The Mother Of Sohrab: In Iran, A Grieving Mother Who Refuses To Be Silent
By Golnaz Esfandiari, RFE/RL
Parvin Fahimi, a tiny woman with a strong
personality, has emerged as one of the heroes of Iran's Green movement, which
opposes the legitimacy of Mahmud Ahmadinejad's presidency.The grieving mother
has refused to remain silent over the fate of her son, Sohrab Arabi, who was
shot dead under unclear circumstances during Iran's postelection crackdown. In
publicly expressing her outrage, she has become the voice of other mothers
mourning loved ones lost during the unrest that followed the disputed June 12
presidential vote.
Sohrab Arabi
with his mother, Parvin Fahimi, campaigning for Mir Hossein Musavi
before Arabi was killed under unclear circumstances during the postelection
crackdown by authorities.
Recently, after the deaths of three protesters at
Tehran's Kahrizak detention center led to public uproar and calls by opposition
politicians for an investigation, former parliament speaker Gholam Ali Haddad
Adel downplayed the deaths, noting that the detention center has since been
closed.
An outraged Fahimi responded by sending a letter to Haddad Adel in which she
said that, as a member of the parliament, he had an obligation to defend the
rights of the people and to refrain from making comments that can cause them
pain.
"Would you have made the same judgment if your child had been tortured and
killed in the streets, like ours?" she wrote.
Fahimi told RFE/RL that the comments by Haddad Adel and similar ones made by
other officials pour salt on the wounds of victims' families.
"As a mother, I felt that the blood of our children was being trampled," she
says. "I can't tolerate anyone talking like this about these issues."
'The Mother Of Sohrab'
Fahimi's outspokenness and courage has earned her the respect of many Iranians,
who refer to her simply as "the mother of Sohrab."
She demands that those responsible for the killing of her son -- and others who
died for opposing Ahmadinejad -- be brought to justice.
"How could they kill my child or the children of others? Just because of a
[peaceful] protest?" she asks. "Just because these children protested and wanted
their vote back, they deserved to be killed?"
Fahimi's son disappeared on June 15 -- three days after the contentious vote
that resulted in Ahmadinejad being decisively reelected to a second term. She
was told that Arabi had been detained but heard no word of his whereabouts until
she was informed of his death nearly a month later, on July 11.
To this day, the 53-year-old Fahimi knows little about the circumstances
surrounding her son's death.
"The only thing [the authorities] told my lawyer is that [my son] was shot from
a distance of 3 to 15 meters," she says. "It's not clear whether he received
treatment or whether he was taken to a hospital."
Fahimi was with Arabi the day he went missing. She and her son, both supporters
of reformist presidential candidate Mir Hossein Musavi, took to the streets of
the Iranian capital along with hundreds of thousands of other Iranians to
protest what they believed was a stolen election.
They lost each other in the crowd. Fahimi returned home and waited for Arabi,
but he never returned.
Fahimi went to Tehran's notorious Evin prison, where many of those detained in
the postelection rallies were being held. She contacted different authorities in
the hope of hearing word of her son but was never given a clear answer, only
that he was in detention.
It was Arabi's brother who determined his fate, after identifying Arabi's
picture among images of dozens of others who died during or after the
postelection crackdown.
During Arabi's funeral, Fahimi vowed not to remain silent.
"No one can stop me, no one," she says. "They're bloodthirsty."
Despite pressure exerted by Iranian authorities on victims' families, Fahimi has
kept her promise.
Through letters and meetings with authorities, she continues to tell her son's
story. She participates in protests, including one during official Quds Day
(Jerusalem Day) events on September 18, when tens of thousands of citizens in
Tehran and other cities protested against Ahmadinejad.
Died For His Ideas
The name of her son has not been forgotten and is now shouted, among other
rallying cries, by crowds voicing their anger with the Iranian government.
"Our Sohrab is not dead. It's the government that has died," she says. "Our
Sohrab is not dead. It's the government that has died."
Fahimi tells RFE/RL that she believes her son did not die in vain. He died for
his ideas, she says, and will always remain alive.
"Inshallah, the future belongs to us because people will never back down in the
face of so much violence, repression, and injustice," she says.
According to opposition sources, 72 people were killed in the postelection
unrest. The government puts the figure at about 30.
Every Saturday for the past four months, mourning mothers and others who share
their pain have dressed in black and gathered for peaceful marches in a Tehran
park.
Iranian Nobel Peace prize winner Shirin Ebadi has called for international
solidarity with the mourning mothers of Iran.
Copyright (c) 2009 RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. www.rferl.org
