INTERVIEW WITH HUDA
KAYA AND HER DAUGTHERS
Huda Kaya, and her three
daughters Gul Intisaar, Nurilhaq & Nurcihan Saatcioglu last year
faced the death penalty for various 'treasonable crimes' relating
to their peaceful participation in a demonstration against the headscarf
ban in Turkish universities. After extensive international campaigning
on their behalf, the four women and others facing the death penalty
were sentenced to short prison terms, and paroled. (This interview
was printed in the 419th issue of Selam Weekly dated 12-18 December
1999, after their release).
SELAM :
Can you tell us about the headscarf struggle in Malatya?
Huda Kaya :
Bismillahirahmanirrahim. The headscarf atrocity has begun all over
Turkey - Malatya was the last place. Before there was no problem
in the universities, although there were problems in high schools,
female students who wear headscarves faced really serious difficulties.
In order to enter the classrooms they have to take a doctor's report
saying the girl was bald. School administrations made some problems
including not accepting the doctors' reports of the students. After
all this one doctor's given health report was not approved. In order
to have an approved doctor's report you have to be checked by a
delegation of doctors. In fact these were indicators of the atrocities
to come.
People were resisting this atrocity in our country. Before 1995
there was a big singing campaign against the headscarf atrocities
that our sisters were facing in the other cities of Turkey. And
also the year 1997 was dedicated as "Freedom for Headscarf" year
by Mazlum-Der (a human rights association). There were some activities
on this subject taking place in Malatya.
In Ankara " The Commission of Freedom for Headscarf " gathered
for its third Shura and had taken some decisions. In Malatya we
were gathering at the mosque for morning prayers every Sunday. There,
we distributed the leaflets (the collected version of those decisions)
to people. After that myself, Intisar and Nurcihan were judged by
the court.
In May 1998 some of the sisters/nurses in Turgut Ozal Research
Hospital were fired. Some demonstrations took place in order to
support those sisters.
In 1998 - 1999 these atrocities were revealed in every school
and every state institution. In 1998 in order to prevent this wild
application I talked to the National Education Director and the
Governor. Explaining that the Malatya People have own their beliefs.
Two days later I talked to Governor Atilla Vural. Anti terror teams
kidnapped me when I was walking to my home with my guests after
the Friday Prayer. They questioned me and sent me to jail for 3.5
month saying that I tried to separate the people by using religious
beliefs in one of my articles that was printed in Selam Weekly.
They gave me 20 months for that.
After the ban on headscarves in Inonu University in Malatya, people
began to resist against it in a demonstration. Here, my daughter
Nurcihan read the "Freedom Oath" to the crowd and my daughter Intisar
sang the "Freedom Song" to the same crowd.
SELAM :
What are the contents of those poems ?
Huda Kaya :
We are born free
We will live freely
And we will die freely
We rise Jihad above our heads
We put struggle in the beginning of our morning prayers
For a free country
For a free school
For our honour
For our identity
Without any concession
We will resist!
Resist!
Resist !
We will win!
We swear!
Be Our Witness O Lord !
Be Our Witness O Lord !
Be Our Witness O Lord !
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Intisar :As
many as over ten thousand people participated in those demonstrations.
It can be viewed as the reaction to the position of Merve Kavacki*
SELAM :
What was the effect on you, of being arrested as a whole family
?
Huda Kaya :
As a family we take care of Muslims in the whole world, not only
the ones in our country. Not only the ones in our country face atrocities.
As we had known all of this we were already prepared for this kind
of test. This test made us get closer to each other. When we were
in jail, we were very busy. This test had more positive effects
on my daughters.
Intisar :
We have burnt all of our ships for our freedom. After we were arrested
we met with 28 sisters who were arrested before us. We read books,
magazines, newspapers and so on. We had 200 very intensive days.
What makes us sad was our two brothers were out and we could not
see them when we had wanted to. Our days were planned.
Nurulhak :
We were listening to the radio programmes. We were reading books
together and alone. We have made good friends there.
Nurcihan :
We were arrested when we were in class on 18 May 1998. Then me and
my sister were released but two days later we were arrested again.
