Two years on from the death of Jina (Mahsa) Amini, the young Iranian Kurdish woman’s name has been heard around the world. Following her fatal beating by the Iranian morality police, uprisings led by Kurdish women and united under the Kurdish slogan ‘Jin, Jiyan, Azadi’ (‘Woman, Life, Freedom’) spread from Rojhilat (Iranian Kurdistan) throughout Iran.
Hundreds of protesters have been killed, women in Iran are still being harassed and targeted by the morality police, and the country’s governing Islamic regime remains in power, while continuing to play a major role in a growing Middle Eastern crisis. Yet the movement has gained global traction, and created significant and ongoing changes in Iranian civil society.
To mark the 16 September anniversary, Medya News spoke to Rojin Mukriyan, a female Iranian Kurdish academic, who has conducted extensive research on the ‘Jin, Jiyan, Azadi’ movement and its political and social repercussions. Select highlights follow, and you can watch the full interview above.
Two years on, what does the ‘Jin, Jiyan, Azadi’ movement in Iran look like today?
It’s two years on from the protests under the umbrella of ‘Jin, Jiyan, Azadi’, which marked a transformative and irreversible turning point in Iran. I see it as a transnational, grassroots, decolonial movement, which tries to emancipate life itself from the intersection of power relations. So after two years, we don’t see any protests in the streets; but that doesn’t mean this revolutionary movement has stopped. It continues, and we see resistance and struggle in different ways.
For example, the Kurdish people have unanimously decided to conduct a general strike; that shows us that this revolutionary movement, especially inside Rojhilat, continues. A revolutionary movement is a process – it’s not ended, but it’s going forward in different forms. It’s important here to refer to Rojhilati Kurdish women as a revolutionary force, especially in prison, where we see Sharifeh Mohammadi – a member of a labour union, sentenced to death on charges of rebellion; and Pakhshan Azizi, a Kurdish social worker also sentenced to death; and Risha Muradi, another Kurdish woman charged with rebellion and awaiting her sentence. These women didn’t give up. In Evin female prison [the female wing of Evin Prison], we see they’re making connections between different movements in Iran, writing letters, trying to motivate and organise the people from prison.
What political and organisational lessons have been learned from the past two years of protest and resistance?
Going back to the issue of patriarchy, we know that patriarchy, especially in Middle Eastern countries, is deeply entrenched in every layer of society. In family, in society, it’s everywhere. During this revolutionary movement, we realised that [Iranian Kurdish society] not only stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Kurdish women, but actually accepted their leadership. During the women’s resistance across different regions, in Europe, [the] Middle East and Africa, we experienced the presence of women in all different social movements; but it was hard for male-dominated society to accept women’s political subjectivity and leadership.
But in this movement – going back to the words of the father of one of the martyrs of this movement, the father of Mohammed Hassan Zada – during his son’s burial ceremony, he said: “Before this revolutionary movement, if someone acted so bravely, we’d call that person ‘a great man’, a ‘symbol of manhood’. But now, when we see somebody acting bravely, we say ‘you are a great woman’.” This tells us that perspectives and stereotypes entrenched in society are being changed.
Iran is playing a crucial role in the contemporary Middle East conflict. Can the Jin, Jiyan, Azadi movement provide or suggest an alternative path?
Who do we want to free? Society, or the one percent of the elites? We should ask this question… This is what the example of Iraqi Kurdistan shows us. We have a Kurdish government there, Kurdish people ruling Kurdish people. Can it be argued the Kurdish people are free there? No. We have huge evidence to prove they’re oppressed and dominated, even compared to other regions. We should think outside of the state-centric, power-centric options. And this is what Jin, Jiyan, Azadi language and philosophy brings to us; something that has been practiced in other parts of Kurdistan, for example Rojava (North and East Syria).
