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PART 1: Halabja
It is tragic for a political power to suffer moral
bankruptcy without being able to recognize and
acknowledge it. It is even more tragic to know it,
but deny it and refuse to do anything about it. I
know that so-called Kurdish leaders do not read, do
not listen and do not care. I have been writing to
them, about them and on the conditions of my nation
for 30 years. But I have never ever received any
response directly or indirectly from them: a word, a
gesture, a dialogue, a whisper! Then how and why do
we continue to write and for whom? That is the
question!
For a genuine writer, writing is not an option: it
is a vocation, a responsibility, an equation to
humanity and worthiness of existence. In fact, it is
more than this. I never feel I write. I feel events
and realities write us. Power writes us, forces us
to react. But people react differently to power and
for different aims: Some to sell their souls. Some
to save their souls and the souls of even those who
do not care about losing their souls. Life is short.
The end result is the same. It is only the journey
that counts.
It is sad that the officials of Kurdistan Democratic
Party (KDP) and Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK)
have marched with such an uninterrupted momentum
towards this state of moral bankruptcy. It is tragic
that this happens at a time when they have achieved
(through our people’s support and understanding) the
greatest international recognition and they own
power, resources and popular support not only to
create a genuine democratic civil society of
institutions, rule of law, democratic accountability
and economic prosperity but also to ensure the
freedom and future security of our nation and
eventual independence of our occupied homeland.
There are many aspects that prove the depth and
breadth of the all-pervading moral corruption in
Kurdish society. But I will concentrate on five
issues which highlight the moral bankruptcy of KDP
and PUK officials:
1. the way they have treated Halabja and people of
Halabja
2. The way they have dealt with the case of Kurdish
women sold as prostitutes to Egyptian nightclubs
3. The way they have addressed the issue of
genocide, Anfal and the families of anafled people
4. The way they have treated the displaced people of
Kirkuk and the issue of Kirkuk
5. The way Kurdish women in Kurdistan are treated
Halabja
The events of Halabja say it all. Of course, there
was and is an element of hostile exploitation
targeting PUK but this is not an excuse to brand the
demonstrators as traitors and conspirators and
threaten the participants with “executions”. This is
the mentality and language of Ba’ath and pro-fascist
power. PUK should learn the language of dialogue and
engaging people as equals in it especially young
people. They should think of Halabja events as an
opportunity to renew themselves not as a threat to
their collapsing corrupt power.
Halabja was not an isolated accident. This was the
culmination of a long process of discontent and
frustration felt by Kurdish masses and their sense
of anger because of the way they have been treated
by the officials of the two dominant parties. There
had been demonstrations before in Ranya, in Akre, in
Kalar and there were suppressed demonstrations in
Kirkuk, Sulaymaniya and Hewler.
The Halabja demonstration of 16 March was not of
course against Halabja memoriam. These were the
people of Halabja, the people of the martyrs, who
were demonstrating to vent their frustration and
anger. They burnt the memorial because the political
parties had in the consciousness of people turned it
into a symbol of insult and degradation for the
martyrs and people of Halabja and people of
Kurdistan as a whole. These party officials, as
people of Halabja said, only remembered Halabaj on
its anniversary and then they used the occasion and
the visits to the memorial, to make more money for
themselves and their families and cause more insult
to the feelings of the families of the martyrs. The
young people who attacked the symbol, wanted to tell
the officials of the two parties: you have left
nothing sacred. You are the people who have
desecrated everything we value: our martyrs, our
sacrifices, our history, our dreams, our dignity,
our rights as people and as individuals. You have
demeaned the concepts of democracy, civil society
and human rights. You have turned “parliament” into
a servile political tool, an irrelevant, useless,
toothless body which deserves ridicule and contempt
rather than respect.
The events of Halabja, the monstrous phenomenon of
Shekh Zana, the abduction and imprisonment of Dr
Kamal Sayid Qadir and the stinking moral, political
and administrative corruption imposed on Kurdish
society by Kurdistan Democratic party and Patriotic
Union of Kurdistan demonstrate clearly the absolute
moral bankruptcy of the leaderships of these two
parties and their inability to understand how far
they have gone in insulting and abusing the trust of
our people, what they are doing and to what abyss
they have taken the Kurdish society.
