Politics of Video Release
It was a video filmed inside the confines of high security Abu Ghraib prison that ignited the entire Arab world. The photos were seen by the Arabs as an attack to subdue the spirit of freedom and independence that the Arab people are known for. It was more of an attack on the Arab psyche as the men, who had refused to subdue their minds even after they were physically subdued, were seen behaving like dogs, their sexuality compromised and lying in a mound of naked men. On another occasion, news of the Holy Quran being flushed got leaked out and spread like forest fire.
The proud and defiant Saddam, who decided to embrace death boldly and refused to get his face covered, too, was seen as epitome of the same spirit of Arab pride. Earlier examples, which caused much embarrassment due to release of photographs, must have necessitated that special care should have been taken this time keeping the sensitivity of the issue involved and particularly when the executioners too were aware of this and took special care to hide their faces behind masks. Saddam’s execution had the potential to ignite the entire country. The mobile video footage of the execution of Saddam Hussain and voices of those around him that clearly identify the executioners as Shias, reveal that certain people with vested interests are hell-bent on creating the divide between Sunnis and Shias of Iraq. No Sunni would have agreed to execute Saddam. Even if he had done so, it was better advisable to have Shias doing the job, considering the strict security that was required. But the fact that not one but two mobile videos were present inside the execution chamber is a clear indicator of sinister designs. Naturally, the government officials of Iraq, to whatever sect they belong, would not want the community to get divided on sectarian lines. Who is it who wants the wedge to deepen?
Zia Haider Rizvi, a prominent lawyer of Lucknow who visited Iraq twice in the past says: “The difference between Sunnis and Shias was not there in Iraq at all. Inter-marriages between the two sects and the people lived amicably.”
The country has been taken from that amity to chaos where car bombs nearly every day threaten to torn the fabric of unity. No eyebrows were raised when a British citizen was caught by Iraqi police with RDS stacked in his car. As the police interrogated, the police station was surrounded by the British forces, with tanks and guns, and the prisoner released by force. Iraq’s rapidly disintegrating social fabric appears to be a well-calculated game plan with roots in Abu Ghraib, car bombs, Saddam’s execution and now the politics of video releases.
The proud and defiant Saddam, who decided to embrace death boldly and refused to get his face covered, too, was seen as epitome of the same spirit of Arab pride. Earlier examples, which caused much embarrassment due to release of photographs, must have necessitated that special care should have been taken this time keeping the sensitivity of the issue involved and particularly when the executioners too were aware of this and took special care to hide their faces behind masks. Saddam’s execution had the potential to ignite the entire country. The mobile video footage of the execution of Saddam Hussain and voices of those around him that clearly identify the executioners as Shias, reveal that certain people with vested interests are hell-bent on creating the divide between Sunnis and Shias of Iraq. No Sunni would have agreed to execute Saddam. Even if he had done so, it was better advisable to have Shias doing the job, considering the strict security that was required. But the fact that not one but two mobile videos were present inside the execution chamber is a clear indicator of sinister designs. Naturally, the government officials of Iraq, to whatever sect they belong, would not want the community to get divided on sectarian lines. Who is it who wants the wedge to deepen?
Zia Haider Rizvi, a prominent lawyer of Lucknow who visited Iraq twice in the past says: “The difference between Sunnis and Shias was not there in Iraq at all. Inter-marriages between the two sects and the people lived amicably.”
The country has been taken from that amity to chaos where car bombs nearly every day threaten to torn the fabric of unity. No eyebrows were raised when a British citizen was caught by Iraqi police with RDS stacked in his car. As the police interrogated, the police station was surrounded by the British forces, with tanks and guns, and the prisoner released by force. Iraq’s rapidly disintegrating social fabric appears to be a well-calculated game plan with roots in Abu Ghraib, car bombs, Saddam’s execution and now the politics of video releases.
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