A relative of Mahsa Amini: “His death taught me not to be afraid anymore”

In the Iranian province of Kurdistan, Saqqez, 130,000 inhabitants, is the bruised city of a martyr: Mahsa Amini. But here, we call her Jina. In Kurdish it is her name and, as a symbol, it means “woman”. On September 16, Mahsa Amini died three days following being arrested by the morality police in Tehran for wearing a poorly worn hijab. Mahsa was the “spark”, the one who ignited the powder. Since then, in the streets of Iranian cities, anger is brewing and repression is increasing. “But we will not give up, we Iranian people are fed up and tired of this situation. Jina was neither the first nor will she be the last. Today, we are ready to die, to give our blood, we have nothing more to lose. These words are those of a young Kurdish activist who must remain anonymous. She wants to call herself Nishtman. “My land”, in his language.