Ashoora this year wasn't like other Ashooras in Iran.
Ashoora is the 10th day of the month of Muharram in the Islamic calendar. It is commemorated by Muslims as the day when Imam Husayn, the grandson of prophet Muhammad, was killed in Karbala, Iraq.
In Iran, like many other places, this day is important and people remember it through different ways. This year, people in Iran used this day to show the world that they are weary of their government. Once again, though, the government cracked down on protesters leaving hundreds injured and dozens killed.
This picture describes my life in the past couple of weeks. Books/newspapers/articles and various other readings for school and, of course, coffee - by coffee I mean half coffee, half hot chocolate - to keep me from passing out.
This is my radio report for this week. It's about a protest that happened in Halifax last week called Stand up! Take Action. It was a campaign by Make Poverty History and it was a global event that happened around the world from October 16-18.
Ladan Mohebpour sits at a small glass table in her living room, reading out loud her brother’s last letter to her before his execution, tears running down her face.
The last line of the letter says “It’s never too late to start from the beginning.”
Ladan stops, looks at picture of him on the wall, and closes her eyes, remembering a painful memory.
“He was my best friend, my hero, my everything,” she says softly.
Her brother, Houshang Mohebpour, was hung in Iran, in 1981. He was 22. His crime was being an activist. He spent his life educating people about poverty and the need for equality. When the Islamic regime took over, he did all in his power to ally people against the new government and its extremist doctrines.
“Houshang was courageous, smart [and] enthusiastic.” Ladan says. “He was passionate about helping people. He couldn’t watch the injustices that happened all around him…the poverty, the arbitrary arrests and imprisonments…he couldn’t watch that and not do anything about it.”
The Islamic regime arrested and killed anyone even slightly opposed to the government. To them, Houshang was a great danger. To his family, however, he was a hero.
Houshang, Ladan and their two brothers were born in Dehbid, a small village south of Iran. Houshang was the first child and was born on March 8 1958.
Their village was so small and the people so poor that there was only one public bath for everyone to use. No one even had a TV or a car.
Houshang knew that regardless of the hard conditions, he had to succeed. And he knew how.
“He was a genius and also worked very hard,” says Ladan. “He only slept a couple of hours a day. The rest, he spent reading, studying, and playing the violin, which he had learnt to play by himself.”
When Houshang was only 14, he invented his very own automobile – with four chairs, a steering wheel and tires. He often took his brothers and sister out driving.
“We all loved him so much and were so proud of him,” Ladan says. “He was a role model for all of us. We knew he had a bright future ahead of him.”
Houshang also loved children. He would visit mentally disordered kids in hospitals regularly and play with them. He even wrote several children’s books and short stories about poverty and why it exists in the world.
“He always said that children have the purest hearts. He said if everyone was honest and full of love like kids, the world would be a better place.” Ladan says.
Houshang was passionate about learning. But since school in Dehbid only went up to junior high, he was forced to move to Shiraz – the closest city to their village – for high school.
His parents rented him a small room in the basement of a family friend’s house.
“The room he was in looked more like a big hole,” says Ladan. “It was small, filthy, damp and had no windows. It looked more like a prison cell.”
Seeing Houshang’s hard conditions, his parents decided to move to Shiraz so he could live in a better house.
Houshang’s life slowly started to go the right direction. He had his family with him, was one of the best students in high school and was loved by everyone who knew him.
In 1976, he finished high school and was accepted to one of the best universities in Iran, PahlaviUniversity, and began studying mechanical engineering.
His vast knowledge on religion and philosophy won him the respect of all who got to know him. He gave talks at his university about the importance of human rights and the need for equality in the country.
Houshang now only had one year to finish his degree. But his last year coincided with the Islamic Revolution of Iran in 1979.
“The revolution destroyed Houshang’s dreams. Everything he had worked and lived for were now shattered.”
The Islamic revolutionaries promised a land of liberty, peace and opportunity and, in that way, won the support of the majority of Iranians, especially youth.
But Houshang was different. He never fell for the talk of freedom. He would only believe it when he saw it with his own eyes.
After the revolution, he continued working to abolish the gap between the rich and the poor by giving talks and creating awareness amongst all he met; Now with greater determination. His new goal was to stand against the government’s extremist views which sentenced all to death but those who allied with them.
“Houshang was a threat to them,” explains Ladan. “With all the love, affection and contributions he brought. He was a threat because he found the weakness of the government and wanted to act against it.”
