Magherafelt woman highlights plight of Iranaian Bahá'hís

International Women’s Day brought the plight of women members of the Baháʼí Faith imprisoned in Iran into sharp focus for County Derry human rights activist Mahin Gornall.

Born in Iran and now living in Magherafelt with her husband Les, Mahin said it made a “huge impact when those of us who live in peace and comfort support the prisoners in solidarity”.

“They are in a dire situation in the notorious prisons in Iran,” explained Mahin. “So this support, this solidarity, has always made a huge, positive impact.

“I feel incredibly anxious and guilty because I'm not doing anything and when I can speak to a journalist, for example, I am extremely grateful because it means somebody will listen, hear and highlight the terrible situation of the young girls and boys in prison, to the rest of the world,” she added.

“Then, at least, it brings some degree of awareness to the rest of the world. After all, every country in the world has had its problems. It is as if we are all taking turns.

“Most of the prisoners are young girls and boys. Their prisons are. God knows what they are doing to these young girls if they have been there months, sometimes years.

“From time to time, if they are lucky, the authorities ask for huge sums of money from the girls’ families to release them but after a good while - sometimes years, sometimes months.

“And the trauma and the torture these girls have experienced will remain with them for the rest of their lives,” said Mahin.

“Iran is an ancient country,” she added, “and every religion you could name, Christianity, Judaism, Baháʼísm has had a trace in Iran. Every culture, every belief has had a trace. Islam is only recent so what they are doing now to Baháʼí girls, Baháʼí people is terrible but life hasn’t been easy for Christians, for Jewish people, for Zoroastrians - once the national religion of Persia and the first monotheistic religion on planet Earth - in Iran either.

“The Iranian regime wants to get rid of anyone who is not identical to their own version of Islam.

“Up to 47 years ago, when the Islamic Revolution took over, there had been more than 300,000 Baháʼís in Iran and because many Jews moved to Israel and Christians went to Armenia and Georgia, the Baháʼís outnumber all other minorities in Iran. There was a huge community of Baháʼís in Iran.

“In the past 47 years, they have continuously been killed. Between 200 and 300 people have been killed, all mostly the prominent members - university lecturers and so on - including my only uncle, my mother’s only brother, my Sunday school teacher, Aziz Golshani, who had committed absolutely no crime whatsoever and then he was hanged for his faith.

Mahin's uncle Aziz Golshani and her father's cousin Nematullah Katebpur Shanhidi were executed because they were Bahá'ís.

“Two other members of my family were killed by firing squad. One was my dad’s cousin, Nematullah Katebpur Shahidi, and the other was his son-in-law, Dr Farhad Asdaqi,” said Mahin.

According to Mahin, Baháʼís are taught to pray for politicians, governments and rulers and be obedient to the government in whichever country they live.

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“I know these inmates, these young people who have been taken to prison, their crime hasn’t been demonstration, so why they have taken them to prison is purely because they are Baháʼís and they don’t adhere to Islamic beliefs,” said Mahin, who pointed out one of the central tenets of the Baháʼí Faith is gender equality.

“I think this is why the Iranian regime doesn’t like Baháʼís. Their view is women are animals and should not go to school, similar to the Taliban regime in Afghanistan.

“My point is that the Baháʼís really believe in gender equality. It says the world of humanity is like a bird, and two wings should be healthy for humanity to advance, the two wings being women and men.”