Sayyid Ammar al-Hakim said, “Nations shall raise the status of leaders who bend for them, and these leaders shall record a historic status which memory cannot erase.”
Sayyid Ammar al-Hakim, head of the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq (ISCI), has stressed that if nations start their first steps towards earning their legitimate rights, they will never retreat no matter what the sacrifices may be and no matter how long the march may be, stressing that peoples do not have a back to break. Rather, they have a will that can never be conquered. In his speech in the conference in support of democracy in Bahrain, which concluded its works in Beirut on Thursday, December 13, 2012, he said in his speech, which was delivered on his behalf by Mr. Baqir Jabr al-Zubaidi, head of the Citizen Bloc in the parliament, that the suppressive and despotic means to overcome the will of the peoples increase the latter’s stiffness, granting them power and insistence. He drew attention to the leadership of the Kingdom of Bahrain having a historic legacy of wisdom and foresight, and it has been able to bypass many challenges and tribulations. He explained that it is now in a dire need for returning to this legacy in order to derive from it the effective and healing solutions and to receive inspiration from it to be courageous to bend before its people. He explained his statement saying, “The peak of sublimity is that we bend before our peoples. The leaders who bend before their peoples shall be raised by these peoples on their vertexes, and they shall record a historic status which memory cannot erase.”
His Eminence stressed that the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq is committed to the principle of non-interference in the domestic affairs of sisterly and friendly countries, retracting that at the same time, the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq adheres to the principle of defending the wronged through all available legitimate and humanitarian means since oppression is a humanitarian issue before being a local one. He explained to the brothers in the sisterly Kingdom of Bahrain, leaders and people, that the wounds of Bahrain will never be dressed save by the Bahrainis themselves, and nobody will understand the depth of their problems as they themselves understand. He called on everyone so the voice of wisdom may supersede and be higher than dissonant voices that try to stir sectarian and secondary issues and not permit to open their doors in Bahrain for the winds of foreign interference. He warned that when these doors are opened, they will not be closed again, expressed his love and respect for the people of Bahrain who provided the world with a great lesson which is: Peoples are not judged by their numbers but by their deeds.
It must be mentioned that the conference was attended by personalities from 20 countries. The attendees decided to declare the 14th of February as an international day for supporting the people of Bahrain. They also demanded the release of all prisoners of conscience, calling on the humanitarian and legal organizations to support the Bahraini people.
Here is the text of his speech:
In the Name of Allah, the most Gracious, the most Merciful
Praise is due to Allah, Lord of the Worlds, peace and blessings with our master Muhammed, his pure Progeny and elite companions.
Brothers and sisters attending this conference, dear Bahraini people:
We salute you and submit to you the loftiest meanings of honor and pride.
Countries’ movement stems from that of their people, and people’s movement is the normal result of the development of their ideologies and understanding of their rights; therefore, people’s movement cannot be stopped because this means the total paralysis of the movement of the homeland and of the state which represents the legal guardian of this homeland.
The sisterly Kingdom of Bahrain, which is small in its geography but big in history and in role in the region, deserves to look up to the future as it settles its outstanding dossiers, and the first of these dossiers is to create a status of balance between rights and obligations in the minds and souls of its good and solid people so it may be able to step towards the future and restore its lost confidence. This confidence represents the basis of the national unity and the pivot of the moral principles between the ruler and the ruled.
If nations start their first steps towards earning their legitimate rights, they will never retreat no matter what the sacrifices may be and no matter how long the march may be. Thus does history tell us, and this is what we sense in the movement of the reality in which we live; so, why do we not derive lessons from history events instead or ourselves becoming a history lesson? Rights are a must. Peoples do not have a back to break; rather, they have a will that cannot be conquered no matter what suppressive and despotic means are used to overcome this will; this will increase their stiffness and grant them strength and insistence. Such is the secret of peoples which the rulers must understand and absorb.
The leadership of the Kingdom of Bahrain has a historic legacy of wisdom and foresight, and it has been able to overcome many challenges and tribulations, and it nowadays is in a dire need to return to this legacy in order to derive from it an inspiration for viable and healing solutions, so it may derive from it the courage to bend before its people. It is the zenith of sublimity that we bow before our peoples. The leaders who bow down before their peoples will be raised by their peoples on their heads, and they shall record a historic status which memory cannot erase.
We in the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq in particular and in the Republic of Iraq in general are committed to the principle of non-interference in the domestic affairs of sisterly and friendly countries, but we, at the same time, adhere to the principle of defending the oppressed through all available legitimate and humanitarian means because oppression is a humanitarian issue before being a local one. It is from this principle that our call sets out to our brothers in the sisterly Kingdom of Bahrain, leadership and people, that Bahrain’s wounds will never be dressed except by the Bahrainis themselves, and nobody will ever understand the depth of their problems as they themselves do; so, do not open Bahrain’s doors before the winds of direct foreign interference for once they are opened, they will never be closed again, and do not regard as great the concessions which you give each other because among brothers, no concessions are regarded as much as they are regarded as mutual sacrifices, and they are much better than the concessions which you give to those who are outside Bahrain.
Dear brothers and sisters:
Nations may suffer but they do not break. Let this concept be present in the minds of those who gamble on pain in order to silence those who demand their legitimate rights. The more intense the pain may be, the more insistence, the stronger the resolve, and the trust disappears. This is the prescription which states need to enter the dark tunnels when trust between the public and the rulers disappears. We are in pain about this unacceptable situation which is rejected on humanitarian and national bases. Nations live, whereas everything else vanishes. The logic of force will never settle in the rights theory because the power of the truth is the supreme power before which no military or security power can withstand no matter how tough it may be and how diversified its means, and we can derive an evidence from the eternal revolution of Imam al-Hussain for this.
So, let our brothers in Bahrain resort to the logic of reason and history, and let the voice of wisdom supersede all dissonant voice which try to stir the sectarian and secondary issues. It is an issue between a brother and his brothers, and the brother will not be happy when his brothers lose trust in him and scream of pain, and the brother will not be proud when the rights of his brothers are robbed. Also, we say to our brothers in all dissident national institutions that meeting half way is much better than staying on both contradictory ends, and that understanding the necessities of the stage is a must in the nations understanding the circumstances of their leaders.
All love and regard and for our brothers, sons of Bahrain, who submitted to the world a great lesson which is: Peoples are not by their numbers but by their actions. Your action, O loved ones, is great and lofty just as your spirit is great and your stature high. All the best hopes for the sisterly Kingdom of Bahrain to transcend this difficult stage, to seek help from its store of wisdom so the Kingdom of Bahrain may remain an oasis for coexistence, freedom and democracy, and it will remain superior to many countries of the region politically, economically and socially.
We shall remain with the truth so long as this truth is demanded, and so long as rights do not age…
Peace with the martyrs of Islam, with the martyrs of Bahrain, with every drop of blood shed for the sake of freedom and human dignity.
Peace, the mercy of Allah and His blessings with you.
Your Brother,
Ammar al-Hakim
Head of the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq
