Marking anniversary of Baha’i executions

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This article was published 20/06/2023 (1185 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Eliaheh Towfigh has “been crying every day,” as this week marks the 40th anniversary of the executions of 10 Baha’i women by Iran’s government.

Local Baha’is are inviting Winnipeggers to join them at an interfaith event on Friday to commemorate the anniversary.

The women were hanged one by one in the city of Shiraz on June 18, 1983, after refusing to renounce their faith, forced to watch the killing of the others. The youngest woman was 17; most were in their 20s.

Towfigh, who knew two of the women executed, will be speaking at Friday’s event.

“It’s been hard for the past 40 years knowing about this atrocity,” she said.

Towfigh, then a university student in Shiraz, knew Roya Eshraghi, 23, who was executed along with her 57-year-old mother, Ezzat Janami Eshraghi.

“She was a year ahead of me in university,” Towfigh said of Roya Eshraghi, adding Roya invited her to go see her in a play put on by Baha’i students before her death.

“She played an angel coming to give the world a message of peace and the unity of mankind,” Towfigh said, noting Roya Eshraghi “was beautiful, with flowers in her hair.”

When Eshraghi started speaking, those opposed to that message disrupted the play and forced it to be halted.

Towfigh escaped from Iran in 1984 and has lived in Winnipeg since 1985. The commemoration of the executions “is at some level a form of closure for me… I am still crying, but now they are tears of healing,” she said.

Payam Towfigh, who also escaped from Iran in 1984 and is the brother-in-law to Elaheh Towfigh, said the event is a way to tell the Iranian government, “We are watching.”

“We will not stand down. We will bring this injustice to light. We want to let everyone know.”

The event is also a way to draw attention to the plight of all women in Iran, he said, noting how many have been imprisoned or killed by government authorities for demanding rights.

The event, which starts at 7:30 p.m. at the Folio Café in Canadian Mennonite University, will feature a short program, including a memorial for the 10 women. The program will be followed by a reception.

It is part of a global campaign by the Baha’i International Community called #OurStorylsOne to honour the executed women and renew the long struggle for gender equality for women of all faiths and backgrounds in Iran.

“We want to commemorate these women and also highlight what is currently happening to Baha’is in Iran,” Christie Paul, secretary of the Winnipeg Baha’i community, said. “We want our brothers and sisters there to know they are not forgotten.”

The Baha’i faith originated in Iran in the 19th century. Members of the faith have been subjected to focused persecution in Iran since the Islamic Revolution in 1979. An estimated 200 Baha’is have been executed since that time, with many more imprisoned, expelled from schools, barred from holding government jobs or otherwise discriminated against.

“These women did not die in vain,” Paul said. “Their deaths are a chapter in the ongoing story of Iranian women’s resilient and courageous struggle for equality.”

More information about the campaign can be found at http://wfp.to/Nqo.

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