By Kenan Mokhtar – Radio Zamaneh – October 11, 2023
Due to linguistic assimilation in the provinces of Ilam and Kermanshah, "a significant number of Kurdish parents" speak to their children in Persian. This report examines the Islamic Republic's confrontation with the Kurdish mother tongue in these two provinces through interviews with teenagers and cultural activists.
Although Kurds in Iran have been striving for their right to their mother tongue for many years, and despite the explicit reference in the Iranian constitution to the teaching of non-Persian languages in schools, this goal has yet to be prioritized by any government in Iran. According to experts, the denial and suppression of the Kurdish language have not only significantly challenged its usage in Iran but also greatly altered the cultural sensitivities of the younger generation. Most Kurds in Iran live in the southern part of West Azerbaijan province, as well as in the provinces of Kurdistan, Kermanshah, and Ilam. Many were also exiled during the reign of Shah Abbas Safavid to parts of northern Khorasan (in the provinces of North and Razavi Khorasan) and reside in scattered communities in the northern provinces (the Kurdish population in Talesh).
Despite this geographical diversity, the approach to Kurdish linguistic rights has not been uniform across the country. Of the four western provinces that form the primary geography of Kurdistan, Ilam and Kermanshah have experienced racial and linguistic assimilation more intensely than the other two.
Tongueless Children
"Fatemeh" is 19 years old and lives in Ilam. She says she’s only visited Tehran once, at the age of 12. Her parents are Kurdish, but she speaks only Persian. She has learned a few Kurdish phrases for greetings and small talk from Kurdish-language satellite channels. However, her Persian is not flawless either; she struggles with idioms, proverbs, and nuanced expressions, and her stress on syllables isn’t natural. She explains:
"My brother and I have spoken Persian since childhood. It’s better this way for going to university and speaking without an accent. People shouldn’t have an accent. I’m Kurdish myself, but I can’t speak Kurdish. I only understand a little. People should be classy! When you go to a Persian-speaking city, you shouldn’t have trouble talking. That’s why it’s better to speak Persian from childhood."
When asked why many non-Persian children in Iran learn Persian in school and don’t need to speak it at home, and whether her parents are okay with this, she replies:
"My parents have spoken Persian with me since I was a child, though they speak Kurdish with each other. Like I said, if you speak Persian from the beginning, you won’t have an accent. Speaking Kurdish is hard; when I try, I have an accent." (She laughs.)
Despite the Kurdish accent occasionally slipping into her Persian, she insists:
"Since I’ve spoken Persian from the start, I don’t have an accent."
When I suggest that having an accent isn’t a problem, she disagrees.
Next, I speak to another teenager. "Farzad" is 17 and preparing for university entrance exams. I type him a message in Kurdish on Telegram. He responds in Persian:
"Hi bro, can you write in Persian?!"
I send him a voice message in Kurdish, but again, he replies in Persian:
"I don’t know Kurdish, please speak Persian."
Farzad, a Kurd from Kermanshah, says his parents have spoken to him in Persian since he was a child. He identifies as Kurdish but, unlike Fatemeh, regrets not being able to speak, read, or write Kurdish:
"My parents are from Kermanshah, but my birth certificate is from Shiraz because my dad worked there. They’ve always spoken Persian with me and still do. I can’t communicate well with my grandmother because she doesn’t know Persian, and my Kurdish isn’t good. I understand some Kurdish, but I can’t speak much. I really want to learn Kurdish properly."
I tell him that typically, one would expect him to express a desire to learn other languages like Persian, English, or German, rather than Kurdish, which should be his native language. He responds:
"I feel embarrassed, especially when we visit Sanandaj. Everyone speaks Kurdish so fluently there. My father’s relatives always blame him for speaking Persian with me! We once traveled to Boukan, and everyone there spoke Kurdish fluently. But I couldn’t understand their accent. My dad said the Boukan and Mahabad accents are different from Kermanshah. I only spoke Persian, so they spoke Persian with me to make sure I understood."
I talk to several other teenagers from Kermanshah and Ilam. Few can speak their mother tongue fluently. Some can only say a few words, and nearly none are familiar with Kurdish script. All were born to Kurdish parents, but one even used the phrase "we Persians" several times during our conversation.
The Kurdish population in Ilam primarily speaks the Ilami dialect, also known as "Feyli Kurdish," while the majority in Kermanshah speak the "Kalhori" dialect, classified under "Southern Kurdish." Most Ilamis and Kermanshahis are Shia Muslims.
Assimilation Policies
One cultural activist from Ilam discusses the inability of some children in Ilam to speak their mother tongue in an interview with Radio Zamaneh:
"Unfortunately, this is a major issue we are dealing with in Ilam. This problem is not limited to children living in cities, we also have many examples in rural areas. Unfortunately, some families consider speaking Persian to be ‘classy,’ so they speak to their children in Persian from the start. It has even reached the point where some families have their children born in Tehran to make their birth certificates show that they are from Tehran. Tehranism can be observed in their preference for Persian culture, distancing themselves from Kurdish language and culture, and seeing themselves as superior to those who speak Ilami Kurdish."
In this context, a poet and writer from Ilam also tells Radio Zamaneh:
"A high percentage of people in Ilam are not familiar with the Kurdish script, and many are not able to understand or speak other Kurdish dialects, such as Sorani and Kurmanji, except for Southern Kurdish dialects. At the very least, it is expected that they understand Sorani, or Central Kurdish, which is spoken by Kurds in Kurdistan, West Azerbaijan, and Iraq. Unfortunately, few people here can understand it. Most Kurdish texts in Iran and Iraq are written in Sorani, and satellite channels broadcast programs in it. However, in Ilam, there is no attention given to this because there is no real focus on Kurdish culture. This neglect is undoubtedly a result of the cultural and linguistic policies of both the Pahlavi and Islamic Republic governments. From provincial TV stations to the prohibition of teaching Kurdish in schools and ridiculing Kurdish culture in the media, all these have contributed to the alienation of Ilam and Kermanshah."
