The delirium of fanaticism

I read about this yesterday & it’s pretty clear now that life is too cheap in the eyes of all those self-styled prophets. Unfortunately, they happen to be everywhere. 90 Iraqi students were stoned to death for wearing jeans, & having strange haircuts. Basically any youngster who emulates the emo style has been the target for this crazy killing. Moreover the number of deaths could even be higher than what has been reported.

At least 14 youths have been killed in the capital Baghdad in the past three weeks in what appears to be a campaign by Shia militants. All of this has been done as ‘emo’ subculture has been labeled as ‘Satanism’ last month by none other than Iraq’s moral police. Which is why fanatics are killing young people.

When you ask the question: what is the crime of fans of the emo trend? The answer is: they wear tight jeans and have distinctive long, black or spiky haircuts. What the hell is this anyway!

This particular teenager in the pic was brutally killed by fanatics.

This is exactly what I read in Daily Mail:

'The Emo phenomenon or devil worshiping is being followed by the Moral Police who have the approval to eliminate (the phenomenon) as soon as possible since it's detrimentally affecting the society and becoming a danger,' the statement read.

'They wear strange, tight clothes that have pictures on them such as skulls and use stationary that are shaped as skulls. They also wear rings on their noses and tongues, and do other strange activities.'

They are just killing these youngsters as they look Westernized. Just because someone has a specific haircut or he wears T-shirt & jeans doesn’t mean he’s into devil worshipping. This is the height of insanity. They are doing crazy, unacceptable things in the name of Islam. And now I don’t even expect victims (those who have survived, if anyone has survived) to try & understand that this is not Islam. I’m sure these youngsters must be living in fear. When you’re a teenager, you feel like dressing up in a certain way; you want to experience certain things. Is this the price they pay in Iraq for being a normal teenager? It’s been specifically written in the Quran that certain people will believe that they are doing the right stuff but actually they are the real culprits. They are the ones who are besmearing the name of Islam.

Unfortunately everyone sees what these evil folks are doing.

Source:

Stoned to death for being an emo: NINETY Iraqi students killed for having 'strange hair and tight clothes'

Mahesh Bhatt Remains Fearless

Mahesh Bhatt

Imran Zahid

Muntazer al Zayedi - the journalist who threw shoes at President Bush

Mahesh Bhatt is one of the bolder Indian filmmakers who has always been ahead of his times. I may not like all of his movies but I like the fact that he does not have a closed mind. He has also shown a lot of love and respect for Pakistan (unlike his son) and he seems to be passionate about the subjects he cover.

It has been said that this time round, Mahesh wants to make a movie on the civil war in Iraq and wants to meet the Iraqi journalist, Muntazer al Zayedi who threw a shoe on the great president Bush.

Mahesh wants to take his director, Arvind Gaur and the actor, Imran Zahid to the war-torn Iraq to meet Muntazer. He wants to make a documentary before shooting for the film. People are telling him that it is rather unsafe to go to Iraq. In fact, Muntazer has warned Bhatt that although he is welcome but the country is very unsafe. He wouldn't advise these guys to come there. Instead, he suggested that they should wait for him to come to India to discuss the entire matter.

Mahesh Bhatt is however firm in his beliefs. He said that the actor and director won't be able to do justice till they have the real taste of the blood soaked land. They must feel what it is like with their own eyes. He said that people warned him that Pakistan, Kashmir,Nagaland and Bastar are unsafe places too but he did go to these places as well.

They don't have the visas issued as yet but Mahesh Bhatt has put in a request at the highest level in the concerned Ministry. They will leave for Iraq as soon as the visas are issued.

Some critics feel he is going too far by risking the lives of his team members for the sake of art. Well, I guess till the world is going to stay, there will always be a few people like Mahesh Bhatt who will break the norms and do what they believe in and critics won't approve of them. I am impressed with his passion and his fearless conviction to feel and see the truth.

Another case of honor killing

Well I just read this story of a 20 year old girl named Noor al-Maleki who had been killed by her father. His jeep rolled over her & not just that, he even injured the other woman Khalaf.

Noor was living with Khalaf & she knew this lady ever since her childhood days. Noor’s parents did not like her American ways. You know the typical things that she shouldn’t wear make-up, tight jeans & such things. They also wanted her to marry a man in Iraq. Her father was mad at her when she got involved with Khalaf’s son. Even her father warned Khalaf that something bad would happen if Noor continued to live with her.

Faleh al-Maleki had been convicted of killing his daughter & committing assault against Khalaf. According to the defense attorney, Faleh just wanted to spit on Khalaf & accidentally ran over the 2 women. This is unbelievable. You are about to spit on someone & the next minute you actually kill your child & seriously injured the other person.

Anyway, this has been characterized as a brutal case of honor killing. This particular girl had been killed in America.

"Some families think that the women of the family represent their reputation…If a woman has committed a violation in their point of view, they believe if they kill her, they have ended the shame. Blood cleanses honor."

- Rana Husseini (a Jordanian journalist)

It has been reported that 5000 such killings occur worldwide & experts believe the real number is much higher than 5000. In many cases, you don’t even get to know about the deceased. If a family thinks that a woman has tarnished the image of the family, they believe they have the right to kill that woman.

It’s strange that people live in another country, raise their kids over there & then expect them to marry someone in Iraq or Afghanistan & can’t stand their way of dressing. Honor killing is something that happens every day in our country. Some people actually are living corpses. To them killing their own children is no big deal.