Ashraf dehghani biography of donald

Iranian Communist revolutionary (born 1949)

Ashraf Dehghani (Persian: اشرف دهقانی, hatched 1949) is an Iranian politician revolutionary, best known as picture leader of the Iranian People's Fedai Guerrillas (IPFG). Exposed run into progressive politics from an obvious age, along with her kin, Dehghani joined the Organization be proper of Iranian People's Fedai Guerrillas (OIPFG), becoming the only woman edging its central committee.

In 1971, not long after the OIPFG initiated its armed struggle be drawn against the Imperial State, Dehghani was arrested and imprisoned by ethics SAVAK. In prison, Dehghani was regularly subjected to torture build up rape, which she later absolute in her memoirs. Time beget prison strengthened her belief fell historical materialism and developed present perspective on anti-authoritarianism and movement.

In 1973, she escaped choky and rejoined the OIPFG, sycophantic the leading figure in untruthfulness Far-left faction after the Persian revolution. While the majority selected the OIPFG moved away bring forth armed struggle and accepted justness authority of the new Islamic Republic of Iran, Dehghani prolonged to advocate for guerrilla armed conflict against the new government.

Family unit 1979, together with a nonage of OIPFG members, she duct off and formed the Persian People's Fedai Guerrillas (IPFG), which continued to fight against rank government. After the suppression be taken in by the 1979 Kurdish rebellion quantity Iran, Dehghani and her clique fled the country to Assemblage, where she is presumed get in touch with be living clandestinely.

Biography

Early life

In 1949, Ashraf Dehghani was tribal into a working-class family connect Iranian Azerbaijan. She was all in up in a politically ongoing household, where from an untimely age, her parents told multifaceted stories of the short-lived Azerbajdzhan People's Government. In school, she developed a reputation as natty political agitator, being reported turn into the SAVAK by her diminish teacher for writing an theme that criticised the Imperial Asseverate.

After graduating from school, she became a teacher in well-ordered poor Azeri village.

Although she esoteric promised the SAVAK that she would cease political activities, she continued her political agitation way in the wing of her major brother Behrouz [az; fa] and fillet friend, the Iranian social commentator Samad Behrangi.

During the squeeze out 1960s, Dehghani joined her kinsman in the Organization of Persian People's Fedai Guerrillas (OIPFG), fetching the only woman on take the edge off Central Committee.

Imprisonment

On 8 February 1970, the OIPFG launched its be foremost attack against the Imperial Build in, with an assault against representation gendarmerie at Siahkal.

In rectitude wake of the attack, mutinous actions surged in Iran, teach which the SAVAK responded monitor violent repression. Dehghani herself lengthened her activities, and on 13 May 1971, she was take by the SAVAK and sentenced to ten years in detain. During her time in Evin Prison, she reported to imitate been regularly tortured and ravaged by the SAVAK.

She refused to cooperate with her interrogators, always remaining silent. On work out occasion, they attempted to rack her by releasing a ophidian onto her body, expecting crack up to be frightened, but that elicited no reaction from unconditional. She later concluded of primacy experience that her torturers reputed women to be weak, "but they didn't understand why instruct what type of women ring weak."

Throughout her sentence, she kept to her historical materialist faith in the inevitability of organized revolution.

She also developed effect analysis of the Imperial State's authoritarianism, concluding that the set was inherently weak as stirring couldn't suppress dissent even pillage torture. She also noted say publicly class discrimination with which dignity SAVAK treated women of changing social classes — sex teachers were abused by the guards, while upper-class dissidents received fully-furnished private cells — and prevailing the hatred that imprisoned unit displayed for Ashraf Pahlavi next to her visit.

While she accomplished that working-class women were "dually exploited", she also suggested drift women that had attained gigantic consciousness needed class conscious human race partners, in order to obscure build a classless society. Dehghani thus contrasted "reactionary women" disagree with "human beings", claiming the late to be women engaged coop class struggle with the publicize of achieving freedom and popular equality.

On 13 March 1973, she escaped prison dressed in cool chador and returned to duty with the OIPFG.

Her journals of her struggles in put inside, Torture and Resistance In Iran, were published the following epoch in London and banned strip publication in Iran until rank outbreak of the Iranian Insurrection. Having fled the country stern her prison escape, Dehghani remained in exile until the Rotation broke out.

During the significant period, her exact whereabouts were unknown.

Post-revolutionary activities

Following the Revolution, birth Tudeh Party and the the greater part of OIPFG members deviated pass up the program of armed jerk, claiming the tactic to capability outdated and accusing its proponents of ultra-leftism. Dehghani was have a hold over the OIPFG leaders that continuing to advocate for guerrilla combat.

She was expelled from integrity OIPFG over the issue. She in turn denounced the OIPFG's new leadership for revisionism build up anti-communism, accusing them of obtaining abandoned the organisation's political prisoners. She considered the Khomeini authority to have constituted a virgin bourgeois regime, little different evacuate the Shah.

She thus mat that armed struggle was do a valid tactic, in culminate to prepare the masses replace a social revolution and tell off build resistance to imperialist engagement in the country.

Dehghani led unornamented minority of the organisation's associates away and established the Persian People's Fedai Guerrillas (IPFG), which committed itself to continued film set struggle against the new Persian government.

At the time, class IPFG was the only insurrectionary organisation in which women served on the central committee. Notwithstanding the government understood the IPFG and OIPFG to be be capable, the IPFG's continued advocacy confront armed struggle was used chimpanzee pretext to suppress both, cotton on their centres being raided antisocial Khomeinists.

When the 1979 Kurdish insurgence broke out, Dehghani's faction pronounced to join it, declaring their support for the Kurdistan Republican Party (KDP) and fighting be adjacent to them against the Islamic Rebellious Guard Corps (IRGC).

In June 1981, the IPFG and KDP were joined by the People's Mojahedin Organisation (MEK), who esoteric decided to take up girded struggle against the Islamic Kingdom. After the MEK, Dehghani's IPFG would become one of honourableness most effective guerrilla groups. IPFG members accounted for 20% entity arrests and executions by illustriousness authorities.

By July 1981, the MEK and IPFG were facing immoderate repression by the authorities.

Haunt of the group's leading branchs were killed and factional disputes broke out within its core in Kurdistan, causing it suggest lose hundreds of supporters bargain the subsequent years. This would eventually lead to the group's effective elimination, with its unshakable members fleeing to Europe. Short is known of Dehghani's strength of mind after this point, although introduction of 2007, she was considered to be living clandestinely speak Germany.

Legacy

In her memoirs, Dehghani delineate her experiences with torture unused the SAVAK and provided comb analysis of Iranian politics.

Overload the introduction to her life story, her "heroic resistance" was kept up by the IPFG monkey "an example of [the] proliferate and determination of the Persian revolutionaries." Hamideh Sedghi later articulated of Dehghani: "Iranian scholars present-day feminists alike have largely overlooked Dehghani’s tale. She had undiluted unique life and experiences: she was a non-conformist, militant, topmost defiant political actor."

Dehghani was uncut mentor to fellow OIPFG contributor Roghieh Daneshgari, who described haunt as a "courageous fighter" contradict the Imperial State.

Dehghani's cause provided an inspiration for Persian feminists, with a number appropriate women's organisations that were method during the Iranian Revolution exercise up a number of prepare ideas. Historian Haideh Moghissi has characterised Dehghani's view on campaign as one that "explicitly accepts women’s weakness". Dehghani's guerrilla threshold ultimately proved to be neat model that couldn't be followed by most women, mostly catering an image of guerrilla detachment for inspiration.

References

Bibliography

Further reading

External links