The firing of guns at celebrations was most likely established in the 1920s, when Iraqi tribes rose up against colonial British troops, suggests Haidar al-Rumaithi, a community leader in the province of Maysan. At the time one of the most popular weapons was a kind of club, that if used to hit an enemy on the head, could kill instantly. However because the British colonisers had guns, the tribes in southern Iraq began to use them too.
As far as al-Rumaithi is aware, the guns became part of a popular dance, during which tribe members walked around in a circle, holding their guns, before firing the weapons into the middle of the circle. After this, a speaker would recite a poem, appropriate to the occasion, whether happy or sad.
It’s extremely difficult to get people to give this tradition up, al-Rumaithi says. “Many tribes see a gun ban at big events as an insult,” he explains. But he does understand why people should not be shooting their weapons off at will in big cities like Baghdad. “Anyway it is a tribal tradition that is all about the heritage of those from the southern Iraqi countryside,” he notes.
Iraqi MP, Muna al-Ghurabi, has suggested that the government increase the penalties for anyone caught firing their guns at events. “Those who fire guns should be prosecuted with the anti-terrorism law,” she wrote in a statement calling upon tribes and civil society organizations to campaign against this potentially deadly activity.
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