Ronahî Serhad: 8 March gave a historical lesson to the AKP-MHP government – PART ONE

PAJK Coordination member Ronahî Serhad, told ANF that 8 March is the “history of rebellion of our century against all nation-state male-dominated structures that have displaced people with their war policies, dragged them into insolvency and chaos, oppressing women at the expense of strengthening their power, and leaving society to poverty, hunger and epidemics. The world human history of the 21st century will be written by the struggle of women.”

How would you assess the demonstrations for International Women’s Day?

First and foremost, we salute Rêber Apo, who most meaningfully embraces the legacy of 8 March, who always fights for women’s freedom, and who breaks new ground in theory and action, with the deepest love and respect. With the awareness that freedom is our freedom, we will continue our actions on the basis of mobilization until we end the Imrali isolation system. We commemorate all women revolutionaries, especially our guerrilla women comrades who fell martyrs for freedom, with respect and gratitude. In the person of Emine Şenyaşar, who upholds the conscience and dignity of humanity against the fascist AKP-MHP government, which implements the policy of brutality against the Kurds at the highest level, I salute the resistance of all our painful but struggling mothers and all the revolutionary, political women prisoners in jail.

Women gave the most powerful response on 8 March to the fascist, genocidal, sexist, nationalist and religious attacks of the male-dominated system. The 8 March actions gave a new impetus to the struggle by instilling great morale in the peoples and society and reiterated a historical meaning and a political breakthrough that would change the face of the century in terms of Kurdistan and the Middle East. I believe we have entered a period of irreversible strategic struggle. All intermediate processes have come to an end, and the male-dominated ideology and the ideology of women’s freedom are in the most difficult struggle. The struggle of capitalist, nation-state civilization forces and democratic civilization forces will show itself more in the field of women’s freedom. The more the male-dominated system is understood, the more the women’s freedom struggle will impose itself.

The struggle of women develops in this way. The massive and widespread reception of March 8 this year shows that we are on such a social will and historical course. The problem of women’s freedom, which is integrated into the social crisis and problems, imposes its solution as the democracy and freedom problem of  society without delay. The awakening of women, who realized this early and are organized today, as a social force on their own, is an unstoppable social revolution. It is exciting and hopeful. It includes the depth of cultural-social change. The event that takes place at the moment creates new historical facts and values. The development of Kurdish women, who came to the stage of political struggle with the establishment of the PKK and then reached the level of being a social movement, covers a process. The struggle of Kurdish women and their labor and work for their future together with the people of the region reveal a tremendous power of change. If only Arab women are taken as a basis, the distance they have covered in a few years is a revolution in itself.

While the Middle East has been plunged into darkness, the reality of the awakening woman has spoiled this. The defeat of the expansionist, genocidal and colonialist war carried out by ISIS and the AKP-MHP, the most dangerous nation-state that provides all kinds of support, created a breaking point in the history of Kurdistan and the Middle East. At this point, the leading participation of women guerrillas fighting as PAJK and PKK guerrillas from the mountains of Kurdistan, and the impact of the war won against ISIS with YPJ fighters with their power and support, is the beginning and cradle of a new culture today.

This is the right program, as much as it depends on taking the right steps on time and being successful in politics as well as strategy. Since women managed to have a successful practice in the Middle East based on the women’s liberation ideology of Rêber Apo, the ideological-military-political intervention and purge attacks are aimed at strangling the women’s revolution, the democratic revolution of the peoples. Aware of the AKP hostility and the NATO forces they are based on, women from Kurdistan and the Middle East have transformed the energy of social struggle into a new synergy by demanding freedom for Rêber Apo on 8 March. Now, women have the duty to build their social system and defend it against all kinds of attacks. Women will recognize no barriers to success.

What is the effect of women’s struggle on social struggle?

The spirit of freedom is embodied in women, and the woman, who is seen as a man’s honour and property, has almost come back to earth as the identity and personality of a free society. The most striking expression of self-re-creation, the fighter woman’s stance, emerged once again on the stage of history on 8 March, as the re-creator of a free and democratic society. Undoubtedly, as our female comrades who spoke at all 8 March demonstrations said, women are in the historical march of transforming all times into women’s time. The magnificent and exciting vitality that emerged on 8 March was the beauty of social cultural richness based on pluralism, colour, difference and diversity when freed. No one can deny that society revives as long as life is built with the colour of women, with women’s values, feelings and thoughts.

Social life can only be democratic and ecologically sustainable and of course led by free women. It is not possible to defend social life otherwise. Those who claim to the contrary are those who have a male mind and oppose the removal of the dominant male system, which is colourless, gloomy, tyrannical, dehumanized with lies, violence and pain. Women called out to the world on 8 March.

The struggle of women succeeded in resisting the forceful and violent sexist and genocidal attacks of nation-state powers throughout 2021 and crowned this success on 8 March. It is very clear that, no matter how high the price, women will never give up their struggle for freedom. On the contrary, the anger of fighting with the male-dominated system has grown. In the mountains of Kurdistan, fighting guerrillas are society’s inspiration for freedom against all reactionary forces, especially the AKP-MHP government and its treason partner KDP, which are trying to liquidate the freedom guerrilla. We salute our YJA Star female guerrilla forces and all women who took to the streets on 8 March. The torch of freedom rising from Kurdistan carried the hope of resistance to the women of Afghanistan. We salute the struggling women of Afghanistan, Palestine, India and other territories who shout freedom with their banners and slogans against the bully, misogynist Taliban regime. We state that we will increase our struggle with the same spirit against fascist governments such as the AKP.