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We say no to a medieval Kurdistan
14.4.2007
By Houzan Mahmoud |
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Secularists have opened an important new front in
the battle to push sharia law back where it belongs
- in the dark ages.
April
14, 2007,
Kurdistan region (Iraq)
Around seven months ago, a draft constitution for
the Kurdistan region was made available for
discussion, suggestions and amendments. Article
seven of this proposed constitution states: This
constitution stresses the identification of the
majority of Kurdish people as Muslims; thus the
Islamic sharia law will be considered as one of the
major sources for legislation making.
It is clear to the world that in those countries
where sharia law is practised - or simply where
groups of Islamic militias operate - freedom of
expression, speech and association is under threat,
if not totally absent. The rights of non-Islamic
religious minorities are invariably violated and
women suffer disproportionately.
The implementation of sharia law in Kurdistan would
be the start of new bloody chapter in the Islamists'
history of inhuman violence against the people, of
oppression sanctioned by religious law.
In truth, sharia law contains explicit legal
prescriptions that justify the violation of women's
rights, specifically when it comes to family matters
such as inheritance, marriage, divorce and custody
of children.
Violent acts against women are already practised in
Kurdistan. For decades, Kurdish women have been
denied rights and have been oppressed due to
patriarchal and religious cultures. Women in
Kurdistan are still caught between the "values" of
Islamic teaching and the desire for liberation.
Thousands of women have been murdered in so-called
honour killings, and the slaughter goes on to this
day.
Women "self-burning", being forced into marriage and
being denied the right to choose a partner are
widespread. According to the Kurdistan human rights
ministry, more than 533 women are reported to have
committed suicide over the past year alone.
Historically, women played an important role in
Kurdistan in all political, social and economic
spheres, and still do so today. However, this did
not win them civil and individual freedoms, owing to
the dominant culture of religious patriarchy. A male
relative is still entitled to make the decisions for
"his" women, and impose his will upon them.
Just recently Iraq's central government passed a law
denying women the right to apply for passports
without the consent of a male relative. This has all
the appearance of treating women as somehow
inferiors, or even minors, who need to be "looked
after" by "responsible" males.
Here and now in Kurdistan we are facing the forced
Islamization of people's lives. This draconian draft
proposed constitution has prompted an international
response. Along with five others, I launched a
campaign to bring together all those who believe in
secularism, and who therefore demand the removal of
Article seven, to fight this reactionary clause,
which would allow the Islamists to use official
state law to justify their crimes against the women
of Kurdistan.
Our campaign created a huge and unprecedented debate
at the very heart of our society, a debate that has
found expression in the Kurdish parliament. We
gathered many signatures and support letters from
political parties, civil society organisations and
women's organisations in Kurdistan and worldwide.
I travelled back to Kurdistan in order to meet with
two other members of our campaign, Sozan Shehab,
member of the Kurdistan parliament, and Stivan
Shamzinani, a journalist, to present our petition
calling for removal of article seven to the
Kurdistan parliament.
We met the committee responsible for the writing of
the constitution and we held a press conference in
the parliament buildings. Our campaign and our
unequivocal demand for secularism became big news in
Kurdistan and we were featured in the national
papers and on TV channels, radio and websites.
The media attention given to our campaign panicked
the Islamists, and just few days after our visit to
parliament they launched a counter-campaign. They
have announced their intention to "campaign to
retain the Islamic identity of the Kurdish people".
They have started to propagate the nonsense claim,
via their various media outlets, that we want to
impose secularism and forcibly deny people any right
to express their identity as Muslims. Of course,
this is simply another cowardly lie from a group of
reactionaries who have been put on the back foot by
our campaign's successes.
The demand for secularism - and a movement that
fights for it as a cause - is now a reality in
Kurdistan. It has divided the society between two
poles: those who want a secular society with space
and freedom accorded to all religions and schools of
thought, and those who have a programme of the
imposition of political Islam on every aspect of our
lives.
Our campaign for the removal article seven has
opened a new chapter in the fight for secularism and
against the medievalism and obscurantism of sharia
law.
This struggle marks a particularly bright period in
Kurdistan's contemporary history. It is an historic
movement for human dignity, for freedom of religions
and other forms of thought, for women's equality and
human rights.
It is worth mentioning that without international
support and solidarity, our campaign would simply
not have been as successful as it has. Therefore, I
call on all freedom-loving people worldwide to give
consistent and unconditional support to important
fights of this kind.
Our unity and worldwide solidarity does make a huge
difference. It always leaves an impact. My thanks to
all who stood with us in our struggle. We will
continue with our fight until we win and push sharia
law back to where it belongs - in the dark ages.
commentisfree guardian.co.uk
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