The world stage saw a nation dance to freedom. On the 8th of December, Syria went on to celebrate the fall of its decade-old government. The presidential Palace, housing Bashar Al Assad, was stormed by the rebels and citizens. The President, who fled the country just before the crowd entered his personal residence, is now missing. After storming the presidential palace, the crowd took out portraits of various leaders from the Guest Quarters. This was the place where the fallen president hosted heads of state.
Thousands of civilians poured into the streets of Syria to celebrate the fall of their anarchist president. While some shot rounds of celebratory gunfire after a stunning rebel, others sat still in disbelief at their victory.
Downfall of Assad
Cheering crowd gathered near central squares and mosques inside Damascus city. The crowd was happy to bring to end the 50 years of iron rule by Assad’s family. This crowd repeatedly chanted, “God is great.” The Syrian teen boys picked up weapons discarded by the security forces to fire them in the air. The huge crowd waved the three-star Syrian flag that predated the Assad government. It is now the revolutionaries’ flag.
The fall of the Syrian government because of a people-led rebellion was long coming. “I cannot express my happiness. But this happiness will not be completed until I can see my son out of prison and know where is he. I have been searching for him for two hours. He has been detained for 13 years.” said the syrian civilan Bassam Masr. His lines were reported in an Indian daily newspaper.
This was the case with almost all the families across Syria. People wept as they were reunited with their children’s siblings, spouses, and parents, who were banished years ago. Some vanished while others were detained during the five-decade-long reign of the Assad dynasty.
On Sunday, after the rebellion was successful, the gates of the prison were open. Civilians ran out of the prison with fingers holding up towards the air, telling how many years they had been kept inside. These prisoners were very less aware of what was happening outside. As they ran in the streets free, others tell them, “We toppled the regime.” These voices can be heard in various videos coming out from the scene.
As they ran in the streets free, others told them, “We toppled the regime.” These voices could be heard in various videos coming out from the scene.
Everything Will Change
The rebellion sprouted from a civil war that began in 2011. Security forces held hundreds and thousands of people seized into detention camps with barbaric conditions. Human rights organisations across the globe would raise these alarms. But they were blatantly ignored by the city government.
The government-owned newspaper called al-Watan fell completely under the hands of the rulers. Historically a pro-government newspaper, al-Watan said that its Media workers should not be blamed for publishing government statements in the past since they hardly had any control.
“We are facing a new page for Syria. We thank God for not shedding more blood. We believe and trust that Syria will be for all Syrians,” read a statement by the newspaper.
Similar celebrations erupted across various parts of Lebanon, the country originally home to more Syrian refugees per capita than any other country in the world. These refugees fled Syria in the face of the terrorful reign of Assad.
“I feel for once that I have a country, that I have a place I can return to. For the first time ever, I feel I have a home,” says Talal Alasaad while speaking to an Indian newspaper. He now lives in Switzerland.
The 31-year-old refugee fled Aleppo’s countryside to find home in Lebanon.Alasaad has not seen his parents in over 10 years. But the plight was that he could not return to Syria, because of the fear of the army.
The leader of the rebelling crowd, Abu Mohammad al Jolani, has been kept unnoticed in the country for long. But now the country is waiting for the rebel leader to reunite Syria.
