18 June marks the 40th year of the execution of 10 Baha’i women in the Islamic Republic of Iran. 40 years ago on 18 June 1983, when the seeds of ‘Raliv, Galiv, Chaliv’ (convert, die or leave) were being sown on the Kashmiri soil by jihadis, 10 Baha’i women in Iran were executed for refusing to renounce their faith. Their only option was “Islam or execution.”
This day bears the spirit of Iran’s 10 Baha’i women who were executed for their faith by the Shia-majority country. Officially they were charged with various crimes including espionage, but it is well known that it was just a facade, and their real crime was refusal to convert to Islam.
The women were arrested in October and November 1982. They were tortured, denied the right to a lawyer, and were offered the opportunity to save their lives by converting to Islam. They were asked to sign statements declaring that they are not Baha’i, but they refused to do so. As a result, they were taken to Chowgan Square in Shiraz from the prison and were hanged one by one, which means those who were executed later were forced to witness the hanging of others.
Just two days before, several men were executed at the same spot, and some were relatives of the women.
These deaths continue to horrify Baha’i people but also inspire them in their continued fight against discrimination even today by the Islamic regime in Iran.
The fateful night of 18 June 1983
As nightfall began to sneak in, Mona Mahmudnizhad, along with her 9 peers, was dragged from the Adilabad prison in Shiraz. They were driven out to a polo field, where Mona’s father was executed merely days ago. What transpired after that sends shivers down one’s spine.
The driver of the minibus in which the prisoners were taken recounts the horror that transpired before his eyes.
The 10 women were hanged one after the other. The Revolutionary Guards perpetrated the murders in descending order of their age.
The eldest, 57, was Ezzat-Janami Eshraghi who was hanged first. The youngest was 17-year-old Mona Mahmudnizhad who had to witness nine executions before her turn came. At last, this brave young girl became a woman that night as she embraced the gallows and forever etched her name in the hearts of even her jihadi murderers. She smiled at her execution and sparked a revolution in Iran that continues to this day.
The ten Baha’i women executed in Shiraz on June 18, 1983, were:
- Mona Mahmudnezhad, 17;
- Roya Eshraghi, 23, was executed along with her mother;
- Simin Saberi, 24;
- Shahin (Shirin) Dalvand, 25;
- Akhtar Sabet, 25;
- Mahshid Niroumand, 28;
- Zarrin Moghimi-Abyaneh, 29;
- Tahereh Arjomandi Siyavashi, 30. Her husband, Jamshid Siavashi, was executed two days earlier;
- Nosrat Ghufrani Yaldaie, 46. Her son, Bahram Yaldaie, was executed two days earlier;
- Ezzat-Janami Eshraghi, 57, along with her daughter Roya, 23. Her husband, Enayatullah Eshraghi was executed two days earlier.
Killed for their Baha’i faith
The 10 women were arrested in 1982 on the charges of “spying for Israel,” “insulting Islam,” and “teaching Baha’i children’s classes”.
“Baha’i nistam” (I am not a Baha’i). These were the words they had to say in order to escape death. They were given four opportunities to say these two words.
Little did the radical Iranian regime know that their faith was more dear to them than life itself; that life was a right, not an option to be lured into and that death was worthy when embraced out of faith than fear.
They refused to utter the ugly lie that they were lured into speaking.
Mona Mahmudnizhad & Her Essay
Months before her execution, Mona Mahmudnizhad wrote a revolutionary essay that got the Iranian regime’s knickers in a twist. The topic of the essay assigned by her religious studies teacher was “The fruit of Islam is freedom of conscience and liberty.”
Knowing very well that she is expected to sing false praises for Islam, Mona stuck to the truth and wrote the following golden words:
“Freedom is the most brilliant word, but there have always been powerful and unjust men who have resorted to “oppression and tyranny. Why in my country are those who are members of my religion abducted from their homes at night and taken to mosques in their nightgowns, and subjected to whipping? As we have recently witnessed in our own city, Shiraz, their homes are looted and set on fire. Hundreds of people leave their homes in fear. Why? Because of the gift of liberty that Islam has brought? Why am I not free to express my ideas in this society? Why do I not have freedom of speech so that I can write in the newspapers, and express my ideas on the radio and television? Why don’t you let me be free…to say who I am and what I want? Yes, liberty is a Divine gift, and this gift is for us (Baha’is) also, but you don’t let us have it…Why don’t you push aside that thick veil from your eyes?”
On the evening of 23 October 1982, there was a loud thud at Mona’s doorstep. Ruhollah Khomeini’s Revolutionary Guards barged into her residence, ransacked her family home, grabbed her and her father, and took them away.
