Leyla Qasim (1952-1974)
Leyla Qasim was a Feyli Kurd who was born in 1952 in Xanaqîn, South Kurdistan. Leyla was the third child of a farmer named Dalaho and his wife Kanî. When Leyla was four the family re-locate to Hawler (Erbil).
Leyla's mother taught her Arabic and agriculture when she was only six and after that, she was enrolled in elementary school, in 1971 Leyla moved to Baghdad and studied sociology at the university of Baghdad. From a very early age, she was exposed to political activism and joined the Kurdistan student’s union and the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), She was an advocate and fighter for Kurdish political and cultural rights.
During the late 1960s, Leyla and her brother Çiyako wrote pamphlets on the horrors of the Ba’athist party including its new leader, Saddam Hussein, whom they described as being against Kurdish independence. At the tender age of 22, Leyla along with her four activist friends were arrested and tortured by Iraqi authorities on charges of “sabotage and terrorism”. Together, they remained behind bars for only a week before they were collectively executed on charges of “sabotage and terrorism”. On the morning of May 12th, 1974, Leyla Qasim was executed alongside her four other friends by the Ba’athi regime in Baghdad.
Leyla Qasim, along with 4 other Pro Kurdish activists (Hesen Hama Reshid, Neriman Fuad, Azad Sileman Miran and Cewad Hemewendi) were executed together by the Iraqi regime in 1974.
Leyla showed absolute courage in front of the government officials when questioned in front of the Ba’ath judge, Leyla with her voice raised aloud yelled:
“Kill me but you must also know that after my death thousands of Kurds will wake up from their deep sleep. I am happy that I will die with pride and for an independent Kurdistan”
When Leyla 's mother Kanî visited her daughter for their last meeting in the prison, Leyla’s only request was a set of Kurdish traditional clothes to wear one last time. Proud of her Kurdish identity till the end, Leyla was executed by the Iraqi – it is for her final attire that Leyla Qasim is often referred to as the ‘Bride of Kurdistan’
For this reason, Leyla Qasim is often referred to as the ‘Bride of Kurdistan’. Leyla Qasim was the first female political activist to be executed in Iraq and the fourth in the world.
Her death ignited the Kurdish fire in the hearts of her fellow Kurds and especially the Kurdish students who attended her university. In addition, many of the students soon after joined the Kurdish peshmerga forces to continue to fight for the struggle that Leyla dedicated her life to Leyla's close family and friends described her as fearless, intelligent, devoted, and soft-spoken Kurdish girl who gave her life for the rights of her people
