{"id":35003,"date":"2024-11-01T11:39:54","date_gmt":"2024-11-01T09:39:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/themarkaz.org\/oldmarkaz\/?p=35003"},"modified":"2024-11-01T11:39:54","modified_gmt":"2024-11-01T09:39:54","slug":"the-man-who-loves-ducks-from-freedom-only-freedom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/themarkaz.org\/oldmarkaz\/the-man-who-loves-ducks-from-freedom-only-freedom\/","title":{"rendered":"“The Man Who Loves Ducks” from Freedom, Only Freedom<\/em>"},"content":{"rendered":"
The feature documentary <\/span>Behrouz<\/span><\/i> tells the story of Behrouz Boochani, the Kurdish journalist who fled the Iranian regime, and sought asylum in Australia in 2013. A month after his arrival in Australia by boat, Behrouz was transferred to Manus Island Detention prison on <\/span>Papua New Guinea<\/span>, where he spent six years locked away. His reporting and writings from prison, using a smuggled mobile phone, brought to international attention the cruel reality of detainees\u2019 lives on Manus. His memoir, <\/span>No Friend but the Mountains<\/span><\/i>, was written on his mobile phone while in detention. <\/span>Freedom, Only Freedom: The Prison Writings of Behrouz Boochani<\/span><\/i><\/a> is a collection of his writings, alongside essays by human right activists. In the anthology, Boochani remembers an inmate in Manus prison who suffered the inhospitable conditions with the rest of them, yet this man found solace in befriending animals.<\/span><\/h5>\n

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Freedom, Only Freedom: The Prison Writings of Behrouz Boochani <\/span><\/i>by Behrouz Boochani, edited and translated by Moones Mansoubi & Omid Tofighian
\n<\/span>Bloomsbury<\/a>, 2023
\nISBN 9780755642656<\/span><\/p>\n

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Behrouz Boochani<\/span><\/h4>\n

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\u201cThe man who loves ducks.\u201d This phrase describes Mansour Shoushtari with poetic resonance, this is the epithet by which he is known in Manus prison. Shoushtari is a 43-year-old man from Iran who has become a well-known personality in Manus prison. He comes across as someone full of joy and with a sensibility particular to the way children engage with the world.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Freedom<\/a>
Freedom Only Freedom<\/em> is published by Bloomsbury<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

He is someone whose presence in Manus prison is a paradox; that is, his very being conflicts with the prison in fundamental ways. Shoushtari\u2019s personality projects beauty, he projects tenderness, he projects kindness; his existence is in opposition to the violence of Manus prison, in opposition to the power of the prison, in opposition to the barbarity of the prison.<\/span><\/p>\n

Four years ago, Shoushtari managed to reach Christmas Island but the Australian government exiled him to Manus Island straight after, where he has been detained ever since. He has now been granted refugee status and has been waiting to be resettled in a safe country for years.<\/span><\/p>\n

Shoushtari is an animal rights activist; a strange role to take for an imprisoned individual. He continues to support animals in the same way he once did back in Iran.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

At sunset he puts the leftover food from the dining area onto a plastic dish and gives it to the crabs that live underneath the containers and tents. When I asked him why he feels obliged to feed the crabs he gave me a look that made me feel embarrassed for questioning him. He said: \u201cThe crabs have been living here on this island for ages \u2014 they were here before the prison was built. However, by constructing this prison we humans have violated their territory. They have every right to eat our food.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

In my view if a human being does not love animals they are incapable of loving human beings.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

He not only fed the crabs; for years he has also been a kind companion to the stray dogs that prowl around the outside of the prison. He has been trying his best to provide food for these abandoned and hungry dogs from behind the fences.<\/span><\/p>\n

As a result of his actions some of the refugees and guards would complain; his activism resulted in the hungry dogs of the island gathering all around there. They claimed that Shoushtari was causing difficulties and making problems for them. But he continued to treat the dogs with affection, living by his simple philosophy that \u201cdogs also have the right to eat well.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

After the supreme court of Papua New Guinea declared that Manus prison was illegal, he had the opportunity to bring one of the dogs into the prison. He brought in the most emaciated dog and took on the duty of taking care of it in the prison. Its name is \u201cLeopard\u201d and when I asked why he named it such he answered: \u201cThis dog was extremely depressed and malnourished. It was frightened of humans and when I offered food it became shy like a leopard and would take the food I gave it out of sight and eat behind the tents. From the day I witnessed that I named it Leopard, I named it that because it was so thin and frail.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAnd now it\u2019s grown so fat, it\u2019s become so cheerful, now it\u2019s as healthy as can be. It\u2019s become just like an actual leopard, just like a powerful leopard.\u201d Shoushtari smiled as he conveyed this account. I asked him about his journey across the ocean and his thoughtful response again referenced animals; in particular, he referred to his pet duck, the one he left with a friend back in Iran. I had a five-year-old duck. I had left it with a friend back in Iran to look after. Our boat had gone missing out in the ocean for five days. Just when everyone else thought we would die very soon, a feeling came over me that signaled to me that I wouldn\u2019t die. I had that feeling whenever I thought about my duck \u2014 I felt that my love and kindness toward it would help me, my feelings toward my duck would stop the boat from going under, I felt my emotional connection to it would end up saving my life.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

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