Leyla Qasim (1952–1974)
Kurdish activist | Symbol of freedom | Bride of Kurdistan
Leyla Qasim (1952–1974) was a Feylî Kurdish activist who is remembered across Kurdistan today not only as a martyr but as an embodiment of Kurdish courage, dignity and love of freedom. Born in the small Kurdish village of Xaneqîn in southern Kurdistan, she grew up amid injustice and the Ba’athist regime’s systematic denial of Kurdish identity. From an early age she carried within her the ancient spirit of the Kurdish people, a spirit that refused to bow to tyranny.
Posted by Zagrosian · 13 July 2025
Posted by Zagrosian · 13 July 2025
In the early 1970s, Leyla became active in the Kurdistan Students Union and soon joined the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP). She believed passionately that the Kurdish people, heirs to a civilization older than the walls of Babylon, deserved nothing less than freedom and dignity. Inspired by the stories of Kurdish heroines like Khanzad and poets like Ahmad Xanî, Leyla spoke boldly of national awakening, of a Kurdistan where Kurdish children could speak their mother tongue without fear.
In 1974, at just 26 years old, Leyla and several of her comrades were arrested by Saddam Hussein’s regime, accused of plotting to hijack a plane to bring the Kurdish struggle to the world’s attention. During her brutal imprisonment, Leyla never begged for mercy; instead, she used her trial to condemn the dictatorship and defend the inalienable rights of the Kurdish people. Even as the gallows awaited her, she wore Kurdish dress, turning her execution into an act of resistance and an eternal declaration of Kurdish pride.
Posted by Zagrosian · 13 July 2025
Illustration of Leyla Qasim’s execution in Kurdish dress
Posted by Zagrosian · 13 July 2025
On May 12, 1974, Leyla Qasim was executed in Baghdad, becoming the first woman in modern Middle Eastern history to be hanged for political activism. The regime could not silence her message. Her last words are remembered by generations of Kurds:
“I am not afraid of death; I am afraid only of a life without freedom.”
Leyla Qasim is remembered today as the immortal daughter of Kurdistan, a symbol that Kurdish women have always stood on the front lines of sacrifice, and that no power can destroy a people’s longing to live free on their ancestral lands. Her life and martyrdom stand as testament that the spirit of the Medes, the mountains and the resilient Kurdish soul endures, stronger than the oppressor’s rope and deeper than the soil of Kurdistan itself.
Posted by Zagrosian · 13 July 2025
Posted by Zagrosian · 13 July 2025
Posted by Zagrosian · 13 July 2025
Posted by Zagrosian · 13 July 2025
Statue of Leyla Qasim in Hewlêr
Posted by Zagrosian · 13 July 2025
Sources / References:
• McDowall, David. A Modern History of the Kurds. IB Tauris, 2004.
- Ghassemlou, Abdul Rahman. Kurdistan and the Kurds. 1965.
- Kurdish Digital Library & Archives: Oral testimonies about Leyla Qasim.
- “Leyla Qasim: The Symbol of Kurdish Women’s Resistance” (Kurdish Institute of Paris).
Posted by Zagrosian · 13 July 2025
