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Wanted: Aspiring
martyrs
By Sudha Ramachandran
BANGALORE - Recruitment of potential
suicide bombers, which has generally been shrouded
in silence and secrecy, appears to be going more
public. An Iranian publication recently carried an
advertisement calling for applications from
aspiring "martyrdom seekers".
The
advertisement calls for men and women to enlist
with the "Lovers of Martyrdom Garrison" and
promises those who are picked that they will be
given "specific and specialized training". The aim
it seems is "to achieve all-round readiness
against the enemies of Islam and the sacred
Islamic republic and to protect the foundations of
Islam". To this end, "a martyrdom-seeking
division" would be set up for each province in the
country.
All that aspiring candidates to
the "Lovers of Martyrdom Garrison" need to submit
are two photographs of themselves, a copy of their
identity cards, and a filled-in application form.
The advertisement even provides an address – PO
Box 16535-664, Tehran – where aspiring candidates
to the "Lovers of Martyrdom Garrison" should
forward their application forms.
The
publication in which the advertisement appeared is
one that is produced by an institute run by one of
Iran's most conservative and radical clerics,
Ayatollah Mazbah Yazdi, believed to be a spiritual
advisor of Iran's new president, Mahmud
Ahmedinejad, who, like its proponents, has
described suicide operations or "martyrdom
operations" in glowing terms. In a speech
delivered some days after his election and
broadcast on Iranian television, Ahmedinejad said:
"Is there art that is more beautiful, more divine
and more eternal than the art of martyrdom? A
nation with martyrdom knows no captivity. Those
who wish to undermine this principle undermine the
foundations of our independence and national
security. They undermine the foundation of our
eternity."
This is not the first time that
recruitment of volunteers for suicide operations
has been done publicly and application forms for
registration of aspiring bombers distributed
openly in Iran. A year ago, tens of thousands of
registration forms were distributed at local
Islamic universities to aspiring martyrdom
seekers. This distribution of registration forms
was preceded by speeches in mosques where calls
were made to young men and women to register.
The application form for "Preliminary
Registration for Martyrdom Operations" requires
the applicant to provide name, age, address and
contact details. It also requires the applicant to
affirm his "preparedness for carrying out
martyrdom operations" and gives a choice of three
targets: "occupiers of the Islamic holy sites"
(referring to the US occupation of Najaf, Karbala
and other places in Iraq), "occupiers of
Jerusalem" (referring to Israel), and Salman
Rushdie, the author of Satanic Verses
against whom Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued a
fatwa or legal judgment for death in 1989.
The public enlistment of "martyrdom
seekers" in Iran has drawn considerable media
attention. But such public enlistment of suicide
bombers is not exclusive to Iran. Militant
organizations in other parts of the world extol
martyrdom and publicly solicit suicide bombers.
Catching Tigers
This is the
case with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
(LTTE), the world-leader in suicide bombing. The
martyrs' cult is very strong in the LTTE. The
honoring of Tiger martyrs - martyrs are described
in LTTE propaganda as gods to be worshipped - is
an extremely effective recruiting tool. While
fighters are recruited all year round, enlistment
shoots up during Martyrs' Week ( November 21-27)
when the LTTE publicly honors its dead fighters,
especially those killed in suicide operations.
Through songs and speeches, Tamil boys and girls
are called on to sacrifice their lives for the
cause of the Tamil homeland and many, moved by the
propaganda, enlist.
But those who are
recruited from the general public are taken on as
fighters. Some might aspire to be suicide bombers,
which would qualify them for the top rungs of the
LTTE's martyr hierarchy, but suicide bombers are
not directly recruited from the public.
The LTTE has a separate suicide squad
called the Karum Puligal or Black Tigers.
According to a source in the Research and Analysis
Wing of India's external intelligence agency,
Black Tigers are recruited from among the LTTE's
fighters. These are boys and girls who have
already shown extraordinary commitment to the
LTTE. The LTTE is extremely selective in
recruiting members for suicide operations.
"Suicide operations especially against
high-profile targets are planned and put into
effect with utmost secrecy," the source said. "The
identity of future suicide bombers cannot be
revealed. This is essential for the success of an
operation."
So the LTTE motivates and
glorifies martyrdom, especially that which comes
from suicide operations in public. It even
recruits its ordinary fighters in public. But the
recruitment of suicide bombers is a highly
secretive process.
Similar is the case
with Hamas and Islamic Jihad (IJ), which celebrate
martyrdom in public to draw in more members.
Funerals are occasions for these groups not only
to deliver speeches on martyrdom but also to
recruit. However, enlistment of suicide bombers or
their registration is not done in public. What
sets apart the recruiting style of Hamas and IJ
from an organization like the LTTE is that in the
former, functionaries approach individuals who are
not always already members of these groups to
carry out suicide operations.
In the case
of Iran, it is unlikely that those who registered
to become martyrs in response to the advertisement
will actually be sent on suicide operations,
especially against high-profile targets. The
advertisement and application forms should be seen
as a propaganda exercise to signal that ordinary
Iranian men and women are willing to blow
themselves up for a cause. The public registration
of these aspiring suicide bombers signals that
they are willing to take the risks that come with
revealing their identity as potential suicide
bombers.
While it is unlikely that those
who responded to the advertisement and signed on
as martyrdom seekers - tens of thousands are said
to have signed up - will be dispatched on
individual suicide missions, the possibility that
some of them at least will figure in operations to
defend cities should the United States attack Iran
cannot be ruled out.
The value of the
public recruitment of suicide bombers is not so
much to enlist volunteers as it is a means to send
a message to potential occupiers of what lies
ahead.
Sudha Ramachandran is an
independent journalist/researcher based in
Bangalore.
(Copyright 2005 Asia Times
Online Ltd. All rights reserved. Please contact us
for information on sales, syndication and republishing.) |
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