Biography

Muhammad Rashid Muhammad was born in 1927 in the village of Babseva, Mergasor District, Erbil Governorate. During the war with the Kingdom of Iran in 1946, his brother and sister, named Tahir Rashid and Halima Rashid, were martyred. In the Soviet Union, he married Rabia, who was from the Caucasus. On September 5, 1949, in a wrestling match, he was able to defeat a famous champion of Russia at that time. He also managed to win first place in a weightlifting competition with several athletes from that country and was awarded a medal of honor and championship.

Struggle Record

In 1943, after Mustafa Barzani returned from Sulaymaniyah to the Barzan region and ignited the Second Barzan Revolution, he joined the ranks of the revolutionary army and participated in the battles to capture the police stations in the Barzan region. In 1945, after the collapse of the Second Barzan Revolution (1943-1945), he was displaced to Eastern Kurdistan (Iran) alongside the Barzani fighters and families. After the establishment of the Republic of Kurdistan in Mahabad at the beginning of 1946, he became a Peshmerga of the Republic in the Barzan force. After the fall of the Republic of Kurdistan in December 1946, alongside the Barzani revolutionary army commanded by General Mustafa Barzani, and after several battles and acts of bravery against the Imperial Iranian Army, he returned to Southern Kurdistan through the Nazdardagh region at the tri-border point of Iran-Iraq-Turkey and settled in the ranks of the army in the Mizuri tribal region.

On May 6, 1947, following the historic decision of General Mustafa Barzani at the Argosh meeting not to surrender to the Iraqi government and to head towards the Soviet Union, he decided to leave alongside the Barzani revolutionary army with more than five hundred fighters under the leadership of General Mustafa Barzani, and he became one of the companions of Barzani to the Soviet Union. During 28 days of continuous marching through difficult terrain and nature, and facing military confrontations with the armies of the three countries of Iraq, Turkey, and Iran, and after their success in the famous battle of the Shute Plain and crossing the Qizildagh Bridge in Maku, he finally crossed the Aras River and the border of the Soviet Union on June 18 alongside the Barzani fighters.

After crossing the border, he was transferred by the Soviets along with all the Barzani fighters as prisoners of war to the city of Nakhchivan in the Republic of Azerbaijan. After Moscow decided to accept the Barzanis as refugees and following an agreement between General Mustafa Barzani and Jafar Baghirov, the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, he was transferred with all the Barzani fighters to a military camp on the Caspian Sea near Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan. There, they were subjected to intensive military training by Azerbaijani officers, and they were also taught to read and write the Kurdish language by Kurdish officers.

After the deterioration of the relationship between General Mustafa Barzani and Jafar Baghirov and the emergence of Baghirov's ill intentions and suspicion towards the Barzanis, he was transferred with all the Barzani fighters from the Republic of Azerbaijan to the Charchuk complex in the Republic of Uzbekistan on August 29, 1948, where he was subjected to military training for a second time on a temporary basis.

In March 1949, following the conspiracies of Baghirov and Beria, Stalin's assistant, the Barzani fighters were separated from each other and distributed in groups by train to the villages, collective farms (kolkhozes), and cooperatives of the Republic of Uzbekistan. To earn their living, they were forced into hard labor and daily chores, similar to German prisoners.

After much effort and the sending of several letters by General Mustafa Barzani to the Kremlin and the authorities of the Soviet Union, one of Barzani's letters finally reached Stalin, the leader of the Soviet Union. After the arrival of Barzani's letter, Stalin ordered the formation of a committee to investigate the situation of the Barzanis. Finally, in 1951, all the Barzanis were gathered together once again and settled in the city of Vrevsky on the Black Sea in what is today southern Russia.

After 11 years of staying in the Soviet Union, in 1958, the monarchical system of government in Iraq was overthrown and a republican system led by Abd al-Karim Qasim took power in Iraq. With the arrival of the republicans to power, the way for the return of the Barzanis from the Soviet Union was opened. On April 16, 1959, he returned to Southern Kurdistan with all the Barzani fighters aboard the ship Georgia via the port of Basra, and he settled in the village of Babseva with his wife and two children.

In 1961, after the deterioration of the relationship between Barzani and Abd al-Karim Qasim and the government's reneging on the promises it had made to the Kurds, the Kurdish national revolution was ignited. Muhammad Rashid rejoined the ranks of the revolution and participated in most of the battles, such as the battles of Sari, Meydan Murik, Sari Pirs, and Mli Sarije. He was wounded in the battle of Mli Sarije. After the collapse of the Aylul Revolution in 1975, he was deported to southern Iraq and settled in a complex in Diwaniyah Governorate. In 1980, he was moved to a forced-resettlement complex named (Quds) in Erbil. In 1981, he returned to the village of Babseva in the liberated areas. That same year, he rejoined the ranks of the Gulan Revolution. In 1983, he participated in the battle of the Nerwa and Rekan region. In 1985, he participated in the battle of Gardashvan in the Lulan region. In 1988, after the Anfal, he was displaced to Iran. He returned during the 1991 uprising and settled in the village of Babseva.

In recognition of his efforts and hard work for the success of the Kurdistan liberation movement, he was awarded the Barzani the Immortal Medal by President Masoud Barzani at the 13th Congress of the Kurdistan Democratic Party in Erbil.. On the night of May 12-13, 2011, he passed away due to illness in the Shiladze sub-district, which is part of the Amedi District.

Sources:

1-Dangi Peshmerga Magazine, Issue 172, July 2012, Biography of Martyr Muhammad Rashid Muhammad, pp. 92-93.

2-Shawkat Sheikh Yazdin, The Golden Jubilee of the Peshmerga, (Pirmam - Khabat Press - 1996), p. 33.

3-Archive of the Kurdistan Democratic Party Encyclopedia Board.