When a prison, is not prison

A Memoir by Ezzatollah Entezami

A short while after the 1953 Iranian coup détat (known in Iran as the 28 Mordad coup), they set most theaters on fire, closed them down and captured the artists.  Under Bakhtiars military command in Tehran, they incarcerated the local populace under the pretext of the Article V of Law and imprisoned every artist. I was, too, arrested in the street. At first, they kept me in a detention center in Tehran where I met Mohammad Ali Jafari and many other artists and radio staff; then, a few days later they took me and Mr. Jafari to Qasr Prison due to lack of room for the detainees in the detention center. The word had gone out that those taken to Qasr would never return home.   

They shaved our heads as we entered the prison. An officer turned out to be a friend of Mr. Jafaris and placed us in one cell where, by a twist of fate, Ahmad Shamlou was there, too. 10 to 15 others, among whom were murderers and thieves, were being kept in the same room. They did not torture me at that time; however, they did torture anyone whose background would prove an involvement in anti-regime activities. The cell was very dirty, the water was sparse, and the food was terrible. 

We spent several months in the prison before they announced that they would free anyone who expressed abhorrence towards leftist parties. Because I was a member of no groups I did so ASAP and was freed, but Mr. Jafari and Shamlou were still in the cell and they handed me papers to deliver to their families.  

During my custody in Qasr Prison I got to know about the ongoing trends of that time. One of my most outstanding memories during my detention in Qasr took place on the day of Ashoura. Principally, blades of any kind were forbidden in the prison; however, there was this stall in every section of the prison where double-edged razors were sold for shaving. On the day of Ashoura, they left the sections open so all the prisoners could partake in the mourning ceremonies arranged on the day. Many of the prisoners shaved the top of their heads to prepare it for Tatbir ritual (in which they cut their heads in mourning for Imam Hussein) on the day and used the razors for that. At Ahoura noon, while everybody was gathered in the courtyard, a cry of Ya Hussein was let out and the guys slashed their scalps with the razors. In just a few moments, the ground was covered with blood. The wardens could finally collect the razors and took the bloody prisoners to the washroom. At night another mourning ceremony was held at the prison for the martyrs of Karbala. On such happenings, the opportunist leftists exchanged correspondence.  

Another memory I can recall from my prison time in Qasr is about dough-made little animal models created and sold by life inmates. I once bought a goat model and gave it to my son, Majid, as he came to the prison with my wife to pay a visit. At the beginning of the visit, Majid had his head stuck in the bars. The wardens came on and after a whole lot of strains, they succeeded to salvage the baby. When I gave Majid the model, he thought he had a real goat and at night put it in the yard bed to eat grass; next morning he saw the goat being eaten by ants.

I spent 4 or 5 months in Qasr Prison. I can remember that every inmate was addressed by his fathers name; for example, the wardens would shout Hussein Abdollah! Got visitors.  The visitors room was not as modern as they are today with microphones; everyone shouted in the room and, in the hubbub, it was almost impossible to hear what the other person was saying. Things were terrible, but Mr. Jafaris connection provided us with some privileges like private meetings with our families.

Apart from the memories, the prison has now turned into a museum, which I think it was one of the best measures taken by Mr. Ghalibaf as Tehran Mayor. Albeit, the place can become a center for cinema and dramatic arts which would be even better than the prison becoming a museum. Tehrans northeastern region is a very populated area of the city. The prison can become a culture center with theaters or become an amusement center for children and the youth with a lot of facilities given its vast area of land. This may even help dramatic arts flourish in the part of the city and many of the plays performed at the City Theater can be done there and people would go there with little price. It is necessary for the prison to turn into a culture center for the youth and even the elderly. The prison becomes a place for nurturing public thinking and culture. Then the prison will no more be a prison.  

Translated by: Abbas Hajihashemi