The Flame of Newroz: The Philosophy of Existence and the Pain of Denial

Omitting Newroz—our eternal festival, deeply rooted in the soil and history of our land—from the official decree listing public holidays is not a mere oversight´-or-a forgivable clerical error. Rather, it is a repugnant, inherited image of exclusionary policies, a glaring manifestation of the ongoing denial of Kurdish existence—of our land, our people, and our identity. How can we possibly expect those who ignore our most sacred national holiday to recognize our constitutional rights´-or-affirm our rightful national status? Those who extinguish the flame of Kawa the Blacksmith from the pages of law will never light a candle for us in a just constitution that grants equity. This deliberate, persistent neglect—repeating itself like a chronic tragedy—is a political expression of a mindset still shackled by the legacy of Baʿ-;-athism: an ideology whose body may have perished, but whose exclusionary spirit endures.

The motives behind refraining from mentioning Newroz,´-or-other authentic national and cultural festivals such as the Assyrian Akitu, form part of a single chain of veiled and overt rejection. These omissions are interconnected in essence, yet separated only by hollow, contrived justifications. The swift commentary on this intentional erasure in the latest decree issued by the Presidency of the Transitional Phase cannot be reduced to a slip of the pen´-or-a momentary lapse in judgment. No—it is a deeply wounding political message, conveying through silence that this authority, with its mentality insistent on singularity and marginalization, is implicitly telling non–Sunni Arab components: "If you do not belong to our narrow intellectual framework, then you must rely on your own strength—military´-or-political—to seize what is inherently yours, rather than receiving it through justice and recognition." It is a bitter irony indeed when a power that proclaims a new era merely reproduces the very culture of exclusion of the past, offering us not acknowledgment, but instead a profound sense of the need for renewed struggle to affirm our identity and existence. When will rulers finally understand that recognizing Newroz is to honor the flame of our heritage, affirm the diversity of nations, and uphold the dignity and justice owed to every human being?

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