Reading about the death of Saparmurat Niyazov causes me to dwell once again on the fleetingness of our human existence. Good or evil, we will all end up the same way, even those who think they are invincible like this man. Since death is the only certainty in our lives, why do people misuse their short time on earth?
I remember the first time I heard about Saparmurat Niyazov, the self named Turkmenbashi(Father of the Turkmeni) of Turkmenistan on Russia's NTV station, I was shocked into bursting out in laughter.What else can one do but laugh about someone who renamed the names and days of the week after himself and his family members, who made it a crime to wear a beard and who imposed a fee of thousands of dollars on any non Turkmeni who wanted to marry a woman from Turkmenistan. You can read more about his absurd reign in this Sunday Times Article.
Truly the evil that men do does live after them. IBB, take note.
4 comments:
Very true.
i think if people live in the consciousness of the inevitability of death they will learn that it pays to do good.
I got to work, and couldn't believe he had died. His death could bring the whole region down: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/6202215.stm
Shame.
I've followed this lunatic's rule for the last couple of years or so. In the beginning, I used to find some of his absurd rules funny, but the more I heard, the sadder and angrier I became. This is someone who spent millions of dollars on inflating his ego while basic health services suffered because he decided that conscripts should work as doctors; someone who has virtually destroyed his country's educational system because he made his stupid book the main book to study in schools.
The horrible irony is that like most brutal dictators, he's done such a good job of creating a dependency on himself that the death of this man could actually provoke instability in the region. Sometimes, I wish it were possible to resurrect such people and subject them to a long period of torment, if only to serve as an example to budding autocrats out there...
OK, rant over.
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