Mayada Iraqchi Kanya By Jean P. Sasson

Mayada Al-Askari was born in a very powerful family of Iraq. Her grandfather has fought bravely along with Lawrence of Arabia. Her other grandfather is recognized as the first nationalist. Mayada had no idea that her life will be changed drastically with the rule of Saddam Hussain and his Bath Party. She was a divorcee with two children. She was somehow managing with the printing business. But on one morning of 1999, the soldiers of Saddam`s reign arrested her under the indictment that she is involved in anti-Saddam activities and was printing and distributing posters favouring these activities. She was imprisoned in the notorious Baldiya prison. Then she realised the measure of her being alone. She was thrown into the foul smelling cell where already there were 17 ladies locked up before her. All these females were from the different classes of Iraq, but their destiny seemed to be the same, imprisonment without any trial, torture and the continuous fear of death. While being in this cell, they started sharing their stories with each other. All the co-prisoners were very much impressed with Mayada and her lineage with some great people, the history of her ancestors, the assassination of the King Faizal II, her meetings with Saddam Hussain who was responsible for their imprisonment; her past life fascinated them. Mayada`s story gives us an insight about the life in Iraq, its culture and history, the civilized ways of Iraqis, and the transformation in the minds and lives of the common people of Iraq due to Saddam`s torture.