Tishreen movement marks third anniversary in the shadow of Sadrist protests

Mukhtar chose Iraq

Mukhtar wanted to spend that Tuesday evening having a candlelit dinner with the woman he loved, as they tell each other about their day and envision the rest of their lives together.  He felt conflicted as it did not feel right to abandon the movement he and his friends had passionately fought for over the last couple of months, particularly on one of its most decisive days: the million-man protests.

After a lot of deliberation and contemplation, Mukhtar, whose name translates to “the chosen” in Arabic, chose the latter.

It was this fateful choice that led him to meet his end. As the sound of live bullets echoed deafeningly in Baghdad’s Tahrir Square on February 25, 2020, a teargas canister carelessly fired by security forces punctured Mukhtar’s eye. 

“We called him Hamamat Alsalam [The peace dove] because he was always smiling and sharing the peace all over the university or wherever he was,” said Khalil, a close friend of Mukhtar, as he smiled away the heartache that was visible through his eyes. “I met him at a new year’s party in 2016 or 2017… He told me to take a picture of him because he was going to be famous.”

Mukhtar is survived by his grieving family, and his bereaved girlfriend who has still not been able to come to terms with the loss of her loved one, even two years later. His father has reserved a spot to be buried next to his son whenever his time may come.

“I wanted you to dig my grave, not for me to dig yours,” Khalil recalled Mukhtar’s father crying during the burial of his body.

Mukhtar’s role in the protests was to wave the Iraqi flag high. A task he proudly followed through with until he drew his last breath.

“We did not get the point of his death. We did not get justice for his death. There is no justice, this is Iraq. We lose our friends and they become numbers in the hospitals. We are only numbers in Iraq,” lamented Khalil.

Over 792 people were killed and over 25 thousand others were injured “many suffering a permanent handicap,” during the Tishreen protests, according to a September 2020 report from the UK-Based Iraqi Warcrimes Documentation Center.

Over 2,860 activists were detained during the protests, with the whereabouts of at least 70 still unknown, the report added.

The contrast

Thousands of Iraqi people took to the streets in nationwide demonstrations on October 1, 2019, - later to be titled the Tishreen movement - protesting the country’s poor economic conditions, unemployment, foreign interference, and overall corruption. 

An immediate standout characteristic of the Tishreen movement was that it was started and led by the youth. Thousands of future doctors, engineers, and teachers who left the classrooms, deciding to take matters into their own hands to try and save their homeland. They were galvanized by nothing other than their love for Iraq and their loss of faith in the country’s political system.

When the Sadrist Movement protests began in late July upon the call of Sadr, efforts were made to present the demonstration as one of the public, rather than one guided by the cleric’s ambitions for a national majority government in Iraq.

Despite having a large number of youth among them, the Sadrist protesters were mainly led by tribal leaders and political groups. Talking to the youngsters inside the Green Zone, you were bound to hear a regurgitated speech about changing the government “from the roots” and dissolving the parliament, while singing praises about Sadr. 

Sadrist supporters stormed the Iraqi parliament building on July 27, staging a sit-in inside the Green Zone, once considered the “safest place” in Iraq, with little to no resistance by the security forces.

The general atmosphere inside the Sadrist-occupied Green Zone after a month of sit-in would hardly imply a sense of threat or danger. Tents were set, food was distributed, games were played, hookah was smoked, and no official Iraqi security actors were to be seen. Even the security inspections were conducted by young boys who were visibly under the age of 18.

The Tishreen protesters were met with live bullets, teargas, battery, and other forms of brutality from Iraqi security actors trying to control the situation and disperse the demonstrations. At least 110 were already killed within the first seven days of the protests.

While Sadrists proudly infiltrated the country’s highest legislative authority, the closest thing the Tishreen protesters had to a haven was the Turkish Restaurant in Baghdad. The 14-floor building opposite the Green Zone became an icon of the movement, acting as a watchtower for the protesters to alert their companions in case of another customary offensive by the anti-riot police.

The building was affectionately named “Mount Uhud” by the protesters, which is the name of the slope in Saudi Arabia where Prophet Muhammed sought refuge following the Muslims’ defeat during the Battle of Uhud.

Khalil stressed that the Sadrist protesters had every right to hold protests, as it is evident through the result of the elections that they make up the majority of the country.

“The elections say the people want Sadr,” he said.

Khalil’s support for the Sadrists’ right to protest were echoed by Hussain, who volunteered as a medic during the Tishreen protests and preferred his last name to be omitted due to the sensitivity of the subject.

“Tishreen itself is nothing but a name for a set of claims and demands that the people want,” Hussain told Rudaw English through Whatsapp early September, adding that the way the “media of the government is making somehow every movement to be demonized, if that is the right word to say, is a wrong concept. It is just a wrong path to follow.”

“If we want to achieve the vision of democracy… we should have a better understanding for all the parts in Iraq, and the division of the visions of the people,” he added.