The writer continues:
"Kurdish books in these two provinces have far fewer readers compared to other Kurdish cities, which is why even Kurdish authors are not keen on publishing Kurdish books."
According to the Public Relations office of the Ilam Department of Culture and Islamic Guidance, of the 281 books published in the province in 2021, only 32 were in Kurdish. Moreover, according to the director of the Kermanshah Department of Culture and Islamic Guidance, in 2019, out of 187 books published in the province, only six were in Kurdish and its dialects. In recent years, provincial authorities have not released any statistics on the number of Kurdish books published in these two provinces. However, according to the Deputy Director of Arts and Cinema of the Kermanshah Department of Culture and Islamic Guidance, 152 books on "Sacred Defense literature" were published in Kermanshah in the three years leading up to 2021. In 2020, 20 books out of 281 published in Ilam were on "Sacred Defense."
A children’s literature writer from Kermanshah discusses this issue with Radio Zamaneh:
"Although the authorities in Kermanshah and Ilam officially allow authors to choose their writing language, this freedom is very limited. On one hand, they have trained society through propaganda media and by preventing the teaching of Kurdish, so people turn completely away from their native language and culture. If the authorities truly mean what they say, why don’t they spend half of the budget allocated to books on ‘Sacred Defense’ on Kurdish books and projects? Look at Kermanshah’s provincial TV, they rarely air Kurdish programs, and the few they do show are just mocking the Kurdish language and culture. This has a negative effect on children and families; they think Kurdish language and clothing are only good for ridicule. Undoubtedly, this alienation and mockery of Kurdish culture stem from the Islamic Republic’s perspective. When they block the growth of the language through a thousand means, it is completely natural for me, as a Kurd, not to feel motivated to write in Kurdish—because there’s no audience—or even if I do, it would only be in a few books, and the rest would be in Persian."
In this context, another poet from Ilam considers writing poetry in Kurdish for children to be "difficult and unproductive." He tells Radio Zamaneh:
"The situation in Ilam is very different compared to cities like Sanandaj, Mahabad, Boukan, and Saqqez. There, for many years, writers and cultural activists have been working with Kurdish for Kurdish culture and literature. They write in Kurdish in the media, publish Kurdish stories and poems, and most importantly, the people take pride in their language and culture. Unfortunately, Ilam is not like that. The root cause of this is political and governance issues. I don’t understand why Ilam should be different from Sanandaj and Mahabad, but what we see is that even among intellectuals, there is no enthusiasm for the Kurdish language. However, in recent years, many activists have worked on this issue. Some publishers even publish Kurdish books. But the recurring message I hear among people is the fear of engaging in this field—fear of arrest and imprisonment. Many of those working in this area have experienced detention. This fear has increased among people, and they prefer to abandon efforts to promote the Kurdish language."
Suppression of the Mother Tongue
According to reports from Kurdish-language news agencies and social media, especially in recent years, the number of arrests and summonses of Kurdish activists in Kermanshah and Ilam has increased. According to Hengaw Human Rights Organization, on February 7, 2022, the Intelligence Unit of the Revolutionary Guard raided the home and office of the editor-in-chief of "Bashour Publishing" in Ilam, confiscating his belongings. Also, according to the Kurdish Human Rights Network, in the current year, five Kermanshahi writers and activists were arrested in one week by security forces.
A Kermanshahi activist discusses the level of arrests among Kermanshahi activists, particularly those working in the Kurdish language sector, with Radio Zamaneh:
"The frequent arrests, often under false pretenses, have significantly frightened the local population from engaging in Kurdish language and literature activities. In fact, when the government arrests a Kurdish language teacher or a Kurdish writer and translator, it creates fear and intimidation in this field. I’ve heard many times from people and even activists in the city that we should avoid working on the Kurdish language because it’s sensitive! This is while Kurdish is the ancestral language of ours—why should teaching and familiarizing our children with this language cause fear and anxiety? The Islamic Republic only appears to have no problem with the Kurdish language and culture, but in reality, they’ve set up a thousand obstacles. Just look at how they mock it on state TV, and use the most uninformed individuals as presenters, announcers, and program creators. This is enough to understand how little the government cares about Kurdish language and literature. They think that if we strive for the growth of this language, it will destroy the Persian language! While, in fact, these two languages belong to the same family. Now, the Kurds in Kermanshah who speak Persian, is their Persian flawless? Actually, it has many issues. It’s reached the point where people have been talking about an incomprehensible term called ‘Kermanshahi Persian’ for years! Kermanshahi is originally Kurdish and has nothing to do with Persian, so we cannot consider it a dialect of Persian. These are the results of policies that have been imposed on the people of this region by force, from the Pahlavi period to today."
Despite ongoing security pressures and the government’s efforts to discredit the Kurdish language, intellectuals and cultural activists in Kermanshah and Ilam are making unprecedented efforts to preserve Kurdish language and literature. Although, as they say, the cultural activities in these regions are more difficult than in other Kurdish cities, they are striving to keep the fading flame of their mother tongue and culture alive through the publication of Kurdish books and the establishment of Kurdish language schools.
The article, in its original Farsi, can be accessed on Radio Zamaneh’s website here.