Nemat Sharif | Exclusive to iKurd.net
Undoubtedly, the report by Islam Mohamed (The Reference, 9 January, 2022) is grossly biased and unfair. Unfortunately the little information available about the Shabak make it almost impossible for the English reader to judge and put the report in proper perspective.
Shabaks are an Indo-European group of people who like other Kurdish groups speak a sub-dialect of Kurdish, and closely related to Hawramani, Zazaki, and Gorani subdialects of Kurdish. History has left its marks on this region since the times of Assyrians and Medes.
Inhabiting the fertile arable plains on trade routes, the prosperous settled communities of Shabakistan have been the breadbasket for the surrounding cities and towns including Mosul since prehistoric times. Shabak villages form an arch to the north and north east of Mosul, the Provincial center of Nineveh. The Baath regime called it “the protective belt of Mosul. The Shabak population is around 500 thousand people, reside in more than 70 villages and towns as well as Mosul City.
No one believed that the war of genocide in Sinjar in 2014 (mass murder, thousands kidnapped children and women) could happen in our time in full view of the world.
After the Peshmerga forces withdrew from it, Shabaks, Christians and others in the Nineveh Plain saw what happened to our Yazidi brothers in Sinjar, chose to flee to escape being slaughtered. Mass displacement was the only option, as the Iraqi and Peshmerga forces failed to protect them. More than 1500 Shabaks were killed and their properties confiscated.
Yazidis, Shabaks, and Christians all saw an opportunity to form their own defense units within the framework of Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), Shiite militia units to support the Iraqi army in the fight against ISIS. Yazidis and Christians have their own units within PMU. Both groups have nothing in common with Shiites except their citizenship of Iraq.
It was only logical for the Shiite Shabaks to form their own unit to defend their areas. It is grossly unfair to single out Shabaks. Shabaks are about 60% Shiites and 40% Sunnis. They are surrounded by Sunni Arabs and Sunni Kurds. It does not take a genius to figure out the option. Furthermore, the PMU was the only option. Although, the Shabak PMU defends the peoples of Nineveh Plane without exception, their popular support among the population is untested.
As for collecting royalties and inclusion in the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (RGC) are mere accusation. Any visitor to the area will find out otherwise. The Shabak PMU is a small unit of the total Iraqi PMU, and they are funded and operate within PMU mandate as the Iraqi security forces under the command of the Iraqi Prime Minister.
Nemat Sharif, a political analyst, a contributing writer and columnist for iKurd.net.
The opinions are those of the writer and do not necessarily represent the views of iKurd.net or its editors.
Copyright © 2022 iKurd.net. All rights reserved
Related posts:
The Shabaks Between a Rock and a Hard Place – Book review
The Mad Dogs of Mosul – Part I
Business with ISIS – Updated
Iraqi Kurdistan – “Sold Out!” – Part II
Kirkuk – Wars of Deception And Elections
The Mustashar and the Jash – A View from the Position of ‘Iraqi National Unity’ on the ‘Descendants of Treason’
Iraq – The Cynical Swindle
The fate of the Christian community in Afrin, Syrian Kurdistan
Saddam Hussein’s Enemies: Paving the Road to the Invasion of Iraq
The Resurrection (Ba’ath) Party – Before the Iran-Iraq War
