Celebrating a death

Published October 24, 2011

I wonder what humanity has stooped down to when I see people jubilating and celebrating the death of a man. Fine you don’t like Qadhafi, fine he was a tyrant in your opinion, and fine, he might have ruled with an iron hand, but he sir, was a human being.

It was a 42 year long rule of Qadhafi that not only increased the literacy rate, but the economy and wellbeing of his country. Libya was a peaceful country and its economy one of the strongest in the continent of Africa. It was also one of the only voices of reason that supported the Statehood of Palestine.

The so called revolution of the people of Libya took 6 months compared to less than 20 days of Egypt or Tunisia which happened in a matter of days as well. Why? If Qadhafi was really such a despotic murderer, why did half the country support him? Why did it take months of aerial bombardment by the international police called Nato?

Because it was not a people’s revolution, it was the western fueled and funded Libyans by the West in an attempt to bring into a power a group that is friendly to their agenda. While whole cities and towns fought and gave their lives for Colonel Muammar Qadhafi, they were subject to international sanctions and a freeze on Libyan assets. It was not a revolution; it was a perfect example of “divide and rule” on the people of Libya – so swiftly executed that it has yet to strike Libyans, “what now?”

The Libyans not only took Qadhafi from themselves, they took their own stability and prosperity that was present to date. With inflation that was less than 1 per cent and a GDP growth rate the soared above 10 per cent in 2010, it is undeniable that the reforms and planning of the Libyan economy was better than many countries of the same size and regime.

-Source: Citizen Awareness Program

So, the West accomplished its goal, one by one, all oil producing countries are falling in its lap. Yet there is something worse that is going on. Humanity is dying, if it isn’t dead already. Perhaps, the media is to partly blame for showing such excitement and happiness upon the death of a human but we cannot always blame others, it is in the end no one else but ourselves that are responsible for actions, the media is only projecting the images back at us.

The ruthlessness of humanity can be discerned from the horrifying act of displaying the deceased’s body in a commercial freezer in Misrata, perhaps following the trends of making the dead fish food. Despite all the scars that the Colonel might have left on his country, it is immature to consider any human, let alone regimes, entirely evil or entirely good. It is deplorable to drag an old bleeding man who is pleading for his life, and it is illegal under international law to execute a prisoner without a fair trial.

Was Qadhafi really executed or was it an incident of cross-fire? Only a proper investigation can answer that. The United Nations, as well as Russia has raised concerns and called for such an examination of the events.

However, democracy seems to be too busy celebrating the death of a man that was pulled out of his hiding place, wounded so badly that he could barely walk. The revolution dragged Qadhafi and not only took his life, humiliated his dead body and is continuing to do so.

Yes, many never agreed with the policies and working of the Qadhafi regime, but the man, more so, humanity did not deserve such an ending. May the soul of Qadhafi rest in peace because the world is bound to make a spectacle of his life and his dead body for as long as it serves its purpose.

The author is a policy analyst and a social worker from Islamabad who believes that the glass is half full. He can be reached at siddique.humayun@gmail.com and www.weekend.pk

The views expressed by this blogger and in the following reader comments do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the Dawn Media Group.

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