27 November 2019

In the heart of Baghdad, a new vision for Iraq is emerging

Mass protests consisting mostly of young Shia men against corporate and state corruption, frequent power cuts, dirty water supplies and unemployment.

By Maurice Glasman

TOPSHOT - An Iraqi demonstrator is seen at a roadblock with burning tyres in the central holy shrine city of Najaf on November 27, 2019, amid ongoing anti-government demonstrations. - Public anger over a lack of jobs triggered as of October 1 an unprecedented grassroots protest movement, Iraq's most widespread and deadly in decades, with persistent rallies demanding deep-rooted regime change across Baghdad and southern Iraq, leaving more than 350 people dead and around 15,000 wounded. (Photo by Haidar HAMDANI / AFP) (Photo by HAIDAR HAMDANI/AFP via Getty Images)

On 19 October this year I witnessed the Shia pilgrimage of the Arba’een, in which up to 20 million Shia Muslims converge on the city of Karbala in central Iraq. Each year, people come from across the country and beyond to honour the life and teaching of the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, Husayn ibn Ali, who was killed by the caliph Yazid in 680.

Although Husayn died more than 1,300 years ago, for the pilgrims I spoke to, not much has changed in Iraq. Husayn stood against corruption, violence, hypocrisy and tyranny, and as far as my interlocutors were concerned that is still the way of the world.