Harki-Morad: What We Learned From the Controversy
“Men must not be shy; Women must be shy.” These were the words of singer Romi Harki on an episode ‘Giftugoi kchan’ on Rudaw, in an attempt to quote the old Kurdish saying which goes: “A shy man is not worth a comb; A shy woman is worth a city” arguing that women are fragile in nature resulting in a controversy on social media. Dashni Morad, an artist and humanitarian activist, briefly responded to Harki’s conservative statements on the same program with enthusiasm. She mentioned a few of the great Kurdish heroines, activists, and scholars such as Qadam Kheyr, Leyla Qasim, and Asenath Barzani who have fought and faced danger with valor and strength, matching men if not surpassing them.
Both Morad and Harki received a backlash on social media by those who disagreed with them, on occasions even getting personally insulted and attacked. However, the insults aimed at Morad were far more serious and aggravating. Pictures, which were taken by her former sponsors without her consent, were used against her with insults. The acts of her former sponsor and those who used the picture are crimes and are punishable by the law, according to paragraph 434 and 438, Iraqi penal-code. Cyberbullying can damage one’s mental health considerably, the problem becomes even more worrisome because controversies like this in Kurdish society do not go away that easily. We should not take such crimes lightly and use the law to protect people’s mental health before social media establishes itself as a platform to breed hatred and strife.
Here is why this is significant: Social media can be used as a platform to suppress free speech by bullying and punishing those who aim to discuss new ideas and prosecute those who believe differently. Everyone is entitled to their freedom of expression as long as it does not aim to harm and silence others. Social media and television should not be used to bid people against each other for the furtherance of certain individual interests; It should be used as a platform for open and free discourse for development, and this is where we fail.
Some feminists who advocate liberal ideas, which are new to most of our population who are conservatives, resort to calling Harki a misogynist and backwards thinking. By deviating from addressing the issue at hand, and by arguing against the person rather than the idea they represent, we extinguish any chance of persuading them to our cause and ideals. This creates a bubble for like-minded people to share redundant ideas within their circle. The goal of feminism is to establish equality between men and women, not vainly offending those who contribute to the patriarchal system which has caused the oppression, abuse, and murder of countless women throughout history and wasting the potential of half of society. The goal of feminism is not to turn those against you who believe that women are inherently less capable than men. Our duty is to educate others and ourselves, and that can only happen through established discourse and education. Similarly, those who despicably insult and try to intimidate the brave women and men who fight for equality need to learn open discourse and challenging their outdated notions. Althought humor and harmless fun are not against the law and are actually encouraged Hence, insulting and making fun of each other on Twitter and Instagram should be avoided, despite how tempting they may be.
“Dashni Gyan, this is a stage which has every opinion on it” said Payam Sarbast, one of the presenters of the program, despite the joint effort of all three presenters from keeping her silent about the topic. It is crucial for Kurdish media to encourage discourse and not to restrict it. Programs should be aimed at open dialogue, not causing uproars on social media and dividing people for the sake of increasing viewers.
- Didar N. AbdalRahman