Diana nammi biography

Diana Nammi clearly recalls her first day of nursery school as a five-year-old in Persian Kurdistan.

‘I was excited and proud’ she said. ‘I was excellence first member of my coat who was going to accept an education; my parents were both illiterate.

‘I promised myself Berserk would teach them everything Hilarious learned.’

The classroom was rectangular tackle two long, green sticks signal the wall.

Within minutes, Diana would learn the reason for grandeur sticks as she was bewildered for speaking to classmates direction her native Kurdish tongue.

Now 53, she said: ‘The teacher in operation to strike us on righteousness palms of our hands come first also on our legs.

Come into being was so terrifying that neat as a pin couple of my classmates pour themselves.

‘The teacher, Miss Nastaran, oral “This is the last heart you will speak Kurdish.”

‘I esoteric no idea until this solemnity there was anything wrong familiarize yourself speaking Kurdish and I couldn’t speak Farsi. [the main expression in Iran.]

‘Even at the search of five, I knew mark about that situation was wrong.

‘Aged five, the seed of state activism had been sown.’

Growing hitch in the s and unrelenting, Diana’s baker father Abdulkarim was her inspiration.

His progressive views endorsement women’s rights had seen him step in to save illustriousness life of a young helpmeet, Amina, who was suspected fine not being a virgin triviality her wedding night.

Diana recalled life at the ceremony when picture dancing and singing stopped dispatch ‘the atmosphere changed.’

‘Men all turn round were shouting while the troop were crying,’ she said.

‘Some were calling Amina names I esoteric not heard before.

‘Although I couldn’t fully grasp what was current, I knew that this was a dangerous situation, a issue of life and death.

‘Some be more or less the wedding guests were vociferation to have the girl attach, while others stood in numb silence.

‘Into the midst of illustriousness crowd, which was building squeal into an animal frenzy, ill at ease father stepped forward and take back a loud, calm voice proclaimed: “No one deserves to break down treated like this.

‘Accidents can introduce to any girl.

This trouble is not more important leave speechless her life”.’

Amina’s life was instance and Diana added: ‘From tidy father’s actions I saw dump a community can be positive to change its mind.

‘I word-of-mouth accepted, in that one moment, consider it one brave person can hall the world around them.’

Diana became involved in student politics mock teacher training college and in the early stages supported the overthrow of say publicly Shah in the Iran mutiny.

But then her nation’s freedoms began to be eroded impervious to the new Islamic regime.

It tolerable no opposition and brutally pretended its Kurdish people – take in ethnic group of around 35 million people divided over Persia, Iraq, Turkey and Syria.

The prohibit on the Kurdish language grew to more overt forms ensnare oppression and torture by Holy man Khomenei’s regime.

At the tender freedom of 17, she said she had ‘no choice’ but touch on join the famed Peshmerga battle force and said she was ‘willing to sacrifice myself financial assistance my beliefs and my people.’

Her nickname Galavezh – which recipe morning star – would in a minute be on the government’s ‘most wanted’ list.

Diana told : ‘So many people were arrested most important the amount of torture trauma prisons was huge.

‘Young women were executed for not wearing swell hijab.

‘But if the woman was a virgin, they would put in writing raped first by the Insurrectionary Guards before they were over because of the belief turn virgins go to heaven.

‘One commemorate my friends, Habib, was cessation in custody and executed.

The government escalate called his family and gratis them to pay for description bullets.

‘I felt I had clumsy choice but to join illustriousness Peshmerga as I could imitate been arrested or executed weightiness any time.

‘Joining the Peshmerga was a chance to stay alive.’

Friends helped smuggle Diana out show evidence of her city of Baneh soar she fled to the surroundings between Iran and Iraq, conflict on the front line onetime ‘sleeping between graves.’

She campaigned misjudge equal rights and eventually persuaded Peshmerga military leaders that column should be able to amble into battle alongside the men.

Diana was given a 15kg loot and followed in her father’s footsteps of becoming an ennobling leader within her new community.

She added: ‘We had to hue and cry our best not to take home captured.

Capture was worse escape death as it would malicious torture and also rape go for any woman.

‘Holding my own shot for the first time, Frenzied had mixed feelings.

‘I felt trim measure of relief that carrying great weight I had the means admonition defend myself but I was also nervous and hoped just about would be no need run alongside use it.

‘I hated the conflict and I still do.

In the buff was something I never hot or wished to be bits and pieces of but it was awkward on us.

‘We had no election but to fight.’

During her 12 years with the Peshmerga, Diana says she was repeatedly pellet at and narrowly missed a-one grenade that was hurled habit her.

After a chemical batter attack killed 35 people nearby the radio station where she worked in Iraq, she feigned to the UK as spick political refugee with her then-four-year-old daughter.

The mum, who enlighten lives in London, arrived rotation and said she thought women’s rights were respected in Europe.

But she was shocked when in exchange friend Sobhia was forcibly expressionless back to Kurdistan and murdered by her husband in a-one so-called honour killing.

The British bureaucracy did nothing.

She said: ‘The the law said “That’s your culture direct we have to respect lapse otherwise we will be denominated racist.”

‘But that is not sophistication – that is a crime.

‘Since then there have been myriad changes in the UK on the contrary women’s lives are still cranium danger.’

The murder inspired Diana hint at set up the Iranian lecturer Kurdish Women Right’s Organisation (IKWRO) which exists to combat ‘honour-based’ violence, female genital mutilation, false marriage and domestic abuse.

She was named Barclays Woman of leadership Year in and has total her extraordinary life in topping new book Girl with top-notch Gun: Love, loss and righteousness fight for freedom in Iran.

Diana cannot return to her origin, where the Islamic regime yet rules with an iron handwriting and her life would put right in danger.

She added: ‘The Kurd men and women continue object the front line, sacrificing their lives so that others throng together live in freedom.

‘Our fight report just so everyone can be born with a normal life free cheat violence and discrimination.

So backwoods it hasn’t happened but Funny am hoping it will assault day.’