Three Cheers on Osama's Death?

Osama bin Laden, the most hunted man in modern history, is finally dead. Bin Laden, as repeated over and over again, was the most prominent face of Al Qaeda and the terrorism against the United States and its allies. The United States went into Afghanistan looking for him. For this reason, the news of his death was welcomed by most people. As the American news channels started airing the news while waiting for President Obama to speak to the world, groups of people started arriving in front of the white house in Washington D.C. and in New York. 


The celebrations which continued through the evening to late night were marked by the typical American loudness. People cheered, jeered, shouted and chanted at the completion of a mission which has resulted in the death of more US soldiers than the civilians killed on 9/11. What was most disturbing for me was to watch the American media, conservatives and liberals, not only crassly celebrating the death of bin Laden but also using this successful mission to demonstrate how the US "was back in the game".

As a person who has been brought up with the belief that one should never rejoice over the death of a human being, I could not watch the American news channels for more than 40 minutes. Vatican, it seems, shares my distaste of such crass reaction. A statement released by the Father Lombardi, the director of the Press Office, said:

"Faced with the death of a man, a Christian never rejoices, but reflects on the serious responsibility of each and every one of us before God and before man, and hopes and commits himself so that no event be an opportunity for further growth of hatred, but for peace".

This is a rare comment on the reaction of the world. It makes me think whether such thought is only a religious value? As humans, are we to not show respect--if not to the person whose life ended--but to the value of a human life?

Just as a contrast to the Vatican's response, consider the statement released by Mike Huckabee, former governor of Arkansas and Southern Baptist Minister:

"It is unusual to celebrate a death, but today Americans and decent people the world over cheer the news that madman, murderer and terrorist Osama Bin Laden is dead." He goes on to say, "It has taken a long time for this monster to be brought to justice. Welcome to hell, bin Laden." (Thanks to boston.com for bringing Huckabee's statement to my knowledge)

General Zia-ul-Haq, the man responsible for the most heinous legislation and persecution against the Ahmadi community in Pakistan, died in the summer of 1988. I was holed up in a small London flat when I saw his picture on television. I was too young to understand English, so I ran to the other room to tell my sister that his picture was being shown on television. She came with me, heard the news and got very excited telling me that he was dead. Not really understanding the significance of the situation, I mimicked her excitement and we both waited for our mother and grandfather to come home. An hour or so later, the door bell rang. We both rushed to the door and almost yelled out the news. My mother's and grandfather's response is something which determined my reaction to any death for the rest of my life. They were silent for a few seconds, then recited Inallilah somberly (Muslim prayer recited upon the death of a person which means: We belong to God and to him we shall return). They then walked to the living room to watch the television for more details of the crash.

Later my father recited and translated these lines from Qissa Saiful Malook to me:

sada na baaqi bulbul bolay, sadaa na baagh baharaa'n
sada na maa, pay, husn, jawaani... sada na sohbat yaara'n

Not forever the nightingale will sing in this garden...Not will this garden remain eternally in spring
Not forever your mother, father, your youthful beauty...Not forever this company of friends.

dushman marray, tey khushi na kariyay, sajna wi mar jaana
deegar tey din hoya Mohammad, orrak noo'n dub jaana

Do not rejoice at the death of your enemy, your friend shall also pass away
Every afternoon sun O' Muhammad, will finally set.

(Translation taken from Arieb Azhar's video on youtube)
I'm one of those whose first few reactions to the news that bin Laden is dead were in this order:

1. Again?
2. I thought he was dead already.

3. *sigh of relief*.

But as the day continued I was reminded of the images of people cheering in the streets of Pakistan and Middle East (these are the ones I remember, it could have happened in other countries) almost 11 years ago. To me, the celebration on 2 May 2011 was as repugnant as the ones on 11 September 2010.

Tell me this:

If a Pakistani, whose family has been killed by the drone attacks, was to hunt and kill the person responsible for those attacks, would the public not come out on the streets to celebrate? If they do, would those people not be termed "radical," "Islamists," and "barbaric" by the western media?

That's all I'm saying.

Side note: it was 2 May and not 1 May when Osama was killed. I calculate it simply by the time zone in which he was when he was shot.