Today’s History: The dictator who had killed 148 Shias, had the Quran written with his own blood; was hanged

The dictator Saddam Hussein, who ruled Iraq for two decades, was hanged on this day in 2006. The image of Saddam was that of a man, he was no less than a messiah for some people, while he was a dreaded dictator for a section of his own country and many countries of the world.

Saddam Hussein was born on 28 April 1937 in a village in Tikrit, Baghdad. Saddam studied law in Baghdad. Saddam joined the Ba’ath Party in 1957 at the age of just 20. This party was running a campaign of Arab nationalism, which later led to the military uprising in Iraq in 1962, Saddam was also a part of this rebellion.

Saddam Hussein, convicted of massacre of 148 Shias, was hanged on 30 December 2006.

Saddam ruled Iraq’s power for two decades

Saddam played a major role in another military coup in Iraq in 1968, which brought his party to power. With this rebellion, at the age of just 31, Saddam, together with General Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr, seized power. After this, Saddam rose rapidly and in 1979 he became the fifth President of Iraq and was in power in Iraq from July 1979 to April 2003.

148 Shias were killed

Saddam first campaigned against Shias and Kurds after seizing power. He was also opposed to America. Saddam’s security forces are believed to have killed some 2.5 million people in Iraq. Not only this, thousands of people were also killed due to Saddam’s attacks on Iran and Kuwait.

In 1982, there was an attempt to assassinate Saddam. After this attack, Saddam killed 148 Shias in Dujail. An Iraqi court convicted Saddam on 5 November 2006 for the same genocide, and then on 30 December 2006, Saddam was hanged.

When Saddam Hussein was hanged, American soldiers guarding him also wept.

Saddam had written the Quran with his 27 liters of blood
Saddam Hussein wrote the Quran with his own blood in the 1990s. According to a report in The Guardian, Saddam had written all 114 chapters of the Qur’an in 605 pages by donating 27 liters of his blood over two years and using it as ink as a token of gratitude to Allah. For people to see all these 605 pages, they were kept in a glass case.

The Quran written in Saddam’s blood was kept in Baghdad’s Umm al-Ma’arik mosque (Credits: The Guardian)

Con Coughlin, who wrote the biography of Saddam Hussein, has also written about the Blood Quran. Known as the ‘Blood Quran’, this Quran was kept in a mosque in Baghdad. Public display of this Quran was banned after Saddam was hanged in 2006.

Saddam Hussein ruled Iraq for more than two decades.

There were tears in the eyes of American soldiers when Saddam was hanged

The United States and Britain accused Iraq of possessing weapons of mass destruction, but Iraq denied it. After this, in 2003, the United States of America and Britain attacked Iraq and arrested Saddam, and with this, Saddam’s rule in Iraq came to an end. Saddam was captured from Adtour near Tikrit on 13 December 2003.

When the trial of Saddam Hussein’s case was in progress, twelve American soldiers, known as the ‘Super Twelve’, were stationed under his protection. These ‘Super Twelve’ soldiers had developed good relations with Saddam. One of these soldiers later wrote a book on Saddam and told that when those 12 soldiers handed over Saddam to the executioners, all those American soldiers had tears in their eyes.

Vikram Sarabhai, the scientist who founded ISRO, passes away

The great scientist Vikram Sarabhai is called the father of the Indian Space Program. In 1962, Sarabhai established the Indian National Committee for Space Research, which later became the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). Sarabhai is credited with starting the country’s space science program and taking it to new heights.

Sarabhai was also instrumental in the establishment of the Indian Institute of Management (IIM). He established the Vikram Sarabhai Space Center in Thiruvananthapuram.

Vikram Sarabhai was born on 12 August 1919 in Ahmedabad. He studied at Cambridge University, UK. Sarabhai returned to India in 1942 due to the Second World War and after coming here he worked on many researches.

Vikram Sarabhai is called the father of India’s space program.

Vikram Sarabhai died on 30 December 1971. For his invaluable contribution to science, Sarabhai was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 1966 and the Padma Vibhushan posthumously in 1972.

Important events of 30 December in India and the world:

2007: Three days after the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, his son Bilawal was elected the chairman of the Pakistan People’s Party. Bilawal was only 19 years old at that time.

1996: The 36-year-long civil war in Guatemala ended on 29-30 December 1996.

1975: Hindi poet and ghazalkar Dushyant Kumar passed away.

1975: Famous golfer Tiger Woods of America was born. Woods is the first golfer to win four major tournaments in a row.

1949: India recognized China. After the formation of New China on October 1, 1949, it became the second non-communist nation to recognize it.

1943: Freedom fighter Subhash Chandra Bose hoisted the flag of India’s independence in Port Blair.

1922: Lenin annexed 14 surrounding states into Russia and officially established the Soviet Union (USSR). Moscow became its capital. It was headed by Vladimir Lenin.

1906: The All India Muslim League was founded in Dhaka.

1865: Famous British writer Rudyard Kipling was born.

1803: After the British Maratha War, the Maratha chief Daulat Rao Scindia and the British made a treaty. This treaty is known as Surji-Arjungaon Treaty.

1703: Earthquake in Japan’s capital Tokyo killed 37 thousand people.