How do people talk about silence? How can someone talk in silence?
Silence has many forms and if it is used wisely, it can be a weapon for people. For example, when you realize it is useless to talk, you choose to be deaf; or when you face some people who do not have enough words, you have to keep quiet which is much more powerful than talking; or perhaps choosing to stay silent when facing those who prefer to have an oral debate which is very hard for them to accept.
Here, the negative form of silence will be discussed, that is, a form of silence that is harmful.
Silence comes from laziness or learning. First, silence comes because of lack of education, but the second comes from fear; however, they both are connected and they cross each other's borders… I do not claim that this is a feature particular to Kurds, but I can say that this is a very common feature among nations like Kurds who are dominated and have not been able to develop.
As it is known, Kurds are very oppressed. This fact has caused many phenomena; for instance, the Kurds are not educated, and even those who have attended Turkish institutions and universities have given up their Kurdish identity, which means, they have become Turkish students. One can be educated as long as they give up their Kurdish identity and serve the Turks instead. Even those who have been educated in Turkish universities and have refused to give up their Kurdish identities have always been blamed and rejected by the other organs of those institutions; some of them have been exiled, imprisoned, or even killed. If you insist on being a Kurd and learning Kurdish, the governmental officials will cause all kinds of obstacles for you. Nowadays, these obstacles have decreased a little bit. Kurdish revolutions for the past few decades have forced the officials to take things a little easier, however, the main issues still remain.
Lack of education has made the Kurdish nation lazy, and it is not a physical laziness we are talking about, but rather a kind of mental laziness. Within the Turkish government, the Kurds are occupied in every kind of field. The Kurds who are uneducated and occupied with physical work, do not have any time to think and take mental actions; they do not even need to do so because their bosses do it for them while saying: "Do not bother, we will do it for you. We will make every decision of your life."
Since Kurds cannot think, they have become lazier. They always keep silent and even in the most important daily issues of their lives, they do not break their silence.
In fact, nobody can know other people's feelings and thoughts until they begin to talk and express them. They can interpret people's behavior and make some assumptions. Yes, it seems that person has a problem, but why? If the reasons for that person's sadness are not known, they cannot be predicted either.
Fear is the most terrifying feeling that a person or a nation can be trapped in, learn from it but do not try to escape it. No matter what happens to a person/nation, comes from themselves. Today, the Kurds have not gotten rid of their fear completely.
Imagine a servant who is bowing to their boss while they are aware of their situation and is satisfied with it. This scene illustrates it clearly.
These psychological conditions (laziness and fear) are similar to other nations' individual situations, thus, there are some reasons to get out of them. It is possible that due to these different reasons, they have different impacts on Kurdish individuals. What I would like to express is that there is always an exception in the social and general phenomena.
The photo: Thomas Willemsma