The Iranian government closed all universities, and arrested anyone who was even a small threat – all from the supporters of the old regime, to communists, Kurds and Baha’is.
Houshang, who was a witness of these injustices, could not sit still. He was a man of action and had to prove he would not give in to their pressures. He intensified his efforts against the government by giving more talks about the inefficiency of the new regime and the need for change.
He, along with his group, called Peykar, a well-known socialist-based group in Iran, published pamphlets and books that invited people to stand up against the new government. They even produced a play which became very popular in Shiraz.
“We all knew something bad would soon happen. Houshang was involved in everything the government wanted to end,” Ladan says. “We tried to talk to him, but he was determined to change the world.”
Houshang’s efforts continued, until the dreadful day they all awaited for finally arrived. The day was April 18, 1981.
“Remembering the past is painful,” Ladan says, starting to cry again.
“Imagine always, always having to be afraid that someone you love dearly will be taken away from you,” she continues, pausing, as she bites her trembling lips. “Imagine, one night you wake up and realize that person has been killed. Gone forever.”
The night Houshang was arrested, their family had decided to spend the next day together, something very rare for their family.
Unlike usual, Houshang didn’t sleep in his room that night. He slept in the living room.
Around 1 am, Ladan woke up to the sound of men talking, and her younger brother yelling “mother, please don’t worry. It will be ok.”
“It was the most painful night of my life,” she explains. “The night I had been dreading for so long. I didn’t want to accept this bitter truth. Not seeing my beloved Houshang for one day was bad enough for me, how could I go on living without him? My heart ached just thinking about it.”
Ladan walked out of her room and found her younger brother, Masood, handcuffed and surrounded with Islamic revolutionary guards in the living room, and her parents locked in their room. When she walked in, a guard came towards her and pointed his gun at her head. She would be killed if she moved one more step.
“I looked at my brother who was trying to comfort my mom and the guards who were pointing their guns at us. At that point, all I wanted was to know where Houshang was. I had to find him. Even if it costed my life.”
Disregarding the guns, she ran towards the back yard to find her brother. And there he was, handcuffed and being escorted to a car by two guards.
“It was like my world fell apart. I screamed his name. He turned back and looked at me innocently and said ‘Ladan, everything’s going to be fine.’ I wanted to believe him so bad. I wanted to believe he would, one day, come back again…I looked at him, with all the love I felt for him...I wanted to run towards him and rescue him. But I couldn’t move. I was numb.”
Houshang was taken to Adelabad Prison in Shiraz that night, and never came back home again.
Ladan and her family would regularly visit him in prison. But seeing him in the horrible condition of Adelabad broke their hearts terribly.
“First time I saw him in prison, I couldn’t believe it. He had been tortured so much that he couldn’t even walk. His friend told us later that the pain from the lashes was so unbearable that they would put cucumbers on their back to cool it a bit.”
Various types of tortures were used on Houshang: Lashes, sleep deprivation, and hours and hours of mind blowing interrogation. They wanted to force him to apologize and say that he will support the government. Houshang, of course, never gave in.
Eight months later, on November 22, 1981, his order of execution was announced. His family was not informed of this order, neither was Houshang himself. He, along with a group of people were taken out of their cells, blind folded. No one knows what exactly happened after that, except that he was hung.
On November 23, two of Houshang’s friends came to Ladan’s house to bring the news of his execution.
“I had been nervous the whole day that day.” She says. “I didn’t know why…I felt like something horrible was about to happen. I kept thinking about Houshang and quickly getting it out of my head…I didn’t want to imagine it. It would kill me.”
When the door bell rang, Ladan closed her eyes and prayed that Houshang was ok. But when her father went to the door and almost fainted when the two guys were talking to him, she knew her nightmare had come true. She ran towards the front door, much like the day she had run to see Houshang one last time before he was taken to prison.
“I screamed, “Baba, Houshang! Houshang! Tell me he is ok. Please tell me he’s coming back. He looked at me and said ‘Ladan, Houshang was hung last night.’ ”
“My mom came to the door at the same time. She didn’t know what had happened. She invited the guys for tea. When she noticed the pale look on my dad’s face, she screamed ‘Houshang?’ My dad said ‘yes.’ And she fainted.”
