Belgium (Brussels Morning Newspaper) Her name was Jîna Mahsa Amini. A young Kurdish girl in Iran with her whole life ahead of her, deprived of her life by men and a regime who thinks they have the right to control women. She has become the symbol of that another country must be and is possible – a democratic, inclusive and equal.
For over 40 years, women, girls, minorities, and oppositional groups have lived in horror. The Iranian feminist revolution is a democratic revolution that is taking place right now. The autocratic regime might think that they can suffocate and silence the people, but what they do is fuel their anger and strengthen their belief that together they will consign the Mullahs and their brutal theocratic regime to history.
Jin, Jiyan, Azadî. Women, Life, Freedom. Three simple words, but yet a dream for many. It is a slogan that has walked thousands of miles from one part of Kurdistan – Turkish and Syrian – to now end up in Iranian. It is a slogan echoed all over the Kurdistan region in Iran, also known as Rojhelat, to now echo all over the country and all over the world.
Right now, Persian, Kurdish, Baluch, and many other groups – especially women, girls, and young people – are leveraging their righteous wrath and shouting, ‘The days of the regime are numbered!’
The regime’s tentacles however reach beyond its borders. In the Kurdistan Regional Government in Iraq, the bombs have been raining down on the population, especially in the areas where the Kurdish oppositional parties in Iran in exile, as KDPI, have their headquarters. Minorities in and outside of Iran are in particularly targeted.
To be silent is to be compliant. Compliance can’t be the way forward for the international community if we truly stand for what we preach – democracy, human rights, equality, and justice. We therefore must go from words to actions now.
We are already three weeks late. We are actually over 40 years late. The dream of a country for all its people is not a new one. But it is a strong one. The last big revolution 43 years ago was hijacked by the obnoxious Mullahs. The days of the theocratic Islamic Republic of Iran seem however to indeed be counted this time. What seemed like a dream a couple of weeks ago seems today more like a reality.
I am proud that we during the European Parliament plenary session in Strasbourg adopted a strong resolution in defense of the freedom fighter in Iran, but I am not satisfied. The words are now there, but the actions by the EU are yet to be seen.
Time is not on the side of the brave people. Hundreds of demonstrators are murdered cold-bloodedly in the hands of the heinous morality police, thousands are injured, and even more, are unlawfully and arbitrarily jailed. In their endeavor to limit access to information from the ground, the regime has shut down the internet. The 2019 revolution taught us that no internet means carnage. Over 1500 people were killed then.
The EU must act now. The cruel morality police and all those in the government behind the oppression of the people must be sanctioned. The discrimination laws that constitute the basis of gender apartheid in the country must be abolished. The murderers of Jîna and all those demonstrating and protesting must be brought to justice. We need to end impunity!
The cause of all women and people in Iran is our cause. Their freedom is our freedom.
Jin, Jiyan, Azadî! Women, life, freedom!