Abdolqaffar Nahavandi Speaks of Guards

Guards Invaded Dormitory 10

Mehdi Amani
Translated by: Abbas Hajihashemi

2015-10-27

Abdolqaffar Nahavandi (Taha) - Left

Note: AbdolQaffar Nahavandi, nicknamed Taha, was born in Sardab neighborhood in the western city of Nahavand, Hamedan Province, in 1959. He finished his high school in his hometown but went to the northwestern city of Tabriz to study mechanical engineering in the city's university in 1977. Following the 1979 revolution, he received his MS in mechanical engineering from Tabriz University. He is a senior designer of machinery and conducts courses in Zanjan and Qazvin universities from time to time. The following are a part of his recollections of students' anti-Pahlavi campaign in Isfahan University of Technology in 1977.

 As a newly-admitted university student and joined by Hussein Behzadi, I went to Tehran Gate at 5 a.m. We were forced to walk through Tehran University where we could see a mix of different cultures who had been admitted by various universities across the country. The students were being led by a number of young fellas who looked like they belonged to Alborz High School.

I waited there for a couple of hours to have my entrance picture taken to be officially recognized as a university student. We took to Isfahan University in a fleet of new buses. I and a couple of my friends were accommodated at Dormitory 10 to spend the next 4 years of our lives while we were studying in the Isfahan University.

It all went smoothly until December when the exams were about to begin. The uprisings began with protests against the physics exam. The students would break the chairs and stage hunger strikes. Even the university chancellor, Dr. Mohammad Amin, was not heeded when he called on students to end the unrest. What began as a student uprising against seasonal examinations turned out to be exposed as anti-regime clashes where security SAVAK agents would intervene.

"The Guards invaded Dormitory 10 during the December 7 events. They dragged 44 naked students out of their rooms and hit them so badly before taking them to the SAVAK station in Isfahan. Most of the detainees had totally nothing to do with the campaign. They were staying in their rooms on the 3^rd floor when the Guards arrived. My room was on the first floor. I went to the roof to see what was going on when someone shouted that the guards were coming, so I zipped to the nearest room to hide myself. All of a sudden, 5 well-built Guards kicked the door open and poured in. They would not hesitate to use the worst swear words for calling our names. They took this chubby guy and kicked him as much as they could. We were frightened to death. "Take off your clothes," they told us. So we did. They took us out of the dormitory. We could hear girls scream and glasses smash. They took a red-head girl and hit her so badly. They took us to a bus. There were 44 of us in the bus. They threatened to expel us from the university and torture us the way SAVAK was reputed to torture its detainees.

"When we arrived at the station, a guy came on and took two of us and said the rest were free to go."