Rah va Rahavard (An Experience-Narrative of a Life) by Mohammad Kianoush-Rad – Part Seventeen

Rah va Rahavard
An Experience-Narrative of a Life
Mohammad Kianoush-Rad
Part Seventeen

**The Tribulations of Abdolhadi**

Being revolutionary was the simplest of tasks. Audacity and fearlessness, and having a damned commitment, was enough.
Hatred, add this sacred fire to its seasoning. Think only of the goal. Be brave. Do not fear. Whatever the obstacle is, destroy it without hesitation. This was the instruction manual of a revolutionary.

Sheikh Hadi's domineering spirit and trait in dealing with others gradually became his weak point.

I used to come and go to Lashkar-Abad and the Azerbaijanis' Mosque. To get leaflets and cassette tapes of the speeches, I would go to the house of Kazem Shafaat and Abdullah Tarfavi. I also saw Asgharizadeh, one of the kids from Behbahan, once at Kazem's house.

The Azerbaijanis' Mosque had become an important center politically. It had become the hangout of Taleb Mostajeran, Hossein Eftekhari, Hamid Sayyahi, and other political kids of Lashkar-Abad. Hadi lived in a simple house in Kut-e Abdullah. In 1977, Allameh Jafari, on a trip to Ahvaz, was his guest in this house. Hadi's main base was the Azerbaijanis' Mosque. After praying, he would spend his time talking with the youth.

Safdar Farhat, a student from Mashhad and one of the active political kids, had set up the "Ershad" bookstore. Right opposite the building of the Women's Organization. A circular building with special and beautiful architecture that was only a few steps away from the Azerbaijanis' Mosque. Despite the dangers, Farhat delivered forbidden books to the kids.

Ahmad Mousavi had also set up another bookstore in one of the side streets of the 30-meter [street]. Only these two bookstores in Ahvaz sold political books.

Two groups, the Mansouroun and the Mohedin, were active in Khuzestan. Their actions, alongside other factors and forces, had an important effect on accelerating the revolution in Khuzestan and Kerman.

Part of the members of the Mansouroun group were active in Khuzestan. The assassination of Borujerdi, the head of the Oil Company's Exploitation Department, Iyoqi, the commander of the Ahvaz University Guard, and a number of others were carried out by them. The assassinations are not defensible or justifiable not only by today's logic but also by the logic of that day.

In that era full of enmity, speaking of "the right of humans to have rights"—a word that is still incomprehensible to many—was treacherous. Its obvious result, especially for the revolutionaries, was that whoever is not with us is our enemy.

The Mohedin group is tied to the name of Abdolhadi Karami. It was formed with Kazem and Esmail and proceeded under Hadi's guidance. But the life of the Mohedin was short and it died young.

The most important action of the group was the assassination of "Paul Grimm," one of the officials of the Oil Exploitation Company. The assassination was carried out by Hadi Karami, Mohammad Ali Maleki, and others. This assassination had a significant effect on the morale of the revolution's supporters, the expansion of the oil company employees' strike, and the joining of a large part of the people to the revolution.

Hadi's role in this assassination was prominent. The group's other actions included setting fire to the Saderat banks, cabarets, and liquor stores such as the Kianpars Club, the El Chico dancing club in the second roundabout—where the Mohammadi Mosque is now—and the Cheetah dancing club in Zeytoon Karmandi. The Mitra cabaret at the Khorramshahr three-way also burned and its property was looted, but it was not clear whose work it was.

Sheikh Hadi Karami and Ayatollah Mohammad Karami, who was a member of the Assembly of Experts for the Constitution, were both sons of Ayatollah Sheikh Mohammad Taha Karami, a prominent cleric from Hoveyzeh who lived in Najaf.

Hadi had an independent spirit and perhaps considered himself on the same level as or higher than Mousavi Jazayeri. The other members preferred to act under the shadow of Mousavi Jazayeri and in coordination with him.

Karami was also anti-Shariati. In one of his speeches at the Maktab-e Quran, he severely criticized Shariati. If anyone sympathized with Shariati's ideas or even said a word about him, in Hadi's view they should be boycotted and set aside. He was not a person of tolerance and forbearance.

The central cadre of the Mohedin had, from the beginning, a traditional position intellectually, a heyati position organizationally, and an anti-intellectual position religiously.

Maleki, Golabkesh, and Alam al-Hoda had been introduced for membership to Hadi on Kazem's proposal and had joined the group after the Sheikh's agreement. Now this same group had set out to remove the Sheikh. It even reached a point where they intended to officially announce his removal by issuing a declaration and, in other words, announce the expulsion of the group's founder.

What discussions had been raised between Hadi and his comrades? We do not know exactly. Were they based on their analytical differences on political and religious issues? I doubt it. The most likely case is the existence of personal and temperamental differences.

Mohammad Ali and Hossein were martyred at the front. Kazem passed away. Whether a handwritten note remains from Hadi or not, we do not know. Yadollah Golabkesh is the only survivor who has so far chosen silence.

Hadi had a solitary spirit. He would not submit to anyone's word. He wanted to have the first and last word himself. Sometimes he decided and acted without consultation.

After the revolution, they did not take him much into the game. He was removed from the committee. At the beginning of the war, he gathered a group of his supporters around himself and launched the Irregular Warfare group, which was also dissolved.

His extremism, even in dealing with the traditional segment of the Arab society of Khuzestan, is worthy of reflection and is part of his story.

He had a creative mind, a hardworking spirit, and a strong will. He was a prodigy who failed. His story is the story of the ups and downs of a passionate and turbulent human being.

Removal from the province's political scene saddened him. He went to Qom. He became utterly alone. He abandoned some of his political views. He felt that he had taken the wrong path from the beginning.

He took to the plains and mountains and deserts. He chose a corner of seclusion and left the world with his tribulations. May God have mercy on him.

His comrades even withheld holding a memorial ceremony for him. Only a memorial ceremony was held in Bostan and in the Al-Huda Hosseiniyeh with a crowd of about thirty or forty people in his memory. How well said the one who said, "O time, fie on you as a friend."

Beyhaqi spoke truly: "Foolish is the man who binds his heart to this world, which gives a blessing and takes it back ugly."

It passed, what passed. Good or bad, they played a role and left:
"In that midst where there was nothing but danger
I had no eye for the planks of wood
I am neither angel nor devil,
Who am I and what am I? Just this"

"Have mercy on the worst of them and praise the best of them."

To be continued...