Mona’s mother pleaded, “She’s just a child.” The jihadis produced Mona’s essay and said, “The person who wrote this isn’t a child.”
They were right. How could a woman of all but 17, fighting a deadly battle for truth with just her pen against an army led by a rancid mullah, be a child?
She was a voice they feared deeply.
According to U.S. govt records, during the trial of the 10 women, Judge Qazai questioned Mona, “You are just a child. How could you possibly know the real meaning of the world religion?”
To this, a bold Mona replied saying, “What more proof do you need than that I was dragged out of school and put in jail and now, for many months, have endured all these interrogations for the sake of my religion? What else but my faith could give me the strength and power to stand here in front of you and answer your questions?”
Death followed eight long months of torture
After her arrest, Mona was incarcerated in a filthy, stenchful prison cell and was subjected to torture. This survivor’s account narrates the ordeal faced by the prisoners including Mona.
Ruhi Jahanpour, another Baha’i woman, who shared the prison with Mona, said, “They blindfolded me and tied me to a kind of bed, and then they put my feet there…after a few lashes they would pause for a little bit because they knew our feet were getting numb and they wanted us to feel the pain. They would continuously say things like, ‘If you deny your faith, I’ll let you go.'”
Baha’i persecution by Islamists
The persecution and abuse of the Baha’i people continue in the Arab world to this day. After the Iranian Revolution in 1979, systematic persecution of religious minorities and women began to rise. Crackdown on Baha’i institutions, community activities, holy places, cemeteries, and properties became rampant. Executions, economic deprivation, mysterious disappearances of Baha’i people, detentions, and interrogations became an everyday routine constituting grave human rights violations.
More than 200 Baha’is have been executed or murdered. This is only the reported number, unreported cases could be much higher. Thousands have been arrested, detained, and interrogated, and tens of thousands more have been deprived of jobs, pensions, and opportunities for higher education.
August 1980: 9 Baha’i officials abducted
Nine members of the National Spiritual Assembly – a democratically elected national council that forms part of the Baha’i administrative structure in all countries – together with two individuals serving on other Baha’i institutions, were abducted by a group of armed men from their meeting in a private home and taken to an unknown location. They disappeared without a trace, presumably the victims of extrajudicial killings. The Iranian authorities have never admitted to this crime.
29 August 1983: Baha’i administrative activities banned
The then-Iranian Attorney General announced a legal ban on all Baha’i administrative and community activities in Iran, making membership in Baha’i administrative institutions a criminal offense.
11 December 2022: Baha’i women sentenced to second imprisonment
Regarded as the symbols of resilience in Iran, two Baha’i women, Mahvash Sabet and Fariba Kamalabadi, were sentenced to a second term of 10-year imprisonment after already having served 10 years.
They were arrested on 31 July 2022 for a second time in a series of fresh crackdown on Baha’is.
25 May 2023: Houthi gunmen abduct 17 Baha’is
Heavily-armed Houthi terrorists in Yemen stormed a peaceful Baha’i annual general meeting at a private residence in Sanaa. The Iran-backed Houthi terrorists abducted 17 Baha’i members including 5 women.
The video of the abduction was captured on Zoom.
BREAKING#Yemen: Armed #Houthi gunmen stormed a peaceful #Bahai annual general meeting in Sanaa today, after years of persecution, detaining at least 17 including 5 women. Other homes also raided.
— Baha'i International Community (@BahaiBIC) May 25, 2023
Yemeni Baha’is on Zoom captured this video.
Details and our statement to follow. pic.twitter.com/CbMXsz3UY9
On 2 June 2023, Mufti Shamseddin Sharafeddin, while delivering the Friday prayers, accused the abducted Baha’is of being traitors and said that if they did not repent, they will be killed.
Who are the Baha’is?
The Baha’i faith originated in Iran. Baha’is are the followers of the messenger Baha’U’llah born in Tehran in 1817, who founded the religion. Baha’U’llah attained spiritual realization upon pursuing the Babi Movement. Teachings of Baha’U’llah aka Mirza Husayn-‘Ali’ form the basis of the Baha’i belief.
The premise of the Baha’i faith finds similarities with Hinduism. Baha’is believe in pursuing the truth, oneness, harmony of science and religion among others, and being free from materialism. Albeit, even the messengers were not spared from the wrath of the tyrants. In 1850, the Bab was charged by Shi’i religious officials with heresy and was gunned to death.
Crackdown on his followers continued including on Baha’U’llah who was confined to an underground prison in Tehran. He was exiled to Baghdad in 1853 where he founded the Baha’i religion.