In fact I can say that we did not feel like strangers there.
Intisar :
When we got out of the class the assistant headmaster approached
us and said that the cops were waiting for us. Then we understood
what it was that was waiting for us. We waved goodbye to our class
mates and went away.
SELAM :
What about your good and bad memories in the jail ?
Huda Kaya :
Two things were disturbing us in the jail. One of them is the very
loud volume of the TVs and tapes and the other thing is the cigarette
smoke. We tried to find a way that both sides could agree.
And also some prisoners began to argue and fight for very little
things, for nonsense. We tried to develop our relations. We were
developing our relations by telling them about the teachings of
Islam. We had a good atmosphere. Some learned to pray, some began
to pray and began to wear the headscarf. We tried to tell them about
Tavhid. Our Lord was so merciful to us. Some of them wanted to learn
Quran and my daughters helped them. It seemed like you were in a
Quran Course. Some prisoners began to read Quran.
We established a library. Sometimes we were reading together and
other times they were reading alone. In fact we were doing what
we are always doing outside.
We developed good relations with the believers in the jail. We
had such beautiful friendships that they would be never forgotten..
God bless them all. Our friends never left me alone and they supported
us by their letters and prayers. Here I want to say something. There
is a lack of relation between the "judicial" and "political" prisoners.
It has been unattended to for so long.
Nurcihan :
Our class mates never left us alone. But the cartel media did not
care about the issue enough as they did with the Manisa issue, but
that was what we were expecting.
SELAM :
They wanted to punish you with the death penalty. What was the effect
of it on the other prisoners?
Huda Kaya :
We had never thought that they would want the death penalty for
us. We were expecting at most 312. We learnt it from the newspapers
that we had received it in jail. It was written " DEATH PENALTY
FOR HEADSCARF ". We knew that by doing so they wanted to annihilate
the hijab resistance. In fact we were not surprised. We began to
pray for SHAHADEH more than ever. We prayed to our Lord to make
us good examples for male and female believers.
In fact that was the reason why I got sad when I had learnt that
the public prosecutor decided to change the article we were judged
on, and make it 312 instead of 146. - the article of death penalty.
While some were afraid of the death penalty, more of them woke up
and tried to learn Islam. We are in a very difficult process of
being tested and naturally some were leaving the right path and
some being selected.
Nurcihan :
The words of death penalty frightened our friends but we have never
got scared.
SELAM :
How many years were you sentenced and your feelings about them ?
Nurulhak :
I participated in those demonstrations as a press representative
but I was sentenced to two years and nine months.
Intisar :
I was sentenced from articles 312 and 2911. This is a contradiction
in the constitutional process. A prisoner cannot be sentenced from
two articles at the same time for the same issue. Totally I have
three years and fifteen months. I believe that all those are unjustified
sentences.
Nurcihan :
I was also sentenced from articles 312 and 2911 like my sister Intisar.
But being underage they made it one year, ten months, fourteen days
and a fine.
I have never got scared of these sentences and what I do want
is to gain the love and approval of my Lord. God bless all the ones
who face oppressions.
SELAM :
Your last words...
Huda Kaya :
I recommend everybody to believe in Allah as Allah wished us to.
I think that our basic problem is the lack of that belief in every
area, in all of our resistance, our actions and our practices. If
we solve that problem we will solve every problem.
And we have to develop our relations with our sisters and brothers
without thinking where we are. We have to give our brothers and
sisters a shoulder without thinking where they are. We have to call
for help from ALLAH with our PRAYERS. We have to put our trust in
Allah.
Nurulhak :
We have to show patience for our belief without thinking how hard
the conditions are.
Intisar :
Prisons are not so horrible as seen from the outside. I want to
remind a word of Shahid Malcolm X " If a man needs to think, the
best place he can go is a prison after a university."
Nurcihan :
Do not get scared of the increasing oppressions and do not forget
that " the darkest side of the dark is the nearest side to the enlightenment.
"
* Merve Kavacki was the Virtue Party MP who was refused entry into
parliament in 1999 unless she removed her headscarf. She was subsequently
stripped of Turkish citizenship.
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