Speaking to Rudaw by Skype from Switzerland where he attended a meeting at the Swiss parliament, Hijri said state-sponsored discrimination in Kurdish provinces in Iran had seen an “unprecedented upsurge” despite what he described as “government propaganda.”
“After ascending to power, Rouhani did nothing to improve the rights of other national groups (in Iran), and in contrast to his election propaganda, the political conditions in Kurdistan, the public services and the allocated budget deteriorated,” the KDPI leader said.
“Discrimination against Kurdish provinces in Iran in comparison to other provinces has become much wider,” he added.
Hijri was speaking after a meeting with a group of human rights organisations and advocates of the Kurdish issue at the Swiss parliament on Wednesday including Iranian Nobel laureate Shirin Ebadi and lawmakers Carlo Sommaruga and Sibyl Arsalan.
President Rouhani received the bulk of Kurdish votes in 2013 elections and, despite critical voices, the moderate cleric is widely expected to receive most Kurdish votes in the coming May elections.
Kurdish activists in Iran told Rudaw in January that Rouhani remained their “option” despite broken promises.
“I don’t think that the Kurdish moderates have plans to back anyone else than Rouhani simply because there are none,” said Farhad Amini, an activist based in Saqiz, in Iran’s Kurdistan.
In October last year, Rouhani sent a delegation to the Kurdish provincial capital of Sanadanj to rally renewed support for the president, according to Kurdish activists.
Official statistics show that only 11 of the 40 local mayors are Kurdish even in areas with clear Kurdish majority, something Rouhani said his administration would address in the last election campaign.
In provinces such as Western Azerbaijan, with a population of 3 million, no Kurds has so far served as the governor despite the Kurdish population constituting more than 65 percent of the population.
“The security issues, arresting people and executing them have been given most of the attention in the past, while discrimination which is widely practiced against Kurds in Iran has not been mentioned as it should,” Hijri said.
Hijri also said that the Peshmerga forces affiliated with his party along with party activists will be more involved in helping the Kurdish people in Iran “in their struggle.”
“Much is needed to be done. We are in the start of the process. If people in the cities and the Peshmerga in the mountains work together, this process will bear fruit much earlier,” Hijri said.
