00:04began at 5:00 in the morning on June 17
03:23for then it comes to bah bah definitely
03:26is not considered according to our
03:30religion so you you see our concept of
03:32religion is based in based in Divine
03:35religions not everybody's creating an
03:38school of thought we call him
03:42religion we do not recognize somebody as
04:11for and bism was a political movement
04:14that's what we understand from our study
04:16of history you can do that
04:19too there is no Spiritual Assembly for
04:21bism we have all sorts of Institutions
04:25buildings societies clubs but no
04:28spiritual in Institution for B it's not
04:42movement ism is a political movement and
05:01and although Islamic leaders also
05:03believe bahi strongly supported the shaw
05:05of Iran these radio attacks against the
05:08bahis were broadcast in
05:111955 when the shaw was in power and the
05:14bahai national Center in Teran was taken
05:17over by the Army and dismantled piece by
05:20piece with the ceremonial help of Muslim
05:22clergymen and officers of the Shaw's
05:28military the Islamic revolution more
05:31destruction a revolutionary guard
05:33standing at top the holiest of all bahai
05:36shrines in Iran the house of a merchant
05:38in chiraz where the foundation of the
05:42laid this 8mm film smuggled out of Iran
05:45at Great risk to the photographer shows
05:48the destruction of the house in
05:521979 would the Iranian government
05:54consider protecting the high if it felt
05:56they were in great danger generally
05:59among the leaders we had a good number
06:01of them uh who were agents of America or
06:05Israel and they were executed oh
06:09yes in 1979 their holiest Shrine was
06:14dismantled the shrine is not considered
06:16holy we we take it as a center of
06:19conspiracy very simple it is not a
06:25religion those killed included three
06:28teenage girls plus this entire family
06:32they died in Iran for their
06:50began at 5:00 in the morning on June 17
06:571983 I had a phone call from my brother
07:04Australia after I said Hi how are you
07:06doing and then then he told me our
07:11murdered I really didn't know what to do
07:15moment I mean my father a gentle loving
07:22executed I had two finches at home the
07:25first thing I remember do I just felt
07:28that I won't let the finch go and that's
07:32did on June 19 1983 I had another phone
07:38call it was again it was my brother and
07:42he said that he wanted to tell me that
07:46our mom joined that and he was crying
07:49when he said I want to tell you that our
07:53sister is with him at this moment they
08:01I would like to tell you a little bit
08:04family uh I have a brother lives in
08:07Australia and I have a sister lives in
08:10Nigeria and I have I had two sister in
08:18Iran uh my father was an employee of uh
08:22a retired employee of
08:25the Iranian National oil company and my
08:31housewife I I left Iran before the
08:34Revolution but my two little sister they
08:36were in Iran at that
08:40time on November 29th 1982 my
08:45father andah isi my mother is that and
08:50Roya were abducted from our house in
08:57them that night and the next
09:00night 880 more bahay were arrested in
09:11trial they asked my sister and other
09:15bahes to deny their faith upon doing so
09:22free even the judge uh told my sister if
09:29deny his faith he would get his
09:32retirement benefit back and he would be
09:36set free and my sister could go back to
09:38the university because she was expelled
09:46University I think it was June 15 uh
09:511983 that was a la last day that my
09:55sister went to the prison to see my dad
09:59the purpose of the meeting was that she
10:02want to go there and she want to get a
10:04permission to get engaged with her
10:06fiance with her what was her fiance and
10:13cousin of course my dad told them that
10:20engaged my future brother-in-law asked
10:23my dad Mr sh I'm sorry that you're not
10:26our ceremony and my dad told him well if
10:32I'm not going to be there I'm pretty
10:33sure my spirit will be
10:44executed and my sister got
10:51engaged she heard about the execution
10:56execution she went to the morg and and
10:59she begged The Man In Charge the morg
11:02for her to go in there see if her dad is
11:05in there and then she went there and she
11:07found out that our dad was in
11:11there the same day she was supposed to
11:14go to the prisons the L's prison to see
11:17my mom and my other sister so she went
11:20there and she told my mom what had
11:23happened to that my mom simply said I
11:28wish I were in his in his place I wish I
11:30could sacrifice myself for him my other
11:40tears after uh after the visiting
11:50all all of them 10 ladies including them
11:54were about three teenage
11:59the next day my sister she found out
12:01about it she went to the morg again and
12:03she told them I think I have some more
12:06there and he let her in I think he felt
12:11sorry because they wouldn't allow
12:13anybody to go into into the morg so she
12:16went there she first she saw my
12:18sister and then she look and look and
12:21look and she could not find my mom after
12:24probably 5 minutes she saw an old lady
12:27with her face turned almost black was my
12:31mom she fall on her body and she said