But their actions and crimes will inevitably catch
up with them. This is the way of history. Unless
they act honestly, transparently and swiftly to deal
with the situation, they should either prepare
themselves to leave and enjoy their stolen millions
somewhere else, or face the wrath of the people.
The way Halbaj and the people of Halabja have been
treated is a proof not only of political failure
amounting to political suicide but also a proof of
moral bankruptcy. Halabja should have been the
priority for a strategy of national revival, unity
and future-building. Not only because Halabaj was
rightly “Kurdish Hiroshima” but also because of
political reasons, because of the destructive role
of fundamentalist groups and interference of Iran in
the area , because of the great historical position
and cultural heritage that Halbaj represents. Add to
this the breath-taking beauty of the area and its
rich architectural and agricultural resources. Any
modern responsible leadership, with billions of
dollars at their disposal, would have made it their
priority to turn Halabja into a model city of
civilization, culture, human rights, democracy,
freedom, tourism and then the Monument should have
been added to all this to embody and translate these
changes and ideals.
But on the contrary, the memorial, which originally
came as an initiative by people, was turned into a
mere political symbol while the martyrs, the people,
the history and the sons and girls of the martyrs
were forgotten, abused and insulted. That is why the
memorial not only lost any positive symbolization
but also became a permanent reminder of parties’
selfishness, despotism and dishonesty. The people of
Halabja were honest and civilized. Two weeks before
the anniversary they said they would hold
demonstrations to ask for services and projects for
their town. They asked for a university to be
established in their town and eventually for the
town to be changed into a city and a centre for the
province of Hawraman They said that because the
political parties had for 15 years ignored their
city and insulted their martyrs they did not want
and accept any official to visit their town on the
anniversary of the chemical attack on 16 March 2006.
This was the clear wish and position of the people.
This was the time for the political leaders to enter
into a serious dialogue with them and to take
political steps to deal with their grievances.
If KDP and PUK had allowed “parliament” to function,
allowed parliamentary “opposition” to exist and
allowed people to freely elect their members of
parliament who would engage with them and carry
their grievances to parliament to be debated and
resolved, there would have been no need for the
people of Halabja to act the way they did, nor would
have been any need for me to write this article now.
The source of corruption, political illegitimacy and
eventually criminality starts from this: from the
various criminal methods (such as inter-fighting and
alliances with Saddam, Turkey and Iran) and
deceptive methods (such as media brainwashing,
blackmail, lies, dishonesty and false promises and
alliances in time of elections) which have been used
by the two parties in the last 15 years to
monopolize power and control every aspect of Kurdish
society in a criminal, tribal, totalitarian,
party-controlled manner that has suffocated Kurdish
society and destroyed its golden opportunity for
freedom, prosperity, international respect and
national and individual self-determination.
KDP and PUK often talk about institutions without
knowing what they mean. Parliament is the mother of
all institutions; it is the institution of
institutions. Parliaments cannot function without a
constitution. So why have you so criminally
prevented the drafting and adoption of a progressive
democratic constitution for Kurdistan region for the
last 15 years? Who have prevented you from this
apart from your selfish tribal mentalities? Why do
you make all decisions without giving any role to
your puppet ‘parliament”? Why do you think of all
solutions within the mentality and capacity of your
corrupt party officials? Why is there no opposition
inside and outside parliament? Why do you repeat the
criminal experience of 50/50 for a government formed
from disreputable and incompetent party officials
and by this only fuelling people’s resentment and
anger? Why don’t you use this opportunity to create
a genuine united government from respected
independent intellectuals and efficient technocrats
who know how to think independently and
scientifically, how to plan, interact with people
and achieve?
Why do you squander this golden opportunity of our
people and dig your graves with your own hands?
www.kurdistanreferendum.org
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