Political Affairs Magazine, NY
March 26 2005
Iraqi Students Strike in Protest of Religious Extremist Violence
By IFTU
Several iraqi bloggers report that students from Basrah and Shatt
Al-Arab universities in Basra City have been on all-out strike for the
last three days as a reaction to the attack on 15 March by religious
hardliners and Mahdi Army militiamen on students organising a field
trip or a picnic at Al-Andalus park in the Al Makhal area of Basra.
The Kuwaiti arabic newspaper Al-Qabas also reported that hooded men
assaulted the students with rubber cables and truncheons which resulted
in severe injuries to an Armenian Christian girl, Zihoor Ashour who
lost one eye because of being beaten on her head very hard with a
thick stick of wood. Another student (a boy) who came to her rescue
after militiamen had torn off her clothes and were beating her was
shot in the head and died subsequently from his injuries.
One Iraqi email correspondent writes: “It was a tragedy. The students
of all colleges are in what you can say a revolution because of this.
They made many demonstrations against Al-Mahdi army and Al-Sadr
demanding to remove their offices from the universities and also a
group of the students went to Sayid Al-Sistani to make him talk to
Al-Sadr and advise him to be sensible in his actions.”
Students say that their belongings, such as mobile phones, cameras,
stereo players and loudspeakers, were stolen or smashed to pieces
by the militiamen. Girl students not wearing headscarves, most of
them Christian, were severely beaten and at least 20 students were
kidnapped, taken to Sadr’s office in Al-Tuwaisa for ‘interrogation’
and were only released late at night.
Students also say the police and British soldiers were nearby but
did not intervene.
A Sheikh As’ad Al-Basri, one of Sadr’s aides in Basrah, stated that the
“believers” of the Mahdi Army did what they did in an act of “divine
intervention” in order to punish the students for their “immoral and
outrageous behaviour” during the ‘holy month of Muharram, while the
blood of Imam Hussein is yet to dry.” He added that he had sent the
“group of believers” to observe and photograph the students, and on
witnessing them playing loud music, “the kind they play in bars and
discos”, and openly talking to female students, the “believers had
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Thousands of students have been demonstrating in front of the Basrah
Governorate building in Asharr for the last three days, shouting “No
to political Islam”, “No to the new tyranny” and “No to Sadr”. The
police (who are loyal to Da’wa in Basrah) reportedly attacked the
students in order to disperse the demonstrations.
One Iraqi blogger writes: “The Governor of Basrah appeared on Fayhaa
TV on Sunday 20 March claiming that problems with Sadr’s office had
been resolved peacefully. The Governor (who is a member of Da’wa)
apparently met with representatives from Sadr’s office under the
mediation of Shia Islamic parties in Basrah (Da’wa, SCIRI, Fadheela,
Thar Allah) and it appears that Sadr’s aides agreed to ‘punish the
guilty parties under a special religious court that would convene
for this purpose’ and to compensate the students and to return
all stolen items to the students. The Governor claimed to have met
with the family of another Christian girl who was badly injured,
‘generously’ offering her free treatment in any country she chooses.
“No mention of the rule of law here. No involvement of Basrah’s civil
courts at all. The whole incident was mopped up in a tribal-religious
meeting, but this time at the Governorate level. The guilty parties
were sinisterly assigned the job of punishing themselves. A great
lesson in democracy. But then, no one was punished for the executions
and torture at religious courts in Najaf the last time anyway.
“What is even worse, the official statement from Sadr’s office in
Basrah. It asks for the names of the students that were ‘allegedly
mistreated’ in order to compensate them. And listen to this; ‘Sadr’s
office in Basrah offers to provide the universities of Basrah with
groups to protect the students in their future field trips.’ This
following Sheikh As’ad Al-Basri’s fiery statements that the students
had ‘disobeyed his orders, and the stick was for those who disobeyed,’
alasa limen asa. He also alleged that the students had shouted ‘No
to Islam’ in their demonstrations this week, insolently adding that
the students should be punished for their ‘blasphemy’.
“The Governor literally appointed Sadr’s office as judge, witness
and law-enforcer. We might even say that the Sadrists were in fact
rewarded for their vile act…
“The students of Basra have made their demands clear; bringing
the Sadrist militiamen to a public trial in the presence of
representatives from Basrah’s student groups, banning Islamist armed
groups from entering campus or running Islamist student groups, and
the dissolution of the infamous ‘Security Committee’ which operates
in most of Basra’s colleges, and which is reminiscient of the Ba’ath’s
‘University Security’ but taking a Shi’ite Islamic appearance instead
of a fascist nationalistic one.
“Student groups from Baghdad, Arbil and Suleimaniya have sent
statements of support to Basra. Incidentally, four students were
injured in Suleimaniya during demonstrations that have been taking
place for the second week in row against the privatisation of
educational institutions in the Kurdish region.
“Still no condemnation from the the Hawza, when the attack against
the students was done in its name.”
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress