: we opposed the American invasion and bigotry after 2003, and today we have greater services, an end to corruption and rights for all,” he said.
– Iran Anger –
Thousands of pilgrims have descended to Karbala since the beginning of Muharram on 21 August, ignoring calls from officials and even clerics to remain in their homes while the new coronavirus spreads.
Iraq has recorded more than 215,000 instances and more than 6,600 deaths, and last week the World Health Organization warned of an “exponential increase” that could create a primary physical fitness crisis.
Restrictions on coronavirus meant that Karbala attracted fewer visitors in 2020 than in previous years, when millions of Shiites converged on the holy site of Afghanistan and neighboring Iran.
But thousands of others still volunteered this year, some with banners referring to Tehran, which was heavily criticized in protesting its aid to an Iraqi political elegance considered corrupt and inept.
“How many governments are fanatics of our “neighbor”?” a sign read.
“They have their servants and are satisfied with all this shame.”
The “Procession of Lutus of the Martyrs of October”, a new organization of protest pilgrims, promises to do justice.
“The reign of all tyrants will end, not how long it takes,” says pilgrim Ihab al-Wazni.
He has a bitter warning to Iraqi politicians: “Your day will come too, if you don’t put the demands of the Iraqi people into effect.”