Narration of haj Ebrahim Alijani; one of the survivors of a saga on 5 June in Varamin plain

We Put Seyyed on the Ground and Ran Away

Compiled by: Faezeh Sasanikhah
Translated by: Fazel Shirzad

2024-6-13

On June 5, 1963, a delegation left the market to come to the courtyard. At the crossroads, some people were standing on stools and held mourning. We moved to the courtyard again. That day we had a guest from [shrine] Shah Abd al-Azim. I said I will go and give them lunch and come back to the courtyard. When I went, I saw a voice coming from inside the hall saying: "The gentlemen who said that if we were in the land of Karbala, we would have gone to the aid of Imam Hussein (PBUH), arrested Ayatollah Khomeini last night."

The mourning stopped and the people were ready to move towards Tehran. We came from inside the market, the gendarmes were standing in front of the gendarme when we arrived. They had nothing to do with people. We passed in front of them and reached the Sarpol Haji. They had made a room there for complications. There were also some plantain trees and blue birch trees. When we arrived, Haj Sheikh Abu Laqasem Mohiuddin - he was a devout and cleric - said: "Sit down, sit down, I want to talk." Everyone sat down. He said: "sir, this is a fight, it's a fight, and it’s going to end. Please if you know how many of your friends will get stuck there and run away, tell them not to go, let's go back."

Everyone said: "We're going."

We moved, when we arrived near Qalasin, a cleric named Seyyed Razavi[1] and some people joined us. We arrived at the lumber yard, it was a desert at that time, and there was a winding bridge. We saw some shrouded people coming from the road of Varamin with flags. They also joined us until we reached Varamin. Everyone was thirsty, they had left the pans of ice water for people to eat. We passed there, we reached the bridge of the factory. There, I found the crowd. We moved again and came near Musa Abad. There they said: Whoever has not prayed should pray here, collect money to buy bread. We may arrive late in Tehran.

Mohammad Jandaghi - the guardian of Bibinoor Mountain - and Hossein Naseri collected money to go to Goltapeh to get bread. We prayed and moved towards Poinek. Some people had come to watch the people in front of the road.

When we arrived near Bagharabad, a rider arrived and said: "Gentlemen! You are going this way wrong. Building trenches around Baghrababad will destroy you all. Go change your way and go another one."

We said we are going. Colonel Behzadi's car arrived and driver said: "Where are you going?"

We said: We are going to help Ayatollah Khomeini.

He said: "he has been captured. They don't bother him. He will be released. Go back to the house and your life."

We said: If we wanted to go back, we would not have moved. We must go to Tehran and clarify the situation.

When we arrived in Baghrababad, I saw a bus come and some gendarmes got off. Their commander ordered to close the street. They called us not to come forward, if you come you will be killed. We didn't pay attention, there were some people wearing shrouds and carrying machetes in front. They told the shrouds to come forward. We came forward, they ordered to shoot. The first ones screamed, the others got scared and ran away. Haj Akbar Qala-Khajaei and Haji Junadi went and stood on the ground and said: "Don't be afraid, don't run away. Why are you running away?"

Those who were behind left and we stayed. They ordered to hit. They started hitting from the waist down. There were three or four of us who were running, and I saw one person fall to the ground next to me. I said to my friend: Look, they killed him by shooting.

He said: "No, don't shoot while sleeping."

We reached Poinak, there was a wheat field, we sat down.

When they shot and chanted and returned, they went to the car. I got up and looked at the back of Poinak school and saw three or four people standing. We slowly went to their side and saw that Mohammad Taghi Alaei, Ramzan Ali Abdi, Asadullah are one of the Kohank. They said: "By the grace of Allah, your Rajabi - my sister's son - was shot."

I said: Where?

He said: "Near the wheat field, near the runnel."

I said: I will go back to Ezzatullah to see how it went.

They said: "Then we will come."

When we came, we saw two people fell. I saw Haj Hasan Khamsei lying down, he was sweating and tensed. I put on the sweatband and saw that the blood in his chest had hardened, he was dead. Next to him, I saw Ramadan Khumsa. He was wearing a black dress and a crutch and was moaning. I said: Sir, what happened?

He said: "I came to visit my brother to see how you are doing. I saw him dead. I was crying when they hit me with a spear head."

I said: Don't delay too much. That he is not dead yet, let's bind his legs, you who are the strongest, let's take him to the line. At last, Muslim finds himself in the hospital.

We moved these, we went ahead of Abbas; we saw Baba Hassan, the watchmaker, and I said: What happened?

He said: "I was shot in the foot." Do you have a handkerchief?

He was moaning. I took the handkerchief and covered his leg. We also gave him Asadullah to bring him to the line. We went to the other side and saw a Sayyid sleeping and moaning. I said, "What happened?"

The comrades started to cry. "Don't cry, I'm not dead yet," Said Seyyed. If I die, I will be a sacrifice for Imam Hussain (PBUH).

I said: comrades, crying is useless. We have to get to this.

