ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Eight prominent Kurdish women’s rights activists have issued a public statement criticizing the Change Movement (Gorran), accusing it of supporting political Islam and violating women’s rights.
The stand came after Gorran leader Nawshirwan Mustafa declared in a recent television interview that his party “does not oppose anything disapproved by Islamic doctrines or the invariable rules of Islam.”
Gorran, the Kurdistan Region’s main opposition, emerged from last month’s parliamentary elections as the second most-powerful party, unseating old rival and ruling partner the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK).
“In the 21st century, we consider the invariable rules of Islam that Gorran does not want to oppose as violating human dignity in Kurdistan,” the activists said in their statement.
They stipulate that Shariah laws -- not equally regarding witness testimony by a man or woman, allowing polygamy, permitting men to discipline their wives or preventing them from travelling without permission -- are not rules that respect human rights.
“We believe that reforming such rules so that they meet the needs and requirements of our modern time should be the foundation of strategies and policies of political forces in Kurdistan,” the women’s statement said.
“By adopting such an ideology, Gorran should realize that it undermines women’s rights and gender equality,” it added.
The group called on the leadership of Gorran to “reconsider its recent religious rhetoric and not take any practical steps towards adopting Islamic rules as part of its politics.”
Signatories say that, since publication of their statement, some of them have been subjected to “different forms of attacks and harassment by the so-called intellectuals and journalists of the (Change) Movement.”
According to Houzan Mahmud, one of the signatories, the attacks were “an attempt to shift the attention from the importance of the powerful message the women conveyed to the public opinion into trivial issues that are far from reality.”
Dr Nazand Begikhani, another signatory, said that the authors of the attacks “adopted a cultural attitude aiming at publically dishonoring the women and forcing them into silence.”
She added that, “When women take a political and intellectual stand in Kurdistan they are rarely debated on the basis of their discourse and politics. Instead, they are reduced to exclusive sexual objects, accused of various felonies seeking to tarnish their honor and reputation.”
The event has brought to the surface two forces in struggle in Kurdistan, the progressive and conservative groups. Judging by the many commentaries posted on Facebook, both sides are ready to defend their positions.
Conservative activists have accused the women signatories of being “Westernized” and trying to “impose an alien culture on the Kurdish community.” Progressive group members, meanwhile, have applauded the women and encouraged them to continue fighting.
For this latter group Gorran’s stand is not a surprise, given its opposition alliance over the past four years with the two main Islamic parties, the Kurdistan Islamic Union and the Kurdistan Islamic Group. “The alliance with Islamic forces had put pressure on Gorran to adopt their discourse and their politics,” one person wrote.
Begikhani agrees with this argument, adding that “there is no doubt that Iran also plays a major role in the religious rhetoric of the Gorran Movement.”
Gorran has been close to Iran, which has been protecting it and looking after its interests. For Iran, Gorran has become a strategic ally in the Kurdistan Region, where regional rival Turkey has made important economic and political inroads through its strong links with the dominant Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP).
Kurdish women’s rights activists are closely watching the political developments in Kurdistan, saying they are unwilling to “compromise on the gains they have secured over the past 22-year rule of the Kurdistan Regional Government.”
