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A
Disturbing Procession |
Posted:
Mar 15, 2003 5:43 AM |
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To
everyone at Backpacker, I am sorry that my post on my Everest Trek, from
which I just returned, must be delayed for a week. This is because of
something I saw yesterday and MUST post before I forget details. I had
originally planned to post on my trek today.
Yesterday was the Muslim holiday Muharum. As I've mentioned before in other
posts the Moravian Mission School, at which I teach, has students and
teachers of all faiths. So, besides national holidays, we get religious
holidays for each religion off from school as well. This coming week, for
instance, is the Hindu holiday Holi, which is one big water festival with
colored powders that people try to throw on each other. Consider that one
huge colored water fight! It is much too cold for here, though, so I won't
participate, and will stay out of range of those that do! We had 2 inches of
snow today.
Anyway, Muharum was yesterday. Muharum is not a general Muslim holiday,
though. It is celebrated ONLY by the Shia Muslims - not the Sunni Muslims,
of which there are many more in the world. In fact, outside of Leh and
Kargil in Ladakh, and outside of Iran, there are only small pockets of Shia
Muslims. So, despite my disgust, I felt privileged to see the rare event I
will describe below.
First, some background. Shia and Sunni Muslims do not like each other. Two
days ago, a friend told me that this is to such an extreme that a Shia
Muslim would rather marry a Christian than a Sunni Muslim! This all goes
back many centuries to the time right after Mohammed's (their prophet)
death. And, it is related to the succession of Caliphs (their leaders)
following Mohammed. The Shias believe that a relative of Mohammed's named
Ali should have succeeded him, followed by his sons. I had a Shia friend
quote Qiran to me supporting this succession back in December. However, the
majority of Muslims (the Sunnis) went with a different order of succession.
Ali and his sons, in fact, were martyred and tortured. So, Muharum is a
holiday honoring their suffering.
To honor Ali's suffering, the Shia Muslims feel they must also suffer. Hence
the procession that took place yesterday. I witnessed about 5000 men and
boys (no females) in a procession that took forever. I got to Main Bazaar
two hours early to check things out. The first thing I noticed was that
almost all of the shops were closed. In fact, I could count on one hand
those that were open. By the time of the procession, those were also closed.
The second thing I noticed were all the health posts being assembled (about
6), and ambulance crews arriving. And there were, for the first time that I
can recall, no vehicles parked on Main Bazaar. And, there were many ladies
with hand brooms sweeping that street cleaner than I've ever seen it. About
an hour before the procession, some men came by marking the parade route
with white chalk powder.
The procession began at 11:00 or so. I was at the upper end of Main Bazaar
at street level, when a Buddhist student of mine called to me. He was on the
roof of a one-story building nearby, and invited me up for a better vantage
point. That was worthwhile. The procession included several groups of men
and/or boys from 50 to about 300 in a group. Each of these groups was led by
two people carrying banners which I could not read because they were in
Arabic. Then, were the men. In the back was a wagon with supplies, as well
as a loudspeaker and microphone. The first two such groups were school
groups from the two Muslim schools in town. These boys were mostly middle
school or early high school aged, but I saw some that must have been as
young as 7 or 8 years old. The banner for the Islamia School had, besides
the Arabic writing, large photographs of Ayatollah Khomeini, as well as the
current leader of Iran. Behind these school groups were groups of men mostly
from Leh, as well as smaller groups from nearby villages. That is the set-up
for the gruesome details below. If you have a weak stomach or heart, don't
read further!
To commemorate Ali's suffering, each of these groups were chanting. And,
each group had a different singing chant. A leader would have a microphone
and sing, with the chant amplified. The remainder of the men or boys would
reply to that chant. To my recollection, this is the ONLY time I've ever
heard Muslims singing religious songs, aside from the amplified prayers from
the mosque. The chant would start gentle, and in time to the beat of the
chant, the men would beat their chests with their fists. Mid-way through the
verse, the chant would become more frenzied and emotional, though not
faster. At this point, their fists would be raised high into the air, and
the beating of themselves would be very strong and hard. Hard enough that
from my distance I could hear them like drums. Then, the chant would die
down and a new verse would begin, with only mild beating. Now, with the
school groups and old men, that is all that would happen. But, with the
younger men in their 20's and 30's, they would often go further and beat
their chest and/or head with a knife. In the most extreme cases, they would
have about a foot-long length of chain with about 5-10 blades on the end
that looked like arrowheads. On the frenzied part of the chant, they'd swing
those against the top of their head in time to the beat. The result was very
bloody. In fact, enough to rival a Freddie Krueger movie. Blood was running
down their faces, and they'd be wiping it with rags away from their eyes and
mouth, as it was dripping down from their head. Shirts were stained with
blood, as was the street that was just swept an hour earlier. And, they kept
on as long as they could. And, this was the slowest parade on record. They
would stop for 5 minutes in one place and chant. Then, they would proceed
maybe 10 or 20 yards at most, and stop for another 5 minutes doing the same
thing. The whole thing was an hour and a half, and I was near the front. By
the time everyone got to the end of the Main Bazaar, I'm guessing they'd
been at it 3 or 4 hours!
But, they had assistance. Instead of being led by police cars or fire
trucks, like is familiar in America, this one was led by no less than 8
ambulances or health vehicles! And, there were others at key places at
intersections. Finally, there were about a half dozen health posts. These
were set up by the local health department, and were sponsored by the RED
CROSS. Think about it. The cross is a Christian symbol, and although manned
by Buddhists, they were out there helping the Muslims! Each vehicle and
health post had a large red cross on it. Whenever someone was overcome by
trauma from beating themselves or loss of blood, four men would carry him to
the nearest emergency vehicle or health post, usually under protest by the
victim. I was across the street from health post #2, and during the hour I
watched the procession I saw no less than 13 people carried there, including
three Islamia School students that were only about 7th or 8th graders. They
had collapsed from the trauma of beating themselves. Red Cross workers also
were among the chanters administering bandaids and gauze and other such
first aid items. One guy stooped down to wipe the blood off his blades on
the street. A health worker took them away from that man because of the
threat of infection if he had cut himself with them after wiping them on the
same street where cows and donkeys frequently roam. He gave no fight to that
confiscation. In all, it was a disturbing day for me, and I can understand
why friends of mine who had seen it last year didn't want to see it again.
One such friend described it as "demonic," and I can see his point. It is
like an extreme way of trying to earn heaven, which is impossible.
Next weekend, I'll get my Everest Base Camp trek post on this site. That was
a great trip, and for the 2 or 3 people who have posted that they may be
headed there later this year I hope it will give them some good information.
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I Love the Mountains |
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