Ahmad Ahmad Memoirs (23)

Edited by Mohsen Kazemi


Ahmad Ahmad Memoirs (23)
Edited by Mohsen Kazemi
Soureh Mehr Publishing Company
(Original Text in Persian, 2000)
Translated by Mohammad Karimi


Islamic Community and the Marxists Commune in Prison

What we had in Prison No. 3 was a picture of an Islamic Community. Whatever that someone would like for himself would like it for others and what he would not like for himself would not like it for the others as well. Brotherhood and unity were seen in all levels. We had no financial dependency in the prison. If someone had something it belonged to all the brothers.  And if somebody needed something the others would give him. It was the utopia we were looking for. Prison was a chance to test Islamic ideas practically. Islamic Community was an ideal goal and prison was a chance to experience it.
55 INP members joined the Islamic Councils Coalition pioneers and created Islamic Community versus the Marxist Commune. The Islamic Community had an executive board who were elected each two months. This board had 5 members and each of them was in charge of an affair, such as financial affairs of the members, food supply, cleaning, news collection, how to react with the prison officials and other groups and…
In Islamic Community, the money earned and the expenses were common. All the money given to the prisoners by the prison (36 Tomans) or by the visitors would be collected in a briefcase. The names of the members were written on the briefcase. At the beginning of each month members would go and put their money in it and their name would be marked with an (x).  Whatever the prisoners needed would be bought by this money. During the term that Mr. Araqi and I had been elected, the board had 1800 Tomans debt. We could manage to pay this debt in 4 months and then increase the food quality.
The Marxists including Tudeh Party members and Nik-khah (1) Group had done something similar in their Commune and would gather an amount of money as membership fee or … weekly or monthly and spend it for their needs.
Religiously speaking, Muslims would consider the Marxist as impure and would imply purification rules. They were not happy with this; and would compensate the matter by bothering Muslims. For example they would throw water on them in the bath or would not obey the hygienic rules. They would even urinate in the ewers.
However, the two groups had some cooperation and coordination in some moves or activities too. I remember one day Mr. Senoubari was sleeping in the prison yard and a guard woke him up angrily. So he slapped the guard across his face hardly and then they started to fight. The guards intervened and collide raised between the Muslims and guards. The Marxists also intervened to support the Muslims. When the clashes grow, the commandos came to the scene. The Muslims would use knives (2) and the Marxists sharps (3). The matter finished at last by the arrest of some prisoners and then they sent them to solitary confinement.
We would spread rumors about escaping to keep the prisoners’ spirits and activeness high. Despite escaping from Prison No. 3 was almost impossible because of several doors, tall walls and numerous guards, the guards would consider it seriously. So they would not let the prisoners to sleep in the yard. They would take the prisoners to their cells in early dusk.
One day, the Marxists decided to by a TV set for the prison. They shared the matter with Muslims and persuaded them to take part. The main board of the Muslim Community began collecting money from the palls. Some would accept to help and some would not. The ones who did not like this attempt would argue that TV would make the palls mind busy uselessly. It would impede them from reading and studying. The ones who liked would argue that they would only watch useful programs and not watch the negative and harmful ones. I believed this control was impossible and it was better not to follow the matter. I tried so hard in opposition but alas. Finally one day I said that I had agreed. The palls asked surprisingly: “How?!” and I said: “None of your business! I will wait for the entrance of the TV set here and then I would destroy it by a brick. So, there would be no need to discuss the matter. I should only be prepared for few days in solitary confinement. You know that I would pay for it either.” What I had told was heard by the ones who wanted to buy TV set and they postponed the matter for few days. They came again to me and said that I had to obey the decision made by the Islamic Community. I told them I obey the Islamic Community to the level that is not conflicting with my religious believes.
The guards who had become aware of postpone in buying the TV set, asked about the matter from Nik-khah, Mansouri Moghaddam, and Firouzi. They would explain the matter and my threats. Mansouri, who was a better person among those three and had better relations with Muslims, came to me and said that the guards had said: “having TV set is a right for the prisoner. Go and buy it. We support you and if the happened any clashes we would intervene on behalf of you.” Mansouri explain that if I continue my opposition they (guards) would misuse this separation against us. At last after several conversations and hearing different analysis and discussions I was satisfied and agreed. So they bought a TV set.
The cleaning, sweeping the floor, feeding, washing the dishes and … were done by turns. The turns would be scheduled by the 5-member-board. It was interesting that no one was higher the other for these affairs. All the palls would do their task in their turns. Despite people like us believed that clergies like Mr. Anvari and Hojjati Kermani should not do such affairs, they insisted that they had to do these tasks.
This kind of insight about the Islamic Community and its successful experience in the prison made it survive and its characteristics remained in the minds of the prisoners in that prison and other prisons. As in other prisons where some Muslims kept this kind of community would be shaped and these kind of programs would be followed.

