MSM Boycott Arbaeen Epic Rally

The huge Arbaeen walk is a significant phenomenon which cannot be understood with any material thought or evaluated with profiteering mindset. The hugest ever gathering of human beings comprised of ethnic, national, racial and religious varieties, walk for over 80 kilometers and encircle the mausoleum of Imam Hussein in Karbala to show their belief in the values the Imam symbolized and sacrificed his life for.

The great Arbaeen walk is not a new event but the way it is glorified and held is unprecedented. According to official statistics over 20 million people take part annually in this epic gathering from various countries such as Iraq, Iran, Nigeria, Bahrain, Pakistan, Syria, Turkey, Afghanistan, India, Egypt, Yemen, Arabia, Kuwait, Belgium, Lebanon, Azerbaijan Republic, and so on. It should be mentioned that people from the countries as distant as China and Australia even participate in the greatest ever human gathering. Yet, the western media, otherwise called Main Stream Media (MSM) have adopted the policy of silence and boycott towards this unprecedented massive presence of people; whereas they highlight every minute and insignificant event like the death of a pet of a Hollywood star, the change of diet of a British royal family member or sleep habit of a western presidential family!!!

The current form of Arabeen epic rally took shape when millions of Shia Muslims sensed the danger of Daesh and other Takfiri grouplets who, under the aegis of western media and financing of Saudi petrodollars and Zionist logistic support, were hell-bent on destroying the sanctities of Islam and smearing the brilliant image of Islam in the eyes of world viewers.

Today the epic rally of Arbaeen has turned into a powerful medium to communicate the message of Islam devoid of any distortion and it acts as a bulwark against the destructive waves of the MSM to depict a false image of Islam.

Media pundit, Mohammad Hussein Zarifian, believes that Arbaeen glorious rally has become a super-medium. He says, "If we consider depiction as one of the usages of media, what is the picture that Arbaeen depicts of Shia and even Islam?

Arabeen has turned into the place of emergence of a series of values which cannot be confined in media framework. That's why we see many non-Muslim pilgrims. Arbaeen has indeed become a trans-Shia and trans-Islamic phenomenon."

Dear listeners, undoubtedly the western media act according to a long-term strategy and preplanned aim. We will never forget the hypocritical treatment of these so-called mainstream media of terrorist events in European and West Asian countries as they lament over the death of a single person in the west while they turn a blind eye and a deaf ear toward the terror incidents that are similar or often much more heinous than those of the west. Thus, it is not amazing that the western hired media cannot be independent and impartial to cover the most populated gathering in the history of mankind. These media used to shamelessly broadcast news of the so-called conquests of terrorist groups in Syria and Iraq, but they are now grieving for the successive defeats and imminent death of these head-choppers. Approximately 25 million people from scores of countries fervently walk towards one focal point- the holy shrine of Imam Hussein (AS)- the MSM, which have rightly been called as the weapons of mass deception, keep silent over this epic phenomenon.

Now the question is that: What is the characteristic of these caravans and gatherings that horrifies the western system of dominance? Why are the western media purposefully insouciant toward the greatest gathering of human beings, who have converged for the love of the younger grandson of the Prophet of Islam, whereas they always unanimously exert their utmost to tarnish the image of Islam and the Prophet?

If any western media presents the Arbaeen epic rally it broadcasts it as a small religious event. However, a few independent the media embark on making documentaries from a professional view. These committed media catch beautiful scenes of this epic phenomenon. Marzieh Hashemi, an American media activist, says, "I have come from the United States to see this great rally and become aware of its human and spiritual dimensions."

Muhammad, an American artist, also says, "We would like to be part of this experience to understand its realities. Imam Hussein invites to justice and peace and we should use it to encounter the axis of evil which still exists."

One of the Chinese broadcasters, referring to the failure of the western media to prevent the Arbaeen rally, writes, "The 20 million strong Arbaeen was so vociferous that the western and Arab media couldn't ignore the huge number of the lovers of the Lord of Martyrs and his call of 'Is there any helper to assist me?"

The American daily Huffington Post, wrote on Imam Hussein's Arbaeen, "If you want to know the real Islam, go to Arabeen pilgrimage as it is the ceremony of values and models. The pilgrims of this rally total five times more than the great ceremony of Hindus called, 'Kombe Mila' which is held every three years. After the quake in Haiti the US Defence Department distributed 4 million meals while in Arbaeen more than 200 million meals are produced by benefactors."

What is conspicuous is that despite their ballyhoo on impartial performance, most of the Farsi media in the west were engaged in marginal petty issues in the region to trivialize this huge epic.

Here it should be mentioned that the issue of Arbaeen was given good coverage in social media and the users have shared the unique contents of Arbaeen. The analyses indicate that Twitter, Instagram and Telegram are the three popular social media among Iranian users. Thus, nearly 1 million posts have been released about Arbaeen in these media. According to this report, the users of Telegram have released over 300,000 posts on Arbaeen which have got over 1 billion visits and there have been 34,000 channels which have released the contents related to Arbaeen. Moreover, 213,000 posts have been released on Twitter with the hashtag of Arbaeen. This number has received more than 200,000 likes and 51,000 users have released the content. As for Instagram, 36,000 users have released 77,000 posts on Arbaeen which have received over 65 million likes.

RM/MG