BÊRÎVAN KEMAL

Sulaymaniyah- Leyla Qasim was a Feyli Kurd born in 1952 in the Bamili village of Khanaqin district of Iraq’s Diyala province. She was the only daughter of a family of five children.

In 1970, she joined the Kurdistan Students’ Union. A student of Sociology at the University of Baghdad, she had a significant influence on Kurdish students at Baghdad University. During that period, everyone believed that “Kurds can only rise up in villages and mountains. Women cannot do what men do and take part in revolutionary activities. Women’s activities are different than men’s activities.” When she realized that she decided to take an active part in the students’ activities in Iraq, particularly in Baghdad.

“Thousands of Kurds will wake up from their sleep”

On April 24, 1974, she planned to hijack a plane along with her friends Jawad Hamawandi, Nariman Fuad Masti, Hassan Hama Rashid, and Azad Sleman Miran to make the Iraqi Ba'ath regime attacks against the Kurdish people heard all around the world. She was arrested by the Ba’ath regime forces. She didn’t say a single word to the Ba’ath regime forces although she was tortured. During the lengthy show trial, she said, “My execution will wake up thousands of Kurds from their sleep. I am honored and happy that my death will serve the freedom of Kurdistan.”

One day before her execution, the Ba’ath regime allowed her family to see her. “Don’t forget to bring scissors and my Kurdish local clothes,” she told her sister during the meeting with her mother and sister. Surprised by her request, her sister asked her, “What are the scissors for?” Leyla Qasim told her, “Cut a lock of my hair. Let my hair blow in the wind when Kurdistan is liberated and keep my local clothes for this day. That day, I will be the bride of Kurdistan.” On May 12, 1974, Leyla Qasim was hanged along with her four friends by the Iraqi Ba'ath party. She was the first woman to be hanged by the Iraqi Ba'ath regime.

Young people can make change

Young people in Sulaymaniyah spoke to NuJINHA to mark the death anniversary of Leyla Qasim. Savan Ezîz and Raz Rêber are 10th-grade students of Shirin Girls’ High School. They know everything about the struggles of Leyla Qasim and other women who left their mark on history.

“There are many women, who struggled and resisted, in the history of Kurdistan. These women struggled for Kurds and women.  Leyla Qasim was one of the women struggling for the freedom of Kurdistan. She was wearing her Kurdish local clothes when she was hanged. Young people can make changes so they should know their history. We should know the women struggling for the freedom of Kurdistan,” Savan Ezîz told NuJINHA.

“Young people should know the struggle of the Kurdish women”

Speaking about the struggle of the Kurdish women in history, Rez Rêber said, “Young people should know the struggle of the Kurdish women who left their mark in history. But most young people spend their days using social media. They don't care about the history of Kurds and women. They should learn more about the women, who left their mark in the Kurdish literature.”

Şadman Qadir, a Kurdish teacher, emphasized the courage and resistance of Leyla Qasim and said, “Leyla Qasim is one of the heroic women, who resisted their executioners. In the past, women were subjected to social pressure and confined to their homes but they resisted despite all the challenges. The resistance of women is rarely mentioned in history books. The information about the resisting women such as Leyla Qasim, Mestûre Erdelanî, Rewşen Bedirxan, and Daye Ciwan should be included in the history books.”