Freed from “Qasr”

The verdicts for INP members were different. Some also got some commutations. So the people would be freed in six months or a year or so. Some of them who had precious experiences in prison would go back to political activities and the fight against the Pahlavi regime. And some would back to their ordinary life and forget political activities. There were also some people who continue their activeness by following indirect activities such as collecting news, financial helps for the prisoners’ families.
On the anniversary of the Shah’s birthday on 26th of October and his coronation feast, a group of files in the Army Legal body were revised and some got commutations and some were freed. I never expected to get a communication because of my stubbornness in behaving with the guards; however my file had also included a commutation. But mistakenly they had written Ahmad Ahmadi instead of my name which was quite similar to my name.
Finding out this matter has a nice story to hear. My Mum, who had known that some of my friends had been freed, had gone to the prison and told the officials: “My son’s verdict is just like the ones who are freed, why he is not?!” So, after few come-and- goes the official understood their mistake.
On 2nd of November Major Teymouri, head of Prisons No. 3 and 4, called me to the prisons office. He told me: “Ahmad, look! You are in a Muslim group and I am happy with that. You are good believers. I have a request from you. I’ve heard the ones who are freed are doing some activities again. None of you wrote a recantation letter and are freed. I am telling you do not put yourself in disaster. Tell you pall to stop their activities for some time and let us to free the younger Muslim ones. Then you can do whatever you like.”
Then he apologized for the mistake about my name which had resulted in a delay for my freedom. So I was freed on November 2nd 1967 after I retold the message of Major Teymouri for the late Mr. Araqi and gathered my stuff.
My palls in our neighborhood welcomed me very warmly. They sacrificed a lamb and distributed sweet drinks and pastries in the street. They came to visit my in groups and were eager to know about inside prison. I could observe their satisfaction to have a political prisoner among themselves. I told what I knew particularly for the young ones.
Prison with all its limitations and special conditions, its happy and sad moments, had a great effect on me. The relations there had a great effect on my insight. Prison was a chance for me to think about the path that I was passing through and think about what can satisfy God. I had a chance to try more to reach to a political balance and react logically. Learning Koran and Islamic thoughts were among the greatest achievements for me during this period. When I was freed I had a heavy burden of experience and new thoughts. Prison helped me to observe the mistakes and the way to compensate. I passed my best days with INP members. Although I was arrested and put in prison several times in later years, but I could never achieve more than this period.
The give and take of thought and information, being aware of non-Islamic thoughts- particularly the Marxist ones, presence of different political analysis, different crisis and problems, reading lot of books, party framework discussions, and … created a new situation for us and became light for the future path; despite being full of twists and dangers.


1- The Nik-khah Group known as “Yoush” would include people like Parviz Nik-khah, the leade; Engineer Ahmad Mansouri Moghaddam, Engineer Mansour Pourkashani and … They were Marxist-Maoist and arrested because of involvement in the assassination attempt against the Shah on April 10th 1965. But the reality was something else; because Reza Shams Abadi was a member of The Iranian People Party- Kashan branch and a soldier in the Imperial Guard. He individually decided to assassinate the Shah under the effect of the persuasions made by people such as Hassan Sharif and Ahmad Kamrani, the members of this party. Since Ahmad Kamrani had relations with “yoush” Group, he informed them but Nik-khah opposed the matter. However, the Pahlavi regime linked the matter to this group because of their communist approaches and used it as a political maneuver.
“Yoush” is a village in north of Iran and the birthplace of Nima Youshij, the pioneer of Persian Modern Poetry. The Nik-Khah Group had established a company with the same name and would continue its political activities under this cover.
2- The knives used by Muslims had been smuggled into prison through the rice packs or oil containers or things like them.
3- The prisoners would make sharp gadgets for cutting by rubbing a piece of stone, glass or iron and call it “Tizi (meaning sharp)” which was sometimes so dangerous.



 
Number of Visits: 4815


Comments

 
Full Name:
Email:
Comment:
 
Book Review

Kak-e Khak

The book “Kak-e Khak” is the narration of Mohammad Reza Ahmadi (Haj Habib), a commander in Kurdistan fronts. It has been published by Sarv-e Sorkh Publications in 500 copies in spring of 1400 (2022) and in 574 pages. Fatemeh Ghanbari has edited the book and the interview was conducted with the cooperation of Hossein Zahmatkesh.

Is oral history the words of people who have not been seen?

Some are of the view that oral history is useful because it is the words of people who have not been seen. It is meant by people who have not been seen, those who have not had any title or position. If we look at oral history from this point of view, it will be objected why the oral memories of famous people such as revolutionary leaders or war commanders are compiled.

Daily Notes of a Mother

Memories of Ashraf-al Sadat Sistani
They bring Javad's body in front of the house. His mother comes forward and says to lay him down and recite Ziarat Warith. His uncle recites Ziarat and then tells take him to the mosque which is in the middle of the street and pray the funeral prayer (Ṣalāt al-Janāzah) so that those who do not know what the funeral prayer is to learn it.

A Critique on Oral history of War Commanders

“Answering Historical Questions and Ambiguities Instead of Individual-Organizational Identification”
“Oral history of Commanders” is reviewed with the assumption that in the field of war historiography, applying this method is narrated in an advancing “new” way, with the aim of war historiography, emphasizing role of commanders in creation of its situations and details.