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Rasheeda Bhagat

Najaf , Oct.17

FOR a city which could have been developed as a money spinner as it attracts lakhs of Shia Muslim pilgrims from all over the world, Najaf is in an atrocious condition.

`Medieval' is the one word that comes to mind as you enter the city and have a roller-coaster ride on its pot-holed roads. After all, this city has as priced possession as the mausoleum of Hazrat Ali, the most revered religious leader of Shia Muslims. The mausoleum, and the adjoining mosque are grand enough, with the walls and the entrance paved with gold and many parts of the interior fitted with precious stones. The chandeliers, the dazzling lights, the golden domes and minarets, and above all, the pent up emotion, tears and wailing of the devotees as they come storming into the spacious mausoleum, where there is not an inch to spare during the hours that it is open, take your breath away.

Following the massive explosion that killed the Shia leader, Ayatollah Bakir, in August, (he was killed with scores of others as he came out of the mosque after Friday afternoon prayers and got into his car) the entire area has been completely sealed off and closed to vehicular traffic. With no vehicles to disturb them, the Shia pilgrims, who have converged upon this city in lakhs, have spread out their mats and mattresses and virtually put up temporary dwelling units for the weekend all around the mausoleum. Abdul Qadir, one of the khadims (volunteers) inside the Hazrat Ali mausoleum, recalls the days when the then Iraqi President, Mr Saddam Hussein, "would give visas to only 100 Irani pilgrims at a time. The border to Iran was virtually sealed and only after the entire100 pilgrims had gone back, would the Iraqi authorities allow another 100 to enter Iraq.

"And there used to be a steep pilgrimage tax. For years the Shias of Iran have been denied their holiest of desires. So now, when there are no restrictions, it is as though the flood gates have been opened, and Iranians are coming to both Karbala and Najaf in several thousands." But the passing over of control from the much more liberal Sunni administration of Saddam to the orthodox local Shia government has also resulted in a much more stricter dress code for women - women pilgrims have to be covered from head to toe in order to gain entrance into the mausoleum and there is not the slightest of compromise on this. Also there are completely separate entrances and exits for men and women. The presence of so many pilgrims in Najaf in general and the Ali mausoleum in particular, has resulted in the entire area coming to life and many eateries, cool drink and fruit stalls and little shops selling all kinds of wares to the pilgrims, have sprung up around the place.

But in direct contrast to the festive atmosphere and glitter around the Hazrat Ali mausoleum is the rest of Najaf, which is a dirty, dusty, stinking and decrepit city. It is a city which has apparently not seen for several years any planning for a drainage system. The result is that the sewerage is there everywhere... overflowing onto the streets and giving the city a horrible appearance. Most of the houses are mud-coloured - the paint industry has not made much of an inroad into Najaf as any casual visitor would observe - and the recent war and bombings have left their traces on crumbling walls and craters on roads and huge holes in the ground in a few areas. Most of the vehicles on the roads, particularly cars and taxis, are battered and have been hammered into some kind of a shape without too much of care for aesthetics. Many of their windscreens bear bullet marks, with no attempt having been made to replace the shattered glass panes. But mingling with these battered vehicles is an occasional brand new Toyota Corolla or a Nissan Patrol, not to mention Mercedes Benz and Nissan luxury coaches, which do not bear a single scratch. Obviously these vehicles have been imported of late. But in some parts of Najaf, you do see wide, three-lane roads, neatly laid and ready for the traffic that will soon swell on the city roads. An occasional luxury hotel and restaurant have already marked their presence, as has the city's post offices and communication centres which proudly bear the title `Internet Centre 20', International Phone and Fax and so on. Another surprise and an almost contradiction are the shops that are flooded with all kinds of fancy goods, ranging from cordless telephones and other electronic ware to beautiful fabrics and laces imported from Japan. There is also some reconstruction activity which has started in Najaf but this is only sporadic at the moment. As Ali, a restaurant owner points out, "Saddam Hussein hated Karbala and Najaf because these are Shia cities and did nothing to develop them. But in contrast, he poured all the development into his home city of Tikrit. If he had diverted some of the massive pilgrimage tax that he got from these two cities into their development, Najaf would have been a modern city."

Response can be sent to rasheeda@thehindu.co.in

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