Opinion: Democracy and Fear
Al-Mada is issued daily by Al-Mada institution for Media, Culture, and Arts.
Democracy, freedom and human rights are nothing but mottos used to decorate political parties' declarations. They constituted the dreams of the people struggling against the dictatorial regime for years. Can democracy be achieved under the fear and instability that overwhelms our lives? How can we freely describe and express ourselves while fear lives inside of us and democracy and freedom do not exist? All of these questions streamed into my mind when I left the college of mass communication, where the professors politely refused to grant interviews for fear their statements would be misunderstood by some groups that might later target them. One of the professors said that he cautiously selects his words during his lectures lest they are misinterpreted. This is one example of the fear inside of us. The people are now afraid to express their true beliefs because they fear becoming targets. If this continues, all of our dreams about democracy and freedom will vanish. Our leaders are the main reason behind (the fear) because they have maintained their declarations for the past three years without understanding the daily suffering of the people. To have a democratic Iraq, we have to resist anyone trying to spread the culture of death and killing that targets scientists, professors, doctors, school children and other innocent people.
