Serbesti Kurdistan Party head: Jina Uprising shook throne of Iranian regime

A full year has passed since the killing of the Kurdish girl Jina Mahsa Amini in Iran. The Kurds and the masses of the Iranian people have made great sacrifices in their uprising against the mullah regime, without seeing any tangible action from so-called human rights defenders.

West’s double standards

The head of the Serbesti Kurdistan Party (PSK), Arif Bawecani, spoke about the story of the Kurdish girl, Jina, who was known as Mahsa Amini, and how she was killed, how her death sparked a popular uprising last year throughout Iran, especially in the Kurdish regions, and how the Revolutionary Guard and the mullah regime suppressed her while the Western world sympathized with her in the media. He criticized that it is the double standards of the West with regard to human rights and that these slogans are merely a cover for Western interests without being translated into real action. The following is an interview he had with Hawar News Agency.

Who was Jina? Why was she killed?

On September 13, 2022, the young girl, who loved life and loved science and knowledge, Jina Amini, who changed her name to Mahsa without her parents’ approval, was on a visit to her aunt’s house with her parents. They came from the city of Saqqez in eastern Kurdistan to the Iranian capital, Tehran, in preparation for the start of the new university academic year and to prepare her study supplies, but when she got off at the metro station, she was severely and brutally beaten by the regime’s executioners, causing serious wounds to the head. After lying in the hospital for three days in the intensive care unit, the doctors were unable to save her life, and she died on September 16, 2022. That tragic event served as a spark to ignite the fire of a popular revolution and a sweeping volcano in eastern Kurdistan that shook the throne of the Iranian regime, and its repercussions resounded throughout the Middle East and the world.

What were the reactions at the local levels in Kurdistan and Iran?

As we saw in the cities of eastern Kurdistan, the martyrdom of the university student and the horrific incident had a strong reaction from the people, who launched a massive popular uprising, the spark of which spread to all Iranian provinces and cities, and organizing widespread popular demonstrations against the regime because it committed this heinous crime. The humanitarian campaign has extended to international capitals where there are Iranian communities who have organized noisy demonstrations denouncing the regime.

How did Tehran deal with the crisis?

During the massive popular demonstrations that swept through most Iranian cities, more than 600 people were martyred at the hands of the regime’s security forces, in addition to the arrest of thousands of demonstrators, large numbers of whom were executed under the pretext of opposing the regime. There are other numbers who were sentenced to death after months of demonstrations, but to this day, they have not been executed. The sentence was executed against them, and they were awaiting inevitable death without the knowledge of their families. Thousands of demonstrators were also injured by bullets, which led to the amputation of some of their limbs and the disability of others. Thousands of others also left the country, escaping the oppression of the regime and taking refuge in exile throughout the world for fear of being arrested, thrown into prisons and detention centers, and mass liquidated.

Great efforts have been made to mislead public opinion, falsify the Kurdish identity of the revolution that was ignited by the people of Kurdistan, and steal their sacrifices on the basis that the revolution has nothing to do with a specific nationality, but rather an Iranian popular revolution against the regime. This was contrary to reality and truth, as all the ancient and contemporary revolutions in eastern Kurdistan were and still are for freedom and democracy for all oppressed peoples and nationalities, in addition to the fact that women’s rights constitute an important part and a large part of the programs and plans of the Kurdish parties in eastern Kurdistan.

How did the reactions outside the country affect the regime?

In most world capitals, marches, gatherings, and intense cultural and diplomatic activities were organized by peace-loving peoples in support of the revolting people in eastern Kurdistan and Iran in general. In the first months of the popular uprising, the regime’s crimes against the revolting masses were exposed by the international media in Europe, the United States, and countries around the world. Other sanctions were imposed on companies, institutions, and individuals affiliated with the Iranian regime in order to impose international isolation on it.

The Jina Uprising in Kurdistan continues, but why manipulate and tamper with the term “human rights”?

The Jena Revolution, like most revolutions demanding rights and freedoms, continues and will not stop within the occupied country. The uprising is still ongoing without compromising its content, and despite the decline of the demonstrations and marches in Kurdistan’s streets and squares, the goals of the revolution are still alive and well-established, and the masses are still ready to ignite its fuse again and continue it at any moment they see fit.

How do you evaluate the role of foreign countries?

Unfortunately, as in past historical stages, foreign countries blew the whistle on the end of the game (the revolution) without achieving a result in its closing minutes, and after a short time had passed, those countries reduced their support for the revolution to the media framework only. As we saw in the post-Jina Revolution phase, those countries renewed their relations, visits and meetings with officials of the Iranian regime for the sake of their interests. Through the results of that popular revolution, it became clear to me and to many political observers and local and international activists that the major countries are not ready to sacrifice their economic and security interests in order to defend human rights and the rights of peoples suffering under the occupation, with which they have deceived the world for decades. When human rights are blatantly violated in the world, they turn a deaf ear and turn their faces, as if nothing had happened.