That day, Ladan’s father and uncle went to the government morgue and collected Houshang’s body. Because there was a chance of them being arrested, they had to finish burying him as fast as possible. Only Ladan, her mom, dad, uncle and aunt went to the cemetery. He was buried in the fastest time, with a big rock over his coffin. A funeral couldn’t be more depressing.
“I wanted to cry, my mother told me to be quiet. I wanted to reach out and touch my Houshang, but my aunt stopped me. What was I free to do? Houshang was gone and I wanted to cry…but I didn’t even have the right to do that. I wanted to lay down beside him in the coffin and go with him forever…”
She pauses a few seconds.
“And I did do that. A big part of me left with Houshang that day.”
Houshang became the hero of the city, continues Ladan. He showed people the true meaning of being the change one wants to see in the world.
“He lived a simple life and was rested in his grave in the simplest way,” she says…He died for the change he wanted.”
So I wrote this article for my Honours Project at school and I was just searching on Google today and noticed it was published in two places. I worked really hard on this article so this makes me happy! Here are the links:
We’re at a unique moment in history, says UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown: we can use today’s interconnectedness to develop our shared global ethic — and work together to confront the challenges of poverty, security, climate change and the economy.
A must read talk given about the Baha'is' way of dealing with injustice.
By Dr. Michael Karlberg
"When I first began writing and speaking out about the Baha’is in Iran, and the suffering they are experiencing, some people asked me: Why don’t the Baha’is in Iran fight back? Why aren’t they willing to confront their oppressors by organizing politically? Or by engaging in acts of civil disobedience? And more recently, people might ask: Why are the Baha’is of Iran not taking to the streets in protest – like their fellow citizens this past week following the Iranian election? After all, there are over 300,000 Baha’is in Iran."
So you know how they say everyone comes to your life for a reason? Thanks to my gullibility I've always learned that the hard way. The latest person has been the best example of this.
I got myself in a messy situation for quite a while and even though I knew I was making a mistake I ignored it, mostly because ignoring it was way easier than dealing with it. What I didn't realize was that as time went by it was getting worst and though I thought I was doing myself a favor, I was really preparing myself for an incredible test that affected many aspects of my life.
This all sounds so confusing, but all you need to know is that I was going way out of track and thankfully I stopped it before it got worst. It was a hard decision, but I did it. The most surprising thing to myself, though, was that I stuck with it. But I didn't stick with it because I was strong. I did it because I met someone who, without knowing it, pulled me out of it. This person made me realize how far I had gone from the things that mattered to me and how much I had given up.
The past...I can't say months because it has been way longer than that...but the past while has been an emotional roller coaster for me. I was thinking about it tonight and I realized that it has all been for a reason. This person somehow guided me to overcome what I was going through and realize what the real solution was. And I am so, so grateful.
I don't like posting cheesy, emo posts for the world to read but it has been on my mind so I thought I would write about it. :)
So, the past few weeks have been intense in Iran. Iranians around the world have been watching with agony while thousands of their brothers and sisters have been beaten and killed on the streets. If there is one positive thing that came out of this, though, it's that the youth in Iran showed their bravery, open-mindedness and their unfulfilled desire to choose their own destiny.
I thought I would share a few quotes in the Baha'i writing about Iran. More than 160 years ago, Baha'u'llah envisioned a great future for Iran. He warned of horrible times of oppression but said that the distant future of Iran is bright. I couldn't find all of them in English so some of them will only be in Farsi.
حضرت عبدالبهاء میفرمایند:
ایران مرکز انوار گردد. این خاک تابناک شود و این کشور منوّر گردد و این بی نام و نشان شهیر آفاق شود و این محروم محرم آرزو و آمال و این بی بهره و نصیب فیض موفور یابد و امتیاز جوید و سرافراز گردد.
حضرت عبدالبهاء میفرمایند:
... خیر عموم خواهیم و ترقّی جمهور، و به عالم آداب و اخلاق ایران خدمت می کنیم، و شب و روز می کوشیم که خدا یک روح جدیدی در جسم ایران بدمد تا یک قوّه ای خارق العاده در بنیه ایرانیان جلوه نماید."
حضرت عبدالبهاء میفرمایند:
...ولی ملاحظه خواهید کرد که به تأئید الهی ایران چنان فوران نماید که سیل جان بخشش اقالیم عالم را سبز و خرّم نماید...مشیّت الهیه تعلّق یافته و قوّه معنویه در ایران نبعان نموده. هذا امر محتوم و وعد غیر مکذوب...
