.jpg)
By Mufid Abdulla:
Kawa’s funeral
It was late night on 5th December, when one of our KT correspondents called to say that the young journalist, and editor of ‘Rayal’ magazine, Kawa Germyani had been murdered in front of his mother’s home. The details were still unclear but it struck me that this was the fourth journalist and writer to be assassinated in the region in the past five years. First there was Soran Mama Hama, who worked for ‘Lvin’ and was killed in 2008; then Abdulstar Sharief, a lecturer at Kirkuk University; then Sardasht Osman, a freelance journalist and student, who was abducted outside Erbil university and murdered; and this month Kawa Germyani was gunned down.
Kawa’s wife Zian is eight months pregnant and her baby due at any time. Zian lost both her parents in Saddam’s Anfal operation. She grew up an orphan and, after Kawa’s death, she made this statement to the people in Kurdistan: “It was my fear to raise my kids as a single mum but that has happened”. She continued: “Saddam killed my parents and the Kurdish authority killed my husband”. He was murdered four days after their wedding anniversary. Her young child will be without a dad due to this political authority. Zian speaks to us with the eloquence of a woman determined to ensure that her husband did not die in vain.
While the leaders of the PUK, KDP and Gorran now enjoy the dream life, this young widow’s parents sacrificed everything for today’s political establishment. There seems to be no decency in our Kurdish leaders, including those from the Gorran movement. Otherwise they would come out from their palaces and hills and make statements denouncing this murder and exposing those behind it.
The man allegedly behind the murder of Kawa Germyani is in complete denial. The PUK leadership should appreciate the scale of the tragedy of Kawa Germyani which has prompted nationwide outrage from many teachers, students, journalists, actors and business people who have united in calling for action against the criminal elements inside the political parties. The death of Kawa Germyani could even trigger a revolution like in Tunisia, and it can certainly be a driver for change. Five civil organisations, together with ‘Hawlati’, ‘Awene’, ’Lvin’ and Metro, have all issued statements to the effect that, “we are not letting the political authority get away with this murder”.
However, Faruk Rafiq – one of the leaders of February 2011 Sary Azadi uprising in the city of Suli – told ‘Awene’ that the guilt lies with the silence of the majority: “The people out there who are part of the silent majority, who never raised their voice, too busy with their own lives”
This situation is the fault of the opposition and their failure to deliver on their commitments to democracy and justice. I was not surprised that no opposition leader went to Kalar town to help carry Kawa Germyani’s coffin (although they should have done), but at least I expected them to appear on their TV stations and make decent statements about this tragedy. I know that the opposition’s focus now is only on getting posts in the new cabinet. But we must make sure that Kawa’s death is not in vain. His sacrifice must further the cause of democracy, justice and prosperity for the people of Kurdistan.
