When The Kurds Made History

[kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu]

Reply-To: kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu
From: Arm The Spirit <ats at etext.org>
Subject: When The Kurds Made History

From: kurdeng at aps.nl
Organization: Activist Press Service (newsdesk)

-------------- Forwarded from : Salah Aziz <saziz at mailer.fsu.edu> --------------

"Short Story"

			When the Kurds Made History
				Salah Aziz
			Badlisy Center for Kurdish Studies

"Where are we going?" Sherko asked his mother, Fatima.  "We will vote
today," she responded quietly.  Sherko, an eight year old boy and 
a second-grade student, recalled that his teacher said something 
about today's voting during class yesterday.  Just like other 
students, he knew that voting must be a very important event.

The political parties in Kurdistan-Iraq converted circles located at 
street intersections as sites for campaigning.  During the three 
weeks leading up to the election, Sherko had enjoyed watching the 
campaign.  Each circle in his city, Sulaymania, was decorated with 
pictures, flags, and colorful banners.  The men and women in charge 
of the circles gave candies and 
cookies to those stopping by as they greeted each potential voter.
Sherko was lucky because there were three large circles close to 
his house.  He visited each circle daily, collecting sweets.  
Receiving free sweets reminded him of Eids, the Muslim holy 
celebration in which every family prepares some kinds of sweets and
distributed them to children.  However, during the previous two 
years Eids had not been happy occasions for Sherko because his 
father had not earned any money and the family could not afford 
cookies and clothes.  After the election, his mother had promised, 
he would have new clothes.

Sherko also enjoyed listening to music played over loudspeakers and 
watching Kurdish tradition dancing, Chape'a.  He memorized some 
songs and started learning to dance.  However, dancers would not 
allow him to join them because he might disturb the dance's harmony 
and order.     

As they approached the polling place, Ahmed, Sherko's father, carried
his two-year-old daughter, Nasrine.  Ahmed walked faster than Sherko 
and Fatima, slowing every few minutes to ask them to hurry.  The day 
was already hot, and Ahmed wanted to arrive early so that he and his
family would not have to wait a long time.

Although Ahmed had heard on the radio that the Iraqi government would
consider everyone who participated in the election a traitor and 
severely punish him, he listened to the Kurdish leaders who urged 
residents of the region to vote as a "national duty."  Along with 
Ahmed, his family and relatives were participating in the election 
despite the government's threat. 

Ahmed and many others had already paid a price for their Kurdish 
patriotism.  When the Iraqi government withdrew from the Kurdish 
region in October 1991, they ordered the government employees in 
Arbil, Dihok, and Sulaymania to leave for Kirkuk or Mosul, which 
ere under Iraq's control.  The government stopped paying wages to 
those who decided to stay in Kurdistan.  During the past six months, 
Ahmed had received one month's salary.  Further, the money was not 
worth much because of 3,000 percent inflation.  He had been forced 
to sell his car to raise money.  However, he looked forward to a 
more prosperous day because the Kurdish leaders had promised that 
the economic crisis and administration vacuum would be solved after 
the election.

Fatima's bright and colorful Kurdish dress -dominated by green, red, 
and yellow- was sewn new for the occasion.  Although the women of 
Sulaymania typically dressed in bright colors, Fatima had not worn 
new clothes since April 1991 as a sign of mourning.  In April of that
year, she had lost her six-year-old daughter, A'shty, when Kurds 
fled Sulaymania during the mass exodus following the Gulf War.  On 
the Iraq-Iran border, A'shty became sick and died because there was 
no medicine. As she walked toward the voting place, Fatima recalled 
the pain and starvation during the exodus.  As family buried A'shty, 
Fatima had sworn that she would never return to be ruled by Saddam's 
regime.  When the Kurdish parties called for election to replace  
Saddam's government in the region, she supported them and joined one
of women's organizations to help in the election go forward.

Ahmad and Fatima were not entirely sure that the election would take
place today, May 22, 1992.  It had already been postponed once, 
from May 19, because of technical error.  The postponement had caused
confusion and suspicion among the people, who feared that the Kurdish 
leaders might cancel voting after receiving threats from the 
governments of Iran, Syria, Turkey, and Iraq.  These states rejected
the idea of holding election in Kurdistan, and their media reported
that they would not recognize the election results.  There was also 
speculation that perhaps Kurdish politicians could not agree on 
certain election law procedures and therefore would cancel the vote.  
Ahmed asked Fatima if she had heard anything new about the election.  
She shook her head, "no," and they continued walking toward the 
election center, interrupted now and then by Sherko

By seven o'clock that morning, the family had arrived at the election 
center, an elementary school surrounded by a long line of people.  
Ahmed estimated that there were already 200 families in  line and 
asked his wife: "When did these people leave their houses to come?" 
"Probably before sunrise," she answered.  As Sherko eased away to 
play with the other children, his parents talked to family members 
who had also gathered to vote.  Soon, the mood resembled that of 
social celebration.  One man remarked: "We need some music to start
dancing."  Ahmed laughed and said: "Maybe we'll dance after the 
election."

After waiting in line for three hours, Ahmed's family reached the 
entrance.  Fatima, still smiling and talking to the other women, was
carrying Nasrine who was tired and hungry.  Ahmed held Sherko's 
hand and asked his son to behave well once they were in the building.
As they neared the polling place, Ahmed and Fatima became more and 
more excited since this was the first time either of them had voted. 
Ahmed and Fatima had discussed the election at length in the preceding
weeks.  They decided to vote for the same political party and leader 
although it was not an easy decision.  There were seven political 
parties competing for parliament seats and four candidates for 
leadership position.  Ahmed and Fatima did not belong to a political
party, but they had relatives and friends in these parties. 

Ahmed had thought deeply about the competing political parties and 
leaders, but when he examined political speeches, he found little 
difference among them.  For Ahmed, the most important aspect of the
election was that it be carried out peacefully and successfully.  
He had heard that there would be election observers from the United 
States and Europe but he still worried that the losing party might 
not accept the election results.  He hoped that the crises endured 
by the Kurds in the previous five years had taught the Kurdish parties 
that their unity was to be the overriding objective.

There were only two families ahead of Ahmed when a man walked in and 
asked them to step back. Everybody turned to the entrance, where 
they saw a young man carrying an old handicapped man on his back.  
The old man, probably in eighties, asked officials if he could vote
without waiting in line.  The officials and voters in line honored
the old man's request.  The man's grandson, who had carried him into 
the room, told the official that the family disapproved of the old 
man's participating in the election because of his poor health.  But 
the grandfather, who had taken part in Sheikh Mahmmud's independence 
movement in 1920s, insisted on sharing this historic event with his 
children and grandchildren.

Everybody in the room felt proud of the old man.  A chair was provided 
for him to sit in, and he was allowed to move ahead in line. After he
voted, he hugged and shook hands with everyone.  With tears in his 
eyes, he said: "Long live Kurdistan.  Now I am a free man."

It took Ahmed and Fatima ten minuets to cast their vote.  When Sherko
asked, "Baba, can I vote?" the room filled with laughter. "No," Ahmed
answered.  "You have to be 18 years old."  In the spirit of the day,
an election official gave a card to Sherko, telling him to fill it 
in and give it to his teacher the next day.

On their way back home, Ahmed asked Fatima: "Did you understand what
the old man said before he left?"  "Yes," she said.  "I feel free 
for the first time in my life."  "We will stay free as long as we 
continue to elect our leaders," said her husband.



Ref:  NAMAH, Vol. II No. 1, Winter 1995

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