Saddam Beach is a

fishing village A fishing village is a village, usually located near a fishing ground, with an economy based on catching fish and harvesting seafood. The continents and islands around the world have coastlines totalling around 356,000 kilometres (221,000 ...

in the Malappuram district of the

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

n state of

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

. The village is made up of a two kilometre (1¼ mi) coastal belt between Puthenkadapuram and Kettungal in

Parappanangadi Parappanangadi, , is a major town and a municipality in Tirurangadi taluk of Malappuram district, Kerala, India. It is a coastal town located close to the Arabian sea. Parappanangadi railway station is one of the oldest railway stations in Ker ...

. The village is named after former Iraqi president

Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein ( ; ar, صدام حسين, Ṣaddām Ḥusayn; 28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003. A leading member of the revolutio ...

, in an act of solidarity during the 1991

Gulf War The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a Coalition of the Gulf War, 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Ba'athist Iraq, ...

. The beach name was suggested by Indian maids working in the gulf, especially Kuwait.

Etymology

The village used to be called Tipu Sultan Beach after the

Mysore Mysore (), officially Mysuru (), is a city in the southern part of the state of Karnataka, India. Mysore city is geographically located between 12° 18′ 26″ north latitude and 76° 38′ 59″ east longitude. It is located at an altitude of ...

king

Tippu Sultan Tipu Sultan (born Sultan Fateh Ali Sahab Tipu, 1 December 1751 – 4 May 1799), also known as the Tiger of Mysore, was the ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore based in South India. He was a pioneer of rocket artillery.Dalrymple, p. 243 He i ...

who took an aggressive stance against the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

colonial forces during the late 18th century.Saddam has his own Beach in Kerala
/ref> Since the

of 1991, the villagers have decided to rename the village to its present name, expressing solidarity with Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. The villagers, mostly Muslim, claim to be inspired by "Saddam and his fight against policies of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

.Saddam a hero in Kerala village
/ref>

History

The coastal hamlet that is now Saddam Beach shot into prominence when it was renamed after the Iraqi leader. The villagers of the region have since been particularly vocal about their admiration of Saddam and his 'anti-imperialist' stance. The

-led

invasion of Iraq The 2003 invasion of Iraq was a United States-led invasion of the Republic of Iraq and the first stage of the Iraq War. The invasion phase began on 19 March 2003 (air) and 20 March 2003 (ground) and lasted just over one month, including 26 ...

was received with much condemnation. In 2003, expressing anguish over the renaming of "Saddam International Airport" to "

Baghdad International Airport Baghdad International Airport , previously Saddam International Airport ( ar, مطار بغداد الدولي, Maṭār Baġdād ad-Dawaliyy) is Iraq's largest international airport, located in a suburb about west of downtown Baghdad in the ...

", some Saddam fans raised a large signpost on the beach with the message "Welcome to Saddam Beach".

2003 Gulf War

During the course of the invasion of Baghdad, the village witnessed many anti-American and anti-British demonstrations. Goods made in these countries were generally boycotted and even thrown into the sea. Many of the villagers who had work in Gulf countries were forced to return to Saddam Beach as their jobs were lost due to the aftereffects of the Gulf War, further increasing animosity to the West. Large cut-outs and posters of Saddam, along with Iraqi flags were erected along the roadside by the locals, marking their protest. In November 2006, villagers reacted to the

death sentence Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that ...

of Saddam Hussein by staging a protest rally, mouthing slogans against American President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

. Around fifty people, including women and children, participated in the march.Saddam Beach’ shocked over death sentence
/ref>

Saddam supporters

On 30 December 2006, angry supporters of Saddam Hussein gathered at the beach, and shouted slogans denouncing US President George W. Bush, describing the

execution of Saddam Hussein The execution of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein took place on 30 December 2006, (Death’s Angels). Saddam Hussein was sentenced to death by hanging, after being convicted of crimes against humanity by the Iraqi Special Tribunal for the ...

as "cruel"Disappointment, condemnation in India over Saddam hanging
/ref>

Transportation

Saddam Beach village connects to other parts of India through

town. National highway No.66 passes through

Ramanattukara Ramanattukara is a municipality census town in Kozhikode district in the Indian state of Kerala. This town was formerly called Kadungan Chira village. Ramanattukara is located 14 km away from Kozhikode city. Developing as a suburb of K ...

and the northern stretch connects to

Goa Goa () is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is located between the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north and Karnataka to the ...

and

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' fin ...

. The southern stretch connects to

Cochin Kochi (), also known as Cochin ( ) ( the official name until 1996) is a major port city on the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea, which is a part of the Arabian Sea. It is part of the district of Ernakulam in the state of K ...

and

Trivandrum Thiruvananthapuram (; ), also known by its former name Trivandrum (), is the capital of the Indian state of Kerala. It is the most populous city in Kerala with a population of 957,730 as of 2011. The encompassing urban agglomeration populatio ...

. State Highway No.28 starts from Nilambur and connects to

Ooty Ooty (), officially known as Udhagamandalam (also known as Ootacamund (); abbreviated as Udhagai), is a city and a municipality in the Nilgiris district of the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located north west of Coimbatore and so ...

and

Bangalore Bangalore (), List of renamed places in India, officially Bengaluru (), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan area, metropolitan population of a ...

through Highways.12,29 and 181. The nearest airport is at

Kozhikode Kozhikode (), also known in English as Calicut, is a city along the Malabar Coast in the state of Kerala in India. It has a corporation limit population of 609,224 and a metropolitan population of more than 2 million, making it the second l ...

. The nearest major railway station is at

References

Saddam Hussein {{Malappuram district Villages in Malappuram district Parappanangadi area