The brutal murder of Bahá'í women by the Iranian state must not be forgotten

In the 44-year history of the "Islamic" Republic of Iran, one of the most hideous acts that she ever committed occurred in the late morning hours of June 18, 1983-from an incredibly large number-, as ten Bahá’í women in Shiraz were hanged because of the refusal to give up their religious faith.

One after the other was forced to watch each other when hanging, supposedly to give one final opportunity, to revoke their faith and save their own life. Each of them refused. The oldest was Ezzat, 57, who was hung together with her 23-year-old daughter. Ezzat's husband had been executed two days earlier.

nosrat was 46 years old, her son had been executed two days earlier. Most others were in their twenties.

The youngest, Mona, whose father had been executed three months earlier, was 17 years old. She asked to be able to go the last so that the others did not see them hanging. When I heard the news for the first time while I lived my normal London life in the green Kensington, the effects were strangely low.

I was also born 17, 20 days after Mona, but it was part of a flood of stories from Iran about mass killings and executions. I was in constant fear because many of the friends and acquaintances of my parents were.

The murders of the Bahá’í administration of members of the National Assembly in 1980 and at the Tehran assembly, which was quickly shot in 1981, must be particularly emphasized.

In June 1983, the hanging of the ten women from Shiraz seemed to be lost in the whirlpool without the Internet that gave us any details to bring the story a little closer. Iran was constantly in the television news and my main concern was the social effects he had on me.

My school friends knew what I went through, but they didn't quite understand because I was not confident that I was able to explain an important nuance to them: that I belonged to a persecuted minority; that I was experiencing the double pain of being connected to a country full of violent fundamentalists who brought me deep social shame, but also murdered members of my own community.

It was two years later when Mona's story was recorded in the pop song Mona with the children that I started to connect. I took part in a meeting in the Bahá’í center in London with Jack Lenz and Doug Cameron, the author, producer and singer of the song. We met Mona as an extraordinary young girl, definitely not a religious zealer. She was still a young girl who tried to develop skills in children. Your personality touched me.

We watched the video. The effect of the music on the pictures was overwhelming. And it was impressive to see how the US actor Alex Rocco played a mullah-far from his role as a casino owner Moe Greene the godfather , which is known to be scored on a massage faith. It was important that they had created art to keep the memory of women awake. Now even more.

The struggle of Iranian women for equality is older than many in the West think. The poet and learned Táhirih from the 19th century illustrated the power of women to change society. She was an early supporter of the Bábí movement, a forerunner of the Bahá’í belief, and strengthened by the teachings of her newly found faith, she rose to announce a break with the past.

she particularly triggered a deep shock when she publicly removed her veil in 1848 at a conference in which only men took part. In 1852 it was executed by the Iranian authorities.

These words were attributed to her shortly before her execution: "You can kill me as soon as you want, but you cannot stop the emancipation of women."

Today we can see an echo of injustice that the ten women from Shiraz suffered 40 years ago in the blood, in tears and in the wounds of thousands of young women in Iran. The same forces are still at work and use torture, mutilation and murder in order to refuse Iranian women.

Many died within a few days after the most famous victim of the wave of female wave, Mahsa Amini, who was beaten by the moral police because she did not wear hijab and died in the hospital on September 16 last year. Then Nika Shahkarami and Sarina Esmailizadeh, both 16, were killed in protests. So many of the dead are young girls: Hadis Najafi, 22, Mahsa Mogoi, 18; The list continues.

The men of Iran also solidarize with their mothers, sisters, wives and daughters and risk their lives. Many men have already been executed just because they protested.

I'm awe of courage. But we are all deeply connected. I am proud to take part in the #Ourstoryisone project to keep the memory of the 10 women from Shiraz and to stimulate real changes not only in Iran, but for the whole world.

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Omid Djalili is an actor, comedian and activist.