Sherko Bekas: A Poet for Humanity, A Hero of the Nation

By Rima Chahrour

We Were Millions

We had seeds

Carried back by the wind

They reached the thirsty mountains again

They hid inside rock clefts

The first rain

The second rain

The third rain

They grew again

Now we are a forest

Sherko Bekas,
                      

The Kurds are said to be descendants of children that had hidden in the mountains to escape a child-eating monster by the name of Zahhak. For, Kurdish origins are linked with a strong mystical bond to mountains. While there is general disregard of myth as worthless to ‘outsiders’, nonetheless, its value, like that of history, is in nation building. Thus it has been a major preoccupation of Kurdish nationalists to write expressively intending to awaken the literate public to their national history. Yet, there is no doubt that nationalist Kurds trace national continuity based on ‘heroes’ across centuries.

One such ‘hero of the nation’ is the poet Sherko Bekas, who passed away this month at the age of 73. Bekas, born in Sulaimani the Iraqi part of Kurdistan in 1940, is the son of another national hero, the Kurdish prominent poet Fayeq Bekas. Following the footsteps of his father, Sherko Bekas has written extensively excelling on issues of Kurdish nationalism and freedom, further, contributing to the infrastructure of modern Kurdish literature. Although, Fayeq Bekas died at the age of 43 when Sherko was only eight years old, still, the father left memories that seemed more like dreams to Sherko as he had often referred to them. Those delicate dreams have paved the way for Sherko into society as being the son of the great Fayeq Bekas. On his part, Sherko today proved to be one of the major contemporary Kurdish poets, further preserving a precious cultural legacy particular to Kurdish identity.

  Sherko Bekas’ significant role is in vociferously and actively contributing to the political identity of Kurdish people and their sovereignty.  

The Kurdish identity is infamously stated as the Kurdish struggle; an ongoing series of strives for international recognition as a nation with identifiable territory, among other challenges, sufferings and blood flow. Today, Kurds are considered to be the largest ethnic group in the world without a country. However, there is no doubt that Kurdish people have existed and continue to exist as a nation for possibly more than two thousand years.

Hence, the role of the national poet is contributing to the collective memory and national imagination of the people as a nation. Nevertheless, Sherko Bekas’ significant role is in vociferously and actively contributing to the political identity of Kurdish people and their sovereignty. Thus, he insisted on crossing the boundaries between abstract connotations and desires of a Kurdish nation and those practical drives to achieve political independence towards an internationally recognized Kurdish territory. Bekas joined the Kurdish Liberation Movement in 1965, working in the movement’s radio station, he has also worked for the water authorities during the late 1970s till 1984. Moreover, Bekas was elected to serve as minister of culture from 1992 till 1993 in the first unified Kurdistan Regional Government, in Iraqi Kurdistan, however, resigned after only one year. Nonetheless, he was more than a mere poet and one of the very few political activists persisting loyalties to the Kurdish cause throughout the shifting agendas of Kurdish political parties.    

In his poem Storm Tide, Sherko Bekas wrote: “The tide said to the fisherman: there are many reasons why my waves are in rage. The most important is that I am for the freedom.” Indeed Bekas writings determine a national vision for Kurdistan and ultimately a voice for oppressed groups throughout the world and against injustice to humanity, rather than an allegiance for a particular Kurdish group over another.  His poems preceded reality over sheer poetic fantasy, distinguishing between national sentiments and their significant part as manifestations of real political experiences.

For Sherko Bekas, a poet’s role is to oversee beauties of humanity as he had explained in an interview with Aras Ahmed Mhamad, published in The Kurdistan Tribune on 05/08/2013: “I am not a poet to only write beautiful things. This is a part of the matter and it will remain incomplete- if I won’t retaliate upon all the authorities who kill beauty irrespective of where they are.” Bekas, in his writings, stressed on the power of poetry as an effective provocation to achieving political objectives. Furthermore, he actively developed the literary scene in Iraqi Kurdistan. Along with a group of Kurdish writers and intellectuals such as: Hussein ‘Arif, Jalal Mirza, Karim Kake and Mam Botani, Sherko Bekas issued Al-Ruwange manifesto in 1970, targeting to renew the structure of Kurdish literature. Al-Ruwange, meaning observatory, aimed to preserve traditional language (mainly Kurmanji and Sorani dialects) as well as encourage new generations to explore new style in creative writing through mixing local with global languages.

  His cultural legacy however exceeds all his achievements and the twenty-five books of poetry that he had written.  

Al-Ruwange, or Observatory, as the name suggests acknowledged globalization, and more importantly, acknowledged the spread of the Kurdish people across different Middle Eastern countries as well as in diaspora. Al-Ruwange manifesto created a literary base for the peoples of Kurdistan, further reinforcing their feelings of national belonging and encouraging unity beyond international borders. This attempt presents an example towards an effective international and regional Kurdish role to develop their position outside the victim status; through establishing networks and professional units able to control and influence power centers.

Sherko Bekas also founded the Sardam Cultural Center in Sulaimani along with a group of intellectuals. Bekas metaphorically spread seeds of knowledge regarding the Krudish situation; his books are translated into more than eleven languages, he has worked as an activist, minister of culture and ‘radio voice’ among other posts. In 1975, Bekas was placed under house arrest for three years in Ramadi. Later on he managed to leave the country to Sweden in 1987 where he became a member of the Swedish Writer’s Union and was awarded the Tucholsky Scholarship of the Pen Club in Stockholm as well as awarded the Freedom Prize of Florence.

Sherko Bekas insisted on a strong Kurdistan. His cultural legacy however exceeds all his achievements and the twenty-five books of poetry that he had written. The real significance is simply in setting himself as an effective example against injustice everywhere. On Kurdistan he wrote:

From this day on

She was a flute,

And the hand of the wind

Endowed her wounds with melodies

She has been singing ever since for the world

* Rima Chahrour, Doctoral student at Winchester School of Art, London, England