KNOW THESE SUFFERERS TOO

                                 

Earlier in a post, I had briefly mentioned about the internecine war in Iraq, spearheaded by a religious fanatic group of Sunni Muslims with the objective of capturing pro-USA  Shia govt of Iraq and either to chase away the minorities or to convert them into Islam. The main minorities are the Christians and Yazidis. I am sure, some of my pageviewers may not be aware of the Yazidis without which the problem cannot be assessed in right perspective. Yazdis are basically non-Arab and an ancient group which has roots in the old Mesopotamium civilization and came to be known as a separate religion in 1,500 BC. They believe in the authority of one God and worship that. As a result, the Muslims call them ‘devil worshippers’. It is in their fate that like the Jews, they have been subjected to harsh persecutions in different countries since olden days.

Though there is no exact head counting, but it is believed that their population may vary from 50,000 to 6,00,000 and they are scattered over iran, Iraq, Turkey, Kurdistan and Syria. Irbil, the capital of autonomous Kurdistan, is the ISIS target today as it has an American consulate and the concentration of minorities like Christians and Yazidis. The ISIS supremo has not only imposed harsh restrictions of the middle ages on womenfolk, but have also stopped minors from going to schools and they are being forced to learn martial arts. They have threatened the minorities either to get converted into Islam or pay a heavy tax (like Zazia in the Mughal India) or face the bullets.

A number of yazidis have been killed, a big section fled Irbil and the rest are hiding in foothills of Syria. The ISIS demands that the Sunni dominated areas in Iraq, Syria and Kurdistan should be given to them as a separate Islamic country with no space for the followers of other faiths. The Yazidis are Kurdish speaking people who want to just live peacefully. Despite deterrent bombings of ISIS camps by the USA, the ISIS onslaughts go on unabated. Today’s news says that they have already captured the Mosul Dam and are threatening Irbil. Things are definitely taking a dangerous turn and should cause a deep concern in the peace loving people. If this Islamic anti-Christianity, ant-Shia and anti-Yazidi  fanaticism goes on unrestricted, Iraq will be destroyed beyond any quick recovery and the already thinning Yazidi population will be extinct.