“Iran shall become a focal centre of divine splendours. Her darksome soil will become luminous and her land will shine resplendent.” - Abdu'l-Baha
The Universal House of Justice sent a letter to the Baha'is in Iran. The Universal House of Justice is the highest administrative body in the Baha'i Faith. The UHJ, along with Local Spiritual Assemblies and National Spiritual Assemblies, are elected by Baha'is through a democratic process. For more info: Universal House of Justice
They have sent several letters to the Baha'is in Iran encouraging them to keep hope and to not give up as the pressures on the Baha'is in the country have intensified in recent months. The latest letter came after the happenings after the election in Iran.
Here is the letter in Farsi and English:
پیام بیت العدل اعظم خطاب به بهاییان درباره روبدادهای اخیر این کشور
Sat 27 06 2009
۱٩ شهرالنّور ۱۶۶ - ۲٣ جون ۲٠۰٩
بهائیان عزیز در کشور ایران ملاحظه فرمایند:
خواهران و برادران روحانی،
با حزن و اندوه فراوان از وقوع حوادث اخیر در آن سرزمین مقدّس، منویّات قلبیّۀ خود را به پیروان حضرت بهاءالله ابراز مینماییم. سلامت و امان شما عزیزان از دیرزمان مشغلۀ ذهنی این مستمندان بوده و اکنون نگرانی امنیّت میلیونها نفر زنان و مردان شریف دیگر ایران نیز بر آن اضافه گردیده است، خاصّه آنکه اغلب آنان در عنفوان جوانی بوده مشتاق شکوفایی استعدادهای وسیع و نهفتۀ خود میباشند. ملاحظه فرمایید که با چه سرعتی پردهها برافتاد! مظالمی که طیّ سالیان دراز از طرق سازمانیافته و پنهان، بر بهائیان و دیگر شهروندان آن کشور وارد آمده در هفتههای اخیر در خیابانهای ایران در مقابل انظار جهانیان نمایان گشته است. اطمینان داریم که شما عزیزان در این ایّام نیز به آن اصل اساسی آیین بهائی که هر نوع فعّالیّت سیاسی حزبی را بر مؤمنین و مؤسّسات خود شدیداً منع میکند با خلوص کامل تمسّک خواهید جست. البتّه در عین حال نمیتوانید نسبت به مشکلاتی که گریبانگیر هموطنان عزیزتان است بیاعتنا باشید. استقامت در مقابل مشقّات و تضییقات بیشمار در طول سالهای متمادی شما را به خوبی آماده ساخته است که در حلقۀ خویشاوندان، دوستان، آشنایان و همسایگان چون نمادی از ثبوت قد برافرازید و چون مشعلی فروزان نور امید و شفقت برافشانید. اطمینان به آیندۀ درخشان ایران را در قلوبتان زنده نگاه دارید و بر این باور استوار مانید که سرانجام نور معرفت و دانایی غمام تیرۀ جهل و نادانی را زائل خواهد ساخت، عدالتخواهی و انصافطلبی مردم سبب خواهد شد که از چنگ تهمت و افترا رهایی یابند، و محبّت و وداد بر نفرت و عناد چیره خواهد گشت. بهائیان ایران با سلوک و منش خود نشان دادهاند که واکنش صحیح در مقابل ظلم نه قبول خواستههای سرکوبگران است و نه پیروی از خوی و روش آنان. نفوسی که گرفتار جور و ستم هستند میتوانند با اتّکا به قدرتی درونی که روح انسان را از آسیب کینه و نفرت محفوظ میدارد و موجب تداوم رفتار منطقی و اخلاقی میشود، ورای ظلم و عدوان بنگرند و بر آن فائق آیند. امید آنکه این بیان حضرت عبدالبهاء در گوشها طنین افکند: «ایران مرکز انوار گردد این خاک تابناک شود و این کشور منوّر گردد.»
در اعتاب مقدّسۀ علیا به یاد شما و هموطنان عزیزتان به دعا مشغولیم.