They took his hands and feet, and the gendarmes started shooting. It was near sunset and it was getting dark. We put Seyyed on the ground again and ran away and sat in the wheat fields. Once I saw they brought a car. It was dark. They threw a spotlight and threw everyone dead and alive into the truck. From where they passed, I saw that there was no one. And I sat alone in the wheat fields. I said: Well, what should I do? There is no point in leaving. If it was, take it.

I came to the street and took the line towards Khairabad-Poinak. I reached the coffee shop and saw a sound coming from the back of the coffee shop. Haj Hassan Sanghar was with several others. At the same time, someone came and said, "Guys, come on board."

It was a red truck. Out of fear, we went and sat on top of the car. I said: comrades, don't go and deliver to us.

They said, trust in God, if you turn, you will go to the company, if you go to the factory, we will be passed.

He went up the factory bridge and reached Varamin. Some of the comrades belonging to Varamin got off. Then he brought us to the garage and dropped us off. Hasan Agha's sister asked: "Didn't you see my brother?"

I said: Why did Haj Hasan get off now?

I came to leave Ahangaran alley, my sister's daughter was sitting in the house of Haj Hossein Esfahani, and she saw me and said: "Uncle, what has happened?"

I said: Killing honor. I was there too.

He said: "What happened?"

I said: Many will perish.

I passed out when I said this. I fainted, they took me to the yard and splashed water on my face and gave me some syrup, I regained consciousness. They wanted to keep me.

I said: We have a guest from Shah Abdulazim. All the comrades are waiting to see what they bring to us. I have to go home early."

When I arrived home, there was a noise that it was martial law. They are taking everything. I was at home then.

Masayib Khamsaei and Morteza Tabatabai were martyred and fell next to the embankment which was a well. I could not find Ezzat, which means they did not allow us to move forward. Because they had identified them, they said they would catch everyone. That night I stayed at home, in the morning I went to Shahi by train.[2]

You Were There Too, There Is an Evidence

It was the third day of Imam’s death . We went to the sacred courtyard of shrine Jafar (PBUH) to breastfeed. The ceremony began, someone went up to the pulpit and said: "They arrested Hazrat Ruhollah Khomeini." We have to move to Tehran."

We headed towards Tehran at the head of the women. On the way, they chanted: "We wrote with our blood either death or Khomeini."

We came in front of the police station and they said: Go and take their weapons.

They came forward and we saw that they were crying and they were crying. We said: They are crying in front of us.

We moved and came to Musa Abad. Jandaghi and Hossein Naseri collected money to buy bread, we were hungry. We left without food.

Someone went to the pulpit and said: "Woman is forbidden in your houses if you don't come."

I told my wife, and she finally gave me permission. We were on Imam Street; opposite the square. We left from there, Sheikh Abulqasem Mohiuddin and Sheikh Fathullah Sanei were in front. We reached the other side of the Qalasin road bridge. They sat us there and gave a speech. They said that the time of the Prophet (PBUH) was a sword, now it is machine guns, arrows, and guns. If you want to come, you have to stand there rigidly in front of them. If not, come back.

The young men said: "No, I will come. Let's move."

Sheikh Abulqasem said: "We have a drop of blood, we will leave it in this way."

Everyone chanted: "We wrote with our blood either death or Khomeini".

We encountered with an army jeep in Musaabad. They were colonels and brigadier generals. They said: "Where do you want to go? If you go higher than here, you will all perish."

We said: If we all perish. We have to go to Tehran again. Arrest the imam. We want to save him."

The jeep returned from there. When we arrived under the Bagharabad Bridge, the crowd increased. The beginning of the population was drying vegetables and the end of the population was in Khairabad.

Two army trucks emptied in front of us and surrounded us. Of course, the machine gun was not used. The soldiers shot us. I turned to the Qiblah and recited my martyrdom. I said: I will not return from here.

I was behind. Seyyed Morteza Tabatabai was tall, he was shot in the head and fell on the table. The arrow was empty and they left one by one. Some people were running here and there. There was a deep well there, I went behind it. They rushed over me. Some of them had also poured around the well, which was an embankment. They beat and poured into the well. When they rushed over me, I ran away. They fired again. Many fell and perished behind me. When I was running away, an arrow passed by my head, but it didn't matter, it only took a scratch. An arrow also passed by my eye; my right eye is still defective and sees blurry.

I came from there into the wheat fields, it was very tall. There was a hole and a corner, the sound of water was coming. I slept in a hole and put my head on that man. Those who were dead or wounded were killed and thrown into the truck. I could hear everything with my ears, but I didn't dare to come out of the wheat fields. When they gathered these and left for Pishwa, I came out from there.

When I came from Poinak-Palangdareh to Three Roads, they said: "There is a military regime." If they see, they will catch you."

I came secretly from the gardens, when I arrived it was the morning call to prayer. I used to come in the desert without shoes, the soles of my feet were injured. When I came, my wife was sitting next to her mother and was crying. When I opened the door, it was as if God gave him the world. He said: "Are you eating?"

I said: No, I just want to sleep.

A few days later, they said it was military regime. They catch everyone they see. My mother and my lady's mother had hidden me for several days. There was no bathroom at home, after ten or twenty days I went to the bathroom. The comrades said: "Look, you were there too, there is an evidence."

They had seen the bullet spot. I didn't say anything.[3]