Among all the news outlets, Awene alone published the news of a Muallah denouncing and cursing a writer, Ismail Berzanji, as an apostate. The apparent reason, according to the writer himself, as noted in Awene, is an article, in which he says: ‘what is the need to make a public holiday out of the commemoration of the death of someone who died one thousand year ago’. It is not clear though why such a statement should get a Mullah’s goat, although it is possible that they may have suspected the writer to be questioning the importance of commemorating the death of Mohammed, the founder of Islam, some 14 centuries ago. The author noted that all what he wanted was to criticise the government and that this was not the first time that he was threatened. Further, the author, feeling he is in a helpless position, pleads with the readership to let their conscience be the arbitrator.

 

Regardless of the importance or validity of the author’s statement. No person of authority (the mullah in this case) should be allowed to condemn people, particularly because such condemnation is tantamount, in the Islamic context, to issuing a death warrant, considering that many a Muslim will wish having such an opportunity to prove they are firm believers.

For the multitude of the selfish and arrogant Islamic clerics, being ignorant of any useful science and devoid of creativity, Islam, for what it is, is the only viable means for domination. However, the problem is that the Kurdish authorities are systematically failing to protect the lives of the authors and critics. This is not the first time.

Back in July last year, because of a potential court case between Salahaddin Bahaddin the General Secretary of ‘Kurdistan Islamic Union (KIU)’, on the one hand, and Saro Kadir, the head of Media Centre of Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), on the other hand, we come to know about a crime against some individuals, possibly, carried out by Muslims. Salahaddin Bahaddin had initiate a court case against Saro Kadir for libel. In response the Mr Kadir threatened to bring charges against Mr. Bahaddin on the basis that the media campaign waged by KIU resulted in the murder of Shapour and Qabil. Consequently, Salahaddin Bahaddin withdrew his court case and everything went silent again. However, justice was left undone. Unfortunately, we still do not know who were these individuals and what they did or say to deserve to be denounced by a religious organisation and to be killed subsequently. The same pattern of events was repeated in the denunciation of Mariwan Halabjai for publishing his book. The episodes show that Kurdish authorities may use justice as a pressure card to intimidate opponents but justice is not the goal. That Islamists can kill those who are not closely protected by the big parties. However, we know that this does not bode well.

We should require Kurdish authorities to take up their responsibilities and prosecute those religious authorities who take laws into their own hand, who behave as though they are the ultimate authority of the land. We are not told that Khomeini’s or bn Laden’s substitutes or deputies are ruling in Kurdistan . The laws of Kurdistan allow some freedom of expression. So these Islamic clerics, by issuing these denunciations, are in effect applying different set of laws, which has not been authorised by a recognised political body, like the Kurdish parliament. We should not be judged by the laws of Koran, which we do not accept, appreciate or ratify.

Failure to act will only add to the suspicion that the Kurdish authorities may want to walk the same cheap and dirty line of the majority of Islamic governments who allow some free reign to Islamic terrorism to clear away the liberals, who are the hindrance to abuse of power, as long as these terrorist do not challenge the governmental authorities. This in effect will mean that our country will be doomed like all other benighted Islamic countries to decade of underdevelopment and human right abuses and extremism. It is not right that tens of our writers, who are among the best of human resources of any society, be killed or forced into silence or exile because of the primitive Islamic terrorism. Our liberals, because of the Islamic terrorism, do not have a country of their own.