NEWSDESK, — The life story of Leyla Qasim Kurdish revolutionary woman who was executed for political reasons by Iraqi Regime in 1974, will be adapted into a movie by director Nasir Hesen.
Leyla Qasim from South Kurdistan was an activist determined to work for an independent Kurdistan and believed in the power of Kurdish women and men. The Kurdish activist was executed in 1974 after a hijacking attempt which she had planned with her comrades in protest against Iraqi Regime.
38 years after her execution, the name of Leyla Qasim is still a national symbol among Kurdish women’s activists and politicians. She is believed to be the first women in the Middle East who was executed for political reasons.
Speaking about the film, director Nasir Hesen said they are still dealing with gathering true information and documents about Qasim’s life and that the shooting of the film will soon start in several parts of Kurdistan once they have finished the information collection process.
Leyla Qasim was born in Kirkuk in 1952. She finished her primary and high school education here before the policies of the Baathist regime forced her to move to Baghdad with her family.
After a while later, she was enrolled in sociology department of a Baghdad university where she became one of the most active members of Kurdistan Students Union (Yekiti Qotabi yen Kurdistane) and joined Kurdistan Democratic Party in 1970 .
Her university years coincided with a period when the Iraqi regime started to launch severe attacks against Kurds, killing dozens of Kurdish youths and driving thousands of them from their villages every day. Leyla Qasim and her comrades therewith prepared for an action to make Kurds heard by the world.
Inspired by Palestinian activist Leyla Halid’s hijacking attempt, they planned to carry out the same action which however failed as Leyla Qasim and some of her comrades got arrested before it started.
Qasim was subjected to severe torture and brutal treatment in April of 1974 before she and her four companions were executed on 13 May following a short-lasting show trial.
On the way to gallows, Qasim sang the Ey Reqib Kurdish national anthem, written by the Kurdish poet and political activist, Dildar in 1938, and said before her execution that; ““Kill me! But you must also know that after my death thousands of Kurd will wake up. I feel proud to sacrifice my life for the freedom of Kurdistan.”