A Life "Well" Wasted- Salwan Momika

Souls leave their footprints in noble and evil paradigm, or in between being an "actor", on the stage we call life.

Its easier to recall some with great deeds, let it be Mandela devoting his life to fight "Apartheid" in South Africa, Mother Terresa in India for promoting "Love for All", Edhi in Pakistan for "Embracing" those who were in pain or Martin Luther King Jr. for giving up his life for "Civil Rights".

Then we have Salwan Momika, who was assassinated hours ago in Sweden, 38 years old originally from Iraq with Catholic roots.

While others earned laurels for service to humanity, Salwan life especially post his flight from Iraq in 2017 and later asylum in Sweden will be best known for extremely hurting, disrespecting and intolerantly playing with the sentiments of over 1.9 billion Muslims across the globe, for virtually no gain or rationale.

His assassination, as an event is flashing across the globe with his only exclusive recognition, as someone who made mockery and burning of the holy scripture, The Quran. He had a shady past, a fanatic present and a non-existent future had he been alive, considering the path he chose for himself. This is why i term it as "A Life Well Wasted" rather than many things he could have done as a normal, civilized human being regardless of his ethnicity or religous beliefs.

He came from a minority ethnic group in Iraq, the "Assyrian-Aramean" and raised as a Syriac Catholic.

As Iraq went into a turmoil post Saddam ouster and subsequent bloody civil war, he rose in ranks as a militia fighter from his ethnic-religious group against ISIS. Locally, his group fought alongside forces aligned with Iranian proxy Imam Ali Brigade, which was on the frontline against barbaric so called Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. Prior to this, he was aligned with Assyrian Patriotic Party, and fled his hometown after being convicted in a fatal accident for three years.

Its even hard to narrate the actual account of what he performed on 28th June 2023, as a disrespect to Muslim sentiments. From public burning to playing football, it was inhumane, psychopath and abnormal behavior by all merits. He deliberately chose the first day of Muslim Holy Festival "Eid" for his act, outside Grand Mosque in Stockholm while ensuring it gets relayed in all mediums of projection.

Sweden itself was left in a peril, hung between the sensitivity of the matter for its Muslim population, documented at 2.3lacs approximately and the stance of "Free Speech". Even when he sought permission for his act, the law services denied it, only to be overruled by a court in the name of "free speech". His established links to armed groups in Iraq known for committing human right abuses denied his asylum in 2024, while his deportation was only thwarted owing to his evident capital punishment in home country Iraq.

Last year he also made an unsuccessful effort by fleeing to Norway for gaining asylum, however again was deported to Sweden. He was also convicted for knife related threat to his fellow roommate in Sweden sometime back.

In all, there is nothing to write in his credit, apart from evil.

Inter-faith harmony, tolerance and peaceful co-existence in this case by all means precede freedom of speech or expression, considering such expression has no positivity and is solely devoted to fuel further hate, divide and revenge.

For sure across the globe many like Salwan will gear up to relay his acts, in the name of free will and speech which is a norm observed earlier in the case of Charlie Hebdo, a French sarcastic publication which mocked the Prophet Muhammad through a series of cartoon publications. It also ended in a tragedy in 2015 when in Paris the editorial team of the magazine was assassinated. It lived through hate, same as Salwan, and died due to hate, generated by their actions, which is the same as Salwan.

No killing of any human is justified, in the same societal norms where respecting each other beliefs and sentiments are equally significant. Both cases were lives and platform well wasted for no aim, no purpose or no benefit to any segment of humanity.

The world we already live in has more miseries for humans, animals and the planet to cater for, rather than choosing paths which sow divide, violence and hate. Free speech or expression needs to come with responsible conduct, to ensure it promotes love and mutual respect.

There are ample forums where religion debate, learn and explore each other. Such platforms develop understanding, reforms and course correction which are highly significant. The need of the time is to promote inter-faith dialogue, more cultural and religious exchange as the world needs it the most.

We are already so divided than even genocides have become in our time a selective option, with some aligning themselves with it, some defending it and some wrapping it as a justified reaction. In all forms, it is unacceptable against any nation, religion or ethnicity.