12:34thank you Mom thank you I'm proud of
12:40you then after uh the man in charge of
12:44the mor came and said who is this your
12:48dad was here yesterday who is this this
12:50is my mom come here I want to show you
12:53my sister this is my
13:08execution the government Authority came
13:12house told my 10 17 and 1 half year old
13:16sister out of the house and
13:19they confiscate our house and all our
13:23belongings whatever we
13:26had since then my sister has been going
13:31prison to see other bahai
13:35members she's been going there since she
14:04for about 12 13 years when I was going
14:09to school so I did my primary and
14:12secondary school in shiras while my
14:16family were around and due to the job of
14:20my father who was working for the
14:23national oil company uh he was
14:26transferred to another city but I stayed
14:29in chiras because I was going to
14:31University at the time so really chiras
14:35is a city that I um grow up while I was
14:40still aware while I was young and then I
14:44was a teenager and then I was a young
15:38and of course the situation was not very
15:42so um the Iran Iraq war had started and
15:48a lot of people from these War uh ridden
15:55cities would come to shiras which which
15:58was the uh biggest city close closest to
16:10twostory building house
16:13so my family decided that they would
16:17house some of these people who have fled
16:22uh the war and until they
16:25find other means of transportation to go
16:31homes and I think this coming and going
16:36of people that were not the members of
16:39the family attracted the attention
16:42of perhaps some neighbors some
16:46authorities and um in
16:56raided and um in the morning
17:00and my family together with two guests
17:04that were visiting at the time were
17:09prison they were released after 3 4
17:14days because I think they had thought
17:16that maybe this is a house with
17:19political agenda and then later on they
17:21found out that these are bahis they were
17:25released however they stayed on their
17:29radar and U one year later in
17:38were a raid on the bahai houses within a
17:47they uh arrested about 40 bahis from the
17:51bahai families and they imprisoned and
17:55after a month another 40 so my house
17:58house was rated the in the
18:03that um which was in um November of
18:121982 and they had uh come to the
18:20p.m. and they had um of course looked
18:25around uh taken whatever they thought
18:28that it may help them
18:34um to find excuse to sentence the family
18:38and when they were going they brought a
18:41list and they asked for my father mother
18:45and my sister Roya to go with them for
18:51questioning and the my the youngest in
18:54our family said that what about me
18:58whatever we have done we have done
19:00together so why why don't I come and
19:04they said no it is only this three that
19:11so when my father was saying goodbye to
19:15sister he whispered in her ear that
19:20don't stay alone in the house go and
19:23find someone to stay with you this this
19:34imagine the pain of my sister once they
19:37have left and the phone has been
19:41cut and it is night and it is the house
19:46empty so she had to Brave the evening
19:50and go to the neighborhood and find um
19:54ask one of the relatives who lived not
19:57very far from our house to come over and
20:02night the next morning they find out
20:06that yes around 40 other bah were
20:09arrested and they are in prison and for
20:15actually were able to contact them to
20:20them I think during this month they are
20:24usually kept in the prison of the re
20:28evolutionary guards and then after this
20:31month they are transferred after a lot
20:34of interrogations and who knows what
20:38they are transferred to Adel laad prison
20:43and that is a prison where the visitors
20:45are um accepted so it was after one
20:49month that my sister was able to go and
20:54visit our father on um every Wednesday
21:00and mother and sister every Saturday I
21:04and my two brothers were all out of Iran
21:06at the time when for example
21:10when um our when my sister told them
21:15about the execution of My Father which
21:17had had happened two days prior to their
21:23mother had not even shed a single tear
21:29and she told my sister that I knew this
21:34I had a dream that we were together with
21:37your father in a beautiful garden and I
21:40knew what had happened and I know what
21:44is going to happen we will all be
21:48executed you know history shows that a
21:54atrocities happen and continue to happen
22:02and I sometimes think about it and I say
22:08we when do we learn from
22:12history so generally I think that this
22:18remembering the loved ones who have
22:20sacrificed their life for
22:24whatever remembering all these young
22:28people who are being
22:31killed shot in the eye right now in Iran
22:37and thinking about similar atrocities
22:41that happen in four corners of the
22:46world I think that to honor all these
22:52lost we should reflect on how
23:04really instilling in the heart of
23:07ourselves and everyone around us that
23:10seed of love and compassion for
23:14Humanity I think that is the main thing
23:18that if every one of us have that love
23:21and compassion for other human beings
