Leyla Qasim
Leyla Qasim ( Kurdish لەیلا قاسم, Arabic ليلى قاسم; * 1952 in Chanaqin ; † May 12, 1974 in Baghdad ) was a Kurdish activist in Iraq and a dissident of the Iraqi Baath regime .
biography
Qasim was born the third of five children into a family of farmers. In her birthplace Chanaqin, Qasim attended elementary school and graduated from secondary school. After her family settled in Baghdad, she enrolled in 1971 to study sociology at Baghdad University . During her student days, the Iraqi Ba'ath Party grew stronger and came to power in 1968 after a military coup led by Ahmad Hasan al-Bakr . After the military coup, Saddam Hussein became deputy general secretary of the Revolutionary Command Council and head of the Ministry of State Security and the Ministry of Propaganda.
At the age of 18, Qasim and her older brother decided to join the Kurdistan Democratic Party led by Mustafa Barzani . With the beginning of her studies she became increasingly involved in the Kurdistan Student Union and got to know Cewad Hemewendî there. Both fell in love and were politically active together until they were arrested.
After Qasim and four other friends, including Cewad Hemewendî, were arrested on April 28, 1974, she is said to have made the following statements during a court hearing:
“Kill me, but I want you to know that thousands of Kurds will awaken from a deep sleep through my death. I am very happy to sacrifice my soul for the path to a free Kurdistan. "
Qasim and her four friends were executed in Baghdad 14 days after their arrest.
Individual evidence
- ↑ LEYLA QASIM: Sembola canfîdayiya keç û jinên Kurdistanê website of the Kurdish PEN Center . Retrieved July 14, 2013
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Qasim, Leyla |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Kurdish activist, dissident |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1952 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Chanaqin , Iraq |
| DATE OF DEATH | May 12, 1974 |
| Place of death | Baghdad , Iraq |