Iraq’s Kaka’i minority aspires to be represented in political process - North press agency (original) (raw)
ERBIL, KRG, Iraq (North Press) – Rajab Asi Kakai, a civil activist and head of the Mithra Organization for Development and Yarsan Culture, said that the Kaka’i or Yarsan community is looking forward to being represented in the political process in Iraq.
The Kaka’i are a forgotten minority in Iraq despite their historical heritage, as described by one of the jurists from that community, and there is no government or parliamentary representation for them despite their demands.
This minority was subjected to the horrific crimes of the Islamic State (ISIS), as its shrines were destroyed and its people displaced with the beginning of the emergence of ISIS in central Iraq in 2014.
Yarsanism, called Kaka’i in Iraq, is a monotheistic religious belief that exists in several countries in the Middle East under different names. It is linked nationally with the Kurds, but they have a different religious identity.
Kaka’is, who number more than a quarter of a million, are spread in Iraq in the center and north of the country, and the largest concentration of them is in Kirkuk.
They also have spread in separate areas in Diyala regions, especially Hamrin Basin and the Jalawla and Saadiya sub-regions, as well as in the villages of Nineveh Plain, Erbil, Sulaymaniyah and Halabja, and they have several shrines and religious shrines.
The people of this ancient community made great sacrifices at the time of ISIS, Rajab Asi Kaka’i told North Press
ISIS invaded 5 Kaka’i villages in the Nineveh Plain, displacing their residents and destroying five holy shrines, according to Kaka’i.
In 2014, ISIS invaded Kaka’i villages in the south of Kirkuk, specifically in the Daquq district, and these villages are still destroyed, which prevented the return of their inhabitants, especially after the Peshmerga forces withdrew from the area on October 17, 2017, according to Kaka’i.
He pointed out that this community is still being attacked by ISIS remnants, the area has become insecure and stable, and only the residents of 5 of the 15 Kaka’i villages in the Hamrin Basin have returned.
Kaka’i called on the Iraqi government to form an Iraqi force whose mission is to establish security in the areas of the spread of this minority, which faces the risk of demise.
“There is no official constitutional recognition of Kaka’is as a minority, and they are considered Muslims; this is what forces them to participate in the political process within Kurdish parties, without having a quota of their own,” he said.
Kakai indicated that they did not receive a response from successive Iraqi governments despite repeated requests to the Council of Ministers, the Presidency of the Republic, and Parliament to recognize them and grant their rights as a minority.
As for the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, the civil activist stressed that they have no representation in the three authorities in the region, except one member in the Halabja Provincial Council.
He said, “There are initiatives in Iraq and the draft law to protect diversity from discrimination, we hope that the Kaka’i will be mentioned in it as an original community of this country.”