Following the circulation of a video featuring Mullah Ramin Salehzadeh, a religious speaker active in Baneh, in which Yezidis are subjected to rhetoric of takfir and religious denigration, HANA Human Rights Organization strongly condemns these statements. The use of religious authority to stigmatize or degrade an entire religious community is especially grave when directed against the Yezidis, a community that has, in the recent past, endured genocide and systematic violence because of its religious identity. Such rhetoric undermines human dignity, religious coexistence and the security of a historically rooted community.
Yezidis are an ancient and inseparable part of the social, cultural and historical fabric of Kurdistan. Their faith, collective memory, traditions and cultural heritage constitute one of the enduring threads in the rich mosaic of Kurdish and Kurdistani society. At the same time, their dignity and fundamental rights do not depend upon any ethnic, religious or political classification. They arise from their equal human status and from their right to preserve their identity, faith and communal life free from intimidation, discrimination and exclusion.
HANA further stresses that rhetoric of this kind should not be presented as representative of Kurdistan’s broader Islamic heritage. Important and deeply rooted traditions within Kurdish Sunni Islam, particularly the Shafi’i scholarly tradition, Sufism and the hujra system of religious learning, developed within socially and religiously diverse communities. Across different periods, Kurdish religious scholars and mullahs often served not only as preachers and teachers, but also as mediators, community figures and custodians of social reconciliation. Their authority was frequently grounded in learning, moderation, proximity to the people and respect for communal coexistence.
This historical tradition should be distinguished from ideological and exclusionary interpretations that transform religion into an instrument of takfir, hostility and social exclusion. Religious disagreement, including profound theological disagreement, can never justify the degradation of human dignity or the denial of another community’s right to exist and live securely. No individual, pulpit or religious movement has the authority to make adherence to a particular belief a condition for belonging to Kurdistan, residing in it or enjoying equal dignity and protection.
HANA Human Rights Organization therefore condemns the statements made by Ramin Salehzadeh in the strongest terms and stands firmly in defence of the dignity, existence and security of the Yezidi community. Protecting Yezidis is not only a matter of safeguarding a religious community. It is also a defence of the pluralism, coexistence and cultural diversity that form an essential part of Kurdistan’s historical identity.