Memoirs of Marzieh Hadidchi (Dabbagh) (Part 46)

2018-6-26

Memoirs of Marzieh Hadidchi (Dabbagh) (Part 46)

Edited by: Mohsen Kazemi

Tehran, Sooreh Mehr Publications Company

‎2002 (Persian Version)‎

Translated by: Zahra Hosseinian

They Should Return to Life

In the late of 1979, in a meeting with police officers, Imam Khomeini made very important remarks on the revival of police stations[1]. This issue was bitter for me who had heard about the crimes of some of them on the eve of the victory of revolution and afterwards. The problem of handing weapons to them was not only unpleasant to me, but also difficult to accept. I could not accept that the people in police stations would make the city safe so I tried to deny. To get rid of my confused thoughts, I visited ayatollah Madani and asked, ‘Sir, you say that Imam has ordered us to hand over the weapons to the same guards who were killing our children until yesterday?!’ Ayatollah Madani said, "You can easily visit Imam, so go and ask him the philosophy of his command, and see what your duty is."

I visited Imam Khomeini every month to give report of performance and to get permission for doing some works and activities, and if I found an opportunity, I would tell some incidents in details. And I would speak of straits and problems. And Imam Khomeini guided and helped me.

The next time when I visited Imam, after giving my report, I said something while I was mumbling, but I did not dare to speak about police stations issue openly. Imam noticed and asked, "What’s the matter sister Tahereh?" I said, "Frankly, it’s not easy for me to say. It’s about your command about police stations. How we can be at ease of mind by giving weapons to them; these are the ones who were killing our children until yesterday and many mothers are bereaved of their acts; now we should go and tell them thank you, there you go, this is your gun!"

With such an awe-inspiring, Imam Khomeini threw a sharp glance at me that I could not say anything else. "If you were imprisoned," he said, "if you were tortured, if you were exiled and suffered being away from your children and whatever happened to you, but you had and have the privilege of easily choosing spouse for your daughters and sons; but they were so misfortune that for making a living they did not have allow to choose their bride and groom and SAVAK should choose for them. Why you are now preventing them to return to the life, to take responsibility. Tell me how much do you help them? How many training courses do you hold for them? How much did you teach them during the time they were prevented from working...?"

Imam's sharp answer shook me. All those imaginary thoughts that I had in mind, disappeared. As if cold water was poured on the fire flared up inside me. My forehead was in sweat and I was ashamed of my boldness to ask such questions...

When Imam spoke about these deep and delicate matters, I was looking down. And at the end Imam said, "So, go and do your duty."

Imam’s holistic encounters drove me deep in thought and I realized there is a long way for understanding the nature of his behavior and words, and I learned that Imam did not do anything without philosophy. When I returned to Hamadan, I felt a heavy burden of responsibility on my shoulder, and I saw myself more exposed to the God's experiments, which needed more knowledge and alertness to pass. Arriving at Hamedan, I immediately held a meeting with brothers and ayatollah Madani to discuss about the ways of initiating police stations. The presence of ayatollah Madani was worthwhile and solved many of our problems.

The police officers were called to serve. The weapon was delivered to them and registered. Two-hour weekly meetings were held in one of the Hamedan's halls for some of them. In these classes the interpretation of Quran and morality were taught. And in this way, police officers also returned to the community.

To be continued…