Shahin Pooya
Comrades, friends, distinguished audience, welcome to the 21st gathering and the 26th anniversary of the commemoration of the thousands of fighting men and women who died in the prisons of the Islamic Republic in the 1960s and the years before and after. The Stockholm gatherings are a meeting place for us, the justice seekers, who believe that the only way to prevent a repeat of the atrocities that have occurred in Iran over the past thirty-five years, especially in the 1960s, is to implement justice and create a new and humane society based on social justice and equality.
I have cried with you in the bright solitude.
For the sake of the living,
And I have sung with you in the dark cemetery.
The most beautiful songs
Because the dead of this year
They were the most loving people alive.
Those who hanged and shot thousands of men and women in prisons, those who handed over thousands of young girls and boys to death squads, those who consider the oppression and persecution of the people as a guarantee of the survival of their disastrous government, those who want the killing of thousands of men and women to be forgotten, should know that the mothers, fathers, wives, children, sisters, brothers and the masses of the people whose children were handed over to death squads in the prisons of the criminal Islamic rulers will never forget this brutal crime and will not forgive its perpetrators and causes. Those who hope that with the passage of time, these horrific criminals and this deep social wound will be forgotten, should know that we neither forget nor forgive these crimes.
Repression in Iran has not been limited to the political arena and the establishment of torture chambers and execution gallows in prisons. Other social arenas, including culture and literature, have been important arenas for the rulers to invade and create censorship and strangulation in society and hang them.
In today’s program, together with the program’s speakers, we will examine the context of this invasion and the impact of repression and imprisonment in the 1960s on literary poetry and poetry in prison.
We will begin the program with a minute of applause in memory and in honor of the thousands of women and men who were killed in the prisons of the reactionary regime of the Islamic Republic. After that, our dear friend, artist Fariborz Fakhari, will perform a beautiful piece with the soprano, “Come” and in honor of the thousands of women and men who were murdered in the prisons of the Islamic Republic. After that, my dear comrade, the link will present you with a brief introduction to today’s topics.
In the next episode, Iraj Mesdaghi will recite for us a few poems written in prison in memory of the thousands of political prisoners massacred in the 1960s.
Shahroz Rashid will speak to us under the title “Khavaran, and Poetry.” After him, Ahmad Mousavi will speak to us about “Poetry in Prison.”
Asad Seif will give a lecture on the topic “The Impact of Prison on Contemporary Iranian Literature.”
Mehdi Aslani will deliver his speech under the title “What is the background of this split moon?”
Nasim Khaksar will speak about “Literature Against Oblivion.”
In the second part of the program, Nader Mirlashari, a friend and companion of many years of anniversary programs, will perform several songs and vocals along with his artist friends, accompanied by Ms. Agnes’ dance.
The speaker friends will answer your questions at the end of the program.
Please turn off cell phones throughout the program, both inside and outside the hall. Please do not gather in the side hall during the program and refrain from talking. There is a suitable space outside the complex for gathering and talking.
We appreciate your attention and cooperation.