Hett or Bagh
Looking