Part of Oral History of Esfandiar Qarehbaqi

Note: I was threatened publicly due to the publication of a revolutionary song about Imam Khomeini (God’s mercy upon his soul).
Imagine that thousands of people were singing together the epical song “Oh, Iran” on the day the enemy had attacked the soil of the country. It was really energetic and exciting. The situation strengthened the motivation of many people in defending the country.
The following interview is part of the memoirs of master Qarehbaqi, a revolutionary artist. This part is special for the book “Born in Bahman” which has been released in “Rah” magazine in the form of the oral history of the revolution with the attempt of the Office of the Front of Islamic Revolution Studies.

The situation of the night of the 22nd of September 1980

It was the 22nd of September 1980 when Iraqi fighter jets bombarded Iran’s airports and for the first time, the news about the pounding of Tehran’s Mehrabad Airport was broadcast. We were ordered to gather all the popular committee forces in Imam Mosque (former Shah Mosque) at ten PM. I took two or three groups of my forces, said goodbye with my family and went to the mosque. The entire Tehran was in absolute darkness and silence no car was allowed to turn on the lights. I parked my car in the campus of Iranian raid in Ark Square. I entered the mosque’s yard, seeing that it was very crowded and various forces were entering the mosque one after another. Most of them were armed, having G3 guns. Every now and then, one of the people chanted a slogan and everybody repeated it.

The most popular performance of my life

Apparently, one of the people in that gathering was informed that I was there and told the rest that the vocalist of the song “Oh Iran” was present in the yard’s mosque. At that time, the people knew me more with the song “Oh Iran”. They came and asked me to sing “Oh Iran”. I told them that it was not possible without loudspeaker and audio system. They insisted and said that we made a silence so that everybody could hear your voice. When I saw the people’s enthusiasm and insistence, I agreed and asked them not to be silent and accompany me. A strange scene was created. Imagine that thousands of people were singing the epical song “Oh Iran” together. It was really energetic and exciting. The situation strengthened the motivation of many people in defending the country. Perhaps, half of the forces were dispatched to the war zone in that dark night and the rest were sent later due to shortage of buses.

I was threatened publicly due to the dissemination of a revolutionary song about Imam Khomeini (God’s mercy upon his soul).

The works carried out by revolutionary artists faced with the harsh reactions of anti-revolutionaries. We were always threatened. Many of our active friends in this area had been threatened to assassination on a number of occasions. At that time, such things happened to me. Once, after the dissemination of my revolutionary song about Imam Khomeini (God’s mercy upon his soul) called “Oh God, Oh God, Save Khomeini until Mahdi’s Rise”, I was threatened publicly by anti-revolutionaries. The song had been composed by Ahmad Ali Raqeb on the basis of a poem by Master Hamid Sabzevari.

The last warning

That time was concurrent with the massacres the MKO terrorists had launched in different cities. It was at that time that they made me to lean at the wall in our own alley and threatened me explicitly. Someone had been sitting in a Paykan (Hunter). He came to talk to me with a colt 45 in his hand. I was also armed but couldn’t use it instantly. The people were commuting but nobody paid attention to what was happening. They thought that we were talking together. I found out that it was not wise to clash with them. They told me, “This is the last warning to you”. They meant my revolutionary songs. After a few days, I survived an assassination attempt.

Anti-revolutionary forces wanted to stop the engine of the revolution’s artistic activities with these threats and assassinations which of course they failed. We were not the members of armed forces or judges and statesmen. We did artistic work. But since their illegitimate demands were not met, they became angrier and more unleashed every day, in a way that they did not have mercy on even a doorkeeper.

Translated by: Mohammad Baqer Khoshnevisan