Thursday, July 22, 2004
Sunni-Shiite Strife!
Adhameyyah and Kadhimeyyah
During the early days of the invasion, there was so much talk about Shiite-Sunni potential conflict and strife in Iraq that we ourselves began to feel apprehensive about the gruesome possibilities!!
Adhameyyah and Kadhimeyyah are two districts of Baghdad. They lie to the north of the city on the two banks of the River Tigris which runs through Baghdad splitting it into two halves. They were both built about a thousand years ago around the shrines of two very holy men, one Shiite and one Sunni, much revered by people of the two sects. People of both districts are traditionally "partisan" Sunnis and Shiites respectively. There are many jokes regarding their sectarianism and prejudice!
***
A few months ago, during one of the holiest Shiite days, there was another horrible blast in Kadhimeyyah. Many were killed or injured.
My son, who is a junior doctor in a major hospital at the southern edge of Adhameyyah, was on duty. The following day I asked him how they managed and he said they were generally able to cope with almost everything except the chaos caused by the flood of people from Adhameyyah who rushed in to donate blood to the injured.
During the early days of the invasion, there was so much talk about Shiite-Sunni potential conflict and strife in Iraq that we ourselves began to feel apprehensive about the gruesome possibilities!!
Adhameyyah and Kadhimeyyah are two districts of Baghdad. They lie to the north of the city on the two banks of the River Tigris which runs through Baghdad splitting it into two halves. They were both built about a thousand years ago around the shrines of two very holy men, one Shiite and one Sunni, much revered by people of the two sects. People of both districts are traditionally "partisan" Sunnis and Shiites respectively. There are many jokes regarding their sectarianism and prejudice!
***
A few months ago, during one of the holiest Shiite days, there was another horrible blast in Kadhimeyyah. Many were killed or injured.
My son, who is a junior doctor in a major hospital at the southern edge of Adhameyyah, was on duty. The following day I asked him how they managed and he said they were generally able to cope with almost everything except the chaos caused by the flood of people from Adhameyyah who rushed in to donate blood to the injured.
# posted by Abu Khaleel @ 1:47 PM 