Baha’is are considered impure in Islam
While the Islamic nation recognises several other minority religions like Christianity, Judaism and Zoroastrianism, Iran does not recognise Baha’i faith. The country also accuses Baha’i people of being agents of Israel.
Hatred for Baha’is in Islam stems primarily from the fact that the former consider themselves a religion separate from Islam. Their (Baha’is) belief in Baha’U’llah negates the Islamist belief in the existence of Prophet Muhammad.
The teachings of the Baha’is religion are considered as posing a direct challenge to the doctrines of Islam. While Baha’is are proponents of maintaining a rational balance between science and religion, Islam still largely believes that the earth is flat, to say the least, because their messenger Prophet Muhammad said so.
When the 10 Baha’i women were in jail, survivor Ruhi Jahanpour explained that the prison guards were told that torturing the women would hasten the return of the Hidden Twelfth Imam awaited by the Shia Muslims.
“We have to get rid of all of you to prepare the way for him to come. The only reason that he hasn’t come yet is because of you dirty people,” the guards said.
Prison wardens, in order to avoid any physical contact with the “unclean,” and “impure” Baha’i prisoners, while guiding them to the interrogation room would give them one end of a folded newspaper and hold the other end.
Baha’is also believe that men and women are equal and deserve to be treated as such. This too directly challenges the many Islamic practices and sermons against women.
Iranian women’s resistance continues
The persecution of the Baha’is, especially women, serves as a reminder to the present-day Iranian woman to continue the fight for their rights. Women, including those from minority communities, in Iran, are still fighting for equal opportunities, for their right to not wear the hijab, the right to equal opportunity in education and employment, and so on.
Hijab is one such key issue that Iranian women are pushing against. Hijab, a headscarf, is mandatory clothing in Islam meant to cover women’s hair.
This month alone, the Iranian police have made over 300 arrests in a bid to enforce the confining dress code. Nearly a million warnings have been issued over text too. Arrests, detentions, and public beatings of women resisting this diktat are common news even today.
Breaking News
— Masih Alinejad 🏳️ (@AlinejadMasih) June 6, 2023
New wave of systematic killing in Iran
Two young students have died in a suspicious manner during protests in Abdanan, Iran.
Mansoreh Sagvand, 19, was a young girl who was a former member of the police force. But, she too joined the protests. She died yesterday… pic.twitter.com/VnWKsIr67G
Iranian journalist and activist Masih Alinejad is a key voice running campaigns against the dogmatic Islamic Republic.
The Morality Police confiscated her car because she was not wearing the mandatory hijab . Her defiant response, “They cannot stop us by such appalling actions. We’re not afraid. They took my car away, Now I am walking, still without a hijab continuing our fight.”… pic.twitter.com/Q4RQitbIin
— Masih Alinejad 🏳️ (@AlinejadMasih) June 10, 2023
Campaigns like “White Wednesdays,” “My Camera Is My Weapon,” and “My Stealthy Freedom” have made the fascist Iranian regime foam at the mouth.
Tributes pour in for the 10 Baha’i Bravehearts
The Baha’i International Community today is marking the 40th anniversary dedicated to the 10 brave Baha’i women with the campaign #OurStoryIsOne.
Comedian Omid Djalili @omid9 made a video mirroring the last days of Mona Mahmudnizhad in the present-day context.
True story. To commemorate 40th anniversary of the horrific injustice done to the 10 Bahá’í women of Shiraz 18th of June 1983 @TinySpeck_ & I made this.
— Omid Djalili (@omid9) June 15, 2023
Pippa Walton mirrors the last days of the life of Mona Mahmoudnizhad who was hanged aged 17. #OurStoryIsOne #GenderEquality pic.twitter.com/aQnFaxz5PI
In Stockholm, homage was paid to Mona and 9 other women on 14 June.
Beautiful event at #Stockholm City Hall today in memory of 10 #Bahai women executed in #Iran 40 years ago for their beliefs. Special thanks to Deputy Mayor Anders Österberg for co-organizing, @MajaAaberg of @AmnestySverige, relatives & many others for contributing. #OurStoryIsOne pic.twitter.com/Jhu0MMmiKc
— Nogol Rahbin (@NRahbin) June 13, 2023
Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi and the then-President Ram Nath Kovind marked the 200th anniversary of the birth of the messenger Baha’U’llah.
In his letter to the Baha’i community of India, PM Modi wrote, “Baha’i Faith gives the world a vision of universal brotherhood.”
“The arduous path to gender equality in Iran has been walked by countless women over the decades. That road has been marked by the sacrifices of those who chose to stand for their principles even over their lives,” said Simin Fahandej, the Bahai International Community (BIC) representative to the United Nations in Geneva.