23:25then we won't be able to do any of the
23:28atrocities that is happening now so that
23:35campaign to honor these women or any
23:41campaign to bring awareness to people is
23:44all about because if if we hear and it
23:50we get sad and then forget about it
23:52nothing has been achieved but once we
23:57actually take take it into our heart and
23:59start to think that I am one of the
24:03players in this and how can I as one
24:07person do or what can I do that I can
24:12change me to begin with and it start to
24:16change the way I think and the way I
24:18feel about other human
24:21beings once we have that
24:24compassion then then I think we have
24:29yeah so the the trauma that uh that
24:33happens it is it is a little stone that
24:39dropped in a pool of water and the stone
24:43goes down finished but the ripples that
24:47it affects it it goes a long way and
24:52when we look at what happens in the
24:55world let's say what happens in IR on
24:59now and so many lives are
25:04affected you when you kind of expand
25:07this you see that the whole world family
25:12is somehow affected by it and we really
25:17have to look at the injustices of the
25:21world and find out that our story is one
25:25where the Injustice happens right here
25:27here in this city or way back in Iran or
26:54largest women exed by government for
26:58refusing to renounce their faith NBC's
27:00Yasmin vugi and explains how activists
28:17why you let me be free to say who I am
28:19and what I want why don't you give me
28:21freedom of speech I was Mon's words 40
28:24years ago just a the day I it was lovely
28:29words live on she may not be here but
28:37on look at the pictures of these women
28:42who made a decision that they would
28:45stand up and say no because we deserve
28:49the right to embrace our religion and
28:55values I do believe that this defiant
28:59stand against the oppressor is what
29:02unites and make our story
29:11F this song is dedicated to the 10 bahai
29:15women who were executed on June 18th
29:201983 in shiras Iran simply because of
29:24their faith and to all who work for G
29:27equality in Iran and around the
29:31world no force on Earth can stop an idea
29:34whose time has come and ever since the
29:37beginning of time no night in history
29:40could stop the rise of the Sun every
29:42page every chapter every word every
29:44letter has a purpose in the book our
29:46story is one from the page to the tongue
29:48the words and the lyrics of a song
29:50aren't alive until the Melody sng I sang
29:53on that night and she rise 10 women as
29:55one standing up for justice in equality
29:58what a sight as she Rose in the dark of
30:00the night like a sun for the ones who
30:02have eyes to see what was there crime
30:05teaching children to love all of
30:08humanity what if that was me what if
30:14me the strugle is but one we will
30:19overcome for in the pain and the
30:22sacrifice the Glorious one the light of
30:27Spirit as bright as the sun we hon the
30:32name our story is as you earned the most
30:37exalted title of a martyr with your
30:39daughter what an honor NOS rot a faith
30:42in God that would guarantee that this
30:44cause will see ultimate Victory tah
30:47through the torment and torture that you
30:48endured you kept the spirit in heart so
30:50pure zene so devoted with a heart like
30:53gold now your name will be remembered
30:55all the way to the Golden Age mashed
30:58octar in the dark of Oppression you both
31:00shine like the moon and the star shahen
31:02so detached from this world like a
31:04falcon in the breeze soing Heavenly s
31:06mean even in the face of death you kept
31:09smiling cuz your spirit knew the Silver
31:11Lining royya had the vision to welcomed
31:13what the villain would do Mona kissed
31:15the Rope as her life was severed now
31:16their Spirits live forever yeah the
31:19strugle is G but when we will overcome
31:24we're in the pain and the sacrifice is
31:27the Glorious one the light of the spirit
31:32as bright as the sun we H the name our
31:38story is one turn back to the beginning
31:41of the book in the sight of God men and
31:43women have always been equal take a look
31:45in the pages of our history any lack of
31:47progress from women was the result of
31:49lack of opportunity often put in place
31:52by men and these systems of patriarchy
31:54are still causing oppression trying to
31:56silence their voice and take away their
31:57choice and deny their human rights so we
31:59continue the fight as we enter into a
32:02new chapter where the theme is gender
32:04equality at a level that we've never had
32:06Turn the Page and remember that you are
32:08an actor in the spiritual drama ready to
32:10reach a climax where men and women are
32:13equally strong like tuings of a bird
32:15can't fly on our own need both for
32:17Humanity to sore we are one till we
32:19reach gender equality the story isn't
32:21done no the strugle is long but when we
32:26will over come for in the pain and the
32:30sacrifice the glory is one the light of
32:35the spirit as bright as the sun we H the
32:40name our story is one the strugles is
32:46but we will overcome for in the pain and
32:51the sacri glory is one the light of
32:57as bright as the sun we H the name our
