A Brief Letter About the Life and Patience of One Family: Farah Baghi at Yazd Prison

Source: hra-news.org

Translation by Iran Press Watch

Harana News- Farah Baghi, a Baha’i prisoner in Yazd since 10 February 2015, in a letter addressed to the Islamic Revolutionary Attorney of Yazd, talks about her family, herself, her patience and that she is not vengeful. The full text of her letter offered to Harana News is as follows:

In the name of God,

To the Islamic Revolutionary Attorney of Yazd,

With greetings,

With all due respect: I would like to bring to your attention that I, Farah Baghi (Ghodrat), a Baha’i prisoner since the 10 February 2015, am incarcerated in the women’s section of Yazd’s central prison. As a confession to other people is not permissible and, if there is any repentance in this Age, I should offer it only to Almighty God, I would like to say that my aim in writing this letter is not to prove my innocence, nor, as some in positions of authority say, “pretend to be innocent”.

After expulsion from university in 1983, I was married; one year into married life my Baha’i husband, Vahid Ghodrat, was accused of being a spy, interrogated, tortured and sentenced to be executed. When my husband was arrested, I was in the fifth month of my pregnancy with my first child. Finally, during that critical period my child was born, and for six years I raised my child alone, with enormous hardship. After six years my husband was “pardoned”.

Later on, I was blessed with two more children. It is interesting to note that after twenty years my children, who were admitted into two highly valued disciplines (Medicine and Architecture) with high scores, were also expelled from university. At the same time my husband was rearrested and incarcerated for one year. Currently my brother (Fariborz Baghi) and I are enduring prison terms.

I would like to request from you a moment of contemplation to consider how it is possible that a family of five, after a collective eight years of imprisonment and the expulsion of four of its members from university, can survive and continue their life? Is it not the case that under ordinary conditions such people would be totally destroyed and no sign of existence remain in them?

In your opinion what allows them to survive and continue their life?

Is there any human, with mere earthly qualities, meagre facilities and no access to political influence, who stand such a powerful onslaught?

I assure you that until my last breath, my family and I, who have faced all this pressure and atrocities, will in the future continue to stand without a moment’s hesitation, and will not give up.

The reason is that our religion dictates patience under all circumstances. We offer our unsullied love to humanity, and never think of revenge toward our enemies. I hope by what is said here to become the water which may extinguish the fire of enmity and hatred which unnecessarily surrounds us.

With respect,

Farah Baghi