[امضا: بیت العدل اعظم]
THE UNIVERSAL HOUSE OF JUSTICE
23 June 2009
To the Baha’is of Iran
Dearly loved Friends,
With hearts grieved by events unfolding in Iran, we address this letter to you, the steadfast followers of Baha’u'llah in that land. To the concern for your safety that has long weighed on us is now added mounting fear for the safety of millions of Iranian men and women, so many of them at the pinnacle of their youth, their vast potentialities yearning to be realized. How rapidly have veils been rent asunder! Cruelty meted out in calculated measures to you and others over the years has been unleashed in the streets of Iran for all humanity to see. No matter what the turn of events, we are confident you will adhere firmly to the fundamental principle of our Faith that strictly prohibits any involvement in partisan political activity by individual Baha’is or by Baha’i institutions. Yet you cannot remain aloof and insensitive to the suffering of your people. Decades of hardship have prepared each of you to stand as a beacon of strength in the circle of your family and friends, your neighbours and acquaintances, radiating hope and compassion to all those in need. Keep alive in your hearts the feeling of confidence that the future of Iran holds bright promise, the certitude that the light of knowledge will inevitably dispel the clouds of ignorance, the conviction that concern for justice will protect the nation from falling prey to calumny, and the belief that love will ultimately conquer hatred and enmity. You have demonstrated in the example of your lives that the proper response to oppression is neither to succumb in resignation nor to take on the characteristics of the oppressor. The victim of oppression can transcend it through an inner strength that shields the soul from bitterness and hatred and which sustains consistent, principled action. May the words of ‘Abdu’l-Baha resound: “Iran shall become a focal centre of divine splendours. Her darksome soil will become luminous and her land will shine resplendent.” You and your compatriots are in our continued prayers.
They that love beyond the World, cannot be separated by it. Death cannot kill, what never dies. Nor can Spirits ever be divided that love and live in the same Divine Principle; the Root and Record of their Friendship. If Absence be not death, neither is theirs. Death is but Crossing the World, as Friends do the Seas; They live in one another still. For they must needs be present, that love and live in that which is Omnipresent. In this Divine Glass, they see Face to Face; and their Converse is Free, as well as Pure. This is the Comfort of Friends, that though they may be said to Die, yet their Friendship and Society are, in the best Sense, ever present, because Immortal.
William Penn's Fruits of Solitude (Part II: Union of Friends)
"I want to be a doctor when I grow up so that I can have a lot of money and buy chicken and fruit any time I want."-6 year old Hussein
By Natalia Antelava BBC News, Amman
The boy looked like an old man. His lips moved slowly, trying to stretch against his inflexible, badly scarred skin, and bandages covered his eyes.
But the voice that came out of his disfigured face was loud and cheerful and it filled the hospital room.
"I want to go back to Iraq, I miss my dad," Hussein said.
Six years ago, when Hussein was 11 months old, his grandmother took him along to a market near their house in Baghdad.
That day the market was ripped apart by a car bomb explosion, hours later Hussein was found, badly injured, next to his grandmother's body.
After several failed operations, his family became certain that he'd stay disfigured for the rest of his life.
What we do is not available in Iraq not because of the lack of skill, but lack of resources and security
Anonymous, surgeon
But a few months ago his mother heard about a free clinic in Jordan where doctors could restore the damaged tissue on Hussein's head.
It was only on the operating table in Amman, as Hussein was put under anaesthetic, that surgeons discovered that something else was wrong - the boy could not close his eyes.
"Because his skin is so stretched, he could not shut his eyes. That is very dangerous and could lead to blindness. So we operated on his eyes instead," Hussein's doctor says.
Dr Nagham Hussein, who is Iraqi herself, says she is not surprised that despite multiple surgeries no-one in Baghdad noticed Hussein's serious chronic condition.
"Doctors in Iraq are too busy saving lives. This kind of surgery is a luxury," she says.
Amnesty International continues to document serious human violations including detention of human rights defenders and other prisoners of conscience, unfair trials, torture and mistreatment in detention, deaths in custody and the application of the death penalty. Iran has one of the highest number of recorded executions of any country in the world. Amnesty International is particularly concerned about the execution of children and individuals who were minors when their crimes were alleged to have taken place. Continue...
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
A website reporting on the situation of the Baha'is in Iran
"These fruitless strifes, these ruinous wars shall pass away, and the "Most Great Peace" shall come." - Abdu'l-Baha
Quote of the Week:
"As human beings, our greatness lies not so much in being able to remake the world - that is the myth of the atomic age - as in being able to remake ourselves.." - Mahatma Gandhi
What we do is not available in Iraq not because of the lack of skill, but lack of resources and security 
