Six major Kurdish organisations in Iran issued a joint call for general strike in the Kurdistan province to mark the anniversary of the protests that began after the death of young Kurdish woman Jina Mahsa Amini in morality police custody on 16 September last year.
Amini’s name “became a code for the popular uprising that began in Kurdistan with the slogan Jin Jiyan Azadi”, said the six organisations in their joint statement.
Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (PDK-Î), Komala, Kurdistan Free Life Party (PJAK), Organisation of Iranian Kurdistan Struggle (Khabat), Kurdistan Freedom Party (PAK) and Komala of Toilers of Kurdistan praised the ongoing protests, which constitute a “revolution, a freedom-loving movement of the Iranian people and the peoples of Kurdistan”, they said.
“The significant role women have played in this revolution has taken our society a big step forward and made the horizon of victory brighter,” they continued.
On the anniversary of the death of Jina Amini, the six parties will visit her grave and the graves of others who lost their lives during the year-long protests. In the joint statement, they encouraged “all the freedom-loving people of Iran” as well as Iranians in the diaspora and their allies to support the general strike in any way they can, and hold demonstrations of their own around the world.
Twenty-two-year-old Amini lost her life in a hospital in Tehran last year after three days in morality police custody. She had reportedly defied the country’s strict rules for all women to cover their hair. In the protests that have continued since, at least 500 people have died.
As state authorities launched a strict crackdown on protesters, they united under the slogan Jin Jiyan Azadi, or “Woman, Life, Freedom” for the most widespread protests against the Islamic regime in decades. The slogan originates in the Kurdish movement and the writings of Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) founder Abdullah Öcalan.
In a joint statement with the Eastern Kurdistan Freedom and Democracy Union (KODAR), PJAK said the revolutionary wave was “built on women’s freedom”.
“The fundamental principles of this revolution were equality between men and women, and fighting racism and the tyrannical Iranian government policies. The promise of this revolutionary movement is that society will achieve freedom via the freedom of women,” they said. “The consensus that emerged in the revolution was proven to be the basic tool for the democratisation of Iran.”
The increase in “destructive crises” in Iran is due to the regime’s oppression of Iran’s diverse peoples, including Kurds, they continued. “Without a solution to the Kurdish issue, Iran cannot become democratic, and other peoples cannot achieve freedom.”
“The Jin Jiyan Azadi revolution is the cultural and intellectual revolution of all of Iranian society. It is a duty for all to fight against the dictatorship and the fascist Iranian system. Being ready on the ground will pave the way for freedom and democracy, and the freedom of the Kurdish people is connected with the freedom of (Abdullah Öcalan),” the call for action concluded.
The Free Women’s Association of Eastern Kurdistan (KJAR) also released a statement and called for participation in the general strike and other demonstrations on 16 September.
“The philosophy of Jin Jiyan Azadi brought all peoples in Iran together and bound the social and women’s struggles together. There must be more organisation than ever before, as the Iranian regime is joined by the Taliban to strive for hegemony over women’s bodies. Iranian women and Afghan women are building up a joint struggle with great enthusiasm,” the women’s group said.
