By Tahseen Wsu Abdullah
British sociologist, historian and writer Anthony D. Smith believes that symbols play an important role in building social structures in society and are the main elements for analyzing and understanding nations.
French historian Ernest Renan also said: “The main foundation of a nation comes from a collective memory and past. In other words, a group of people feels that many things bring them together, whether it is happiness or sadness.
What is important here, within the framework of Renan’s idea of the nation from the perspective of this main pillar, is the collective memory and past of a group of people, which brings them together and shares their destiny.
Within this understanding, the Kurds as a nation have a number of collective characteristics (South Kurdistan), which is a collective point. From this perspective, if we analyze the misery and successes of the Kurds in this part of Kurdistan, it is clear that what can be seen is a collective past, whether the past is good or bad, has become a collective memory for people at the level of public opinion.
March is one of the most important symbols of the Kurdish nation in this part of Kurdistan. For example, the chemical attack on Halabja on March 16, 1988, has been recorded as a collective memory in the memory of all people and has become part of a painful collective past. This anniversary is remembered as a symbol every year as a national tragedy. This has been embedded in the memory of the people as a symbol of national collectiveality. There are also symbols of victory and happiness in March, which all people commemorate with dignity. For example, the 1991 uprising is seen as a collective national memory.
This occasion has become a collective past, which can be an important rallying point for framing, or including, all citizens of the Kurdistan Region. These are considered as the foundation of the nation and the building of the nation. In addition to these two historical events that occurred in March, there are other events that can shape the collective destiny of the Kurdish nation in this region, for example, the Million March of March 30, 1991 as a collective national tragedy.
Therefore, Renan emphasizes that disasters and failures play a role in nation building alongside successes and achievements. In other words, this process can be called a collective destiny that brings people together.
From this perspective, the Kurds as a nation can make these facts (good and bad events) a collective basis for nation building, which is achieved through a solid tool, in which the political power plays a decisive role in this regard.
Therefore, March is seen as a helpful factor in bringing together and framing the Kurdish people in this part of Kurdistan, in order to eventually achieve collective interests based on collective memories. All these become the main basis for them to serve the nation building process.
This experience has been carefully worked on in the past by different nations of the world, especially in Europe in the Middle Ages, until it became a collective basis for bringing people together within a certain spiritual framework, alongside material factors that played a significant role in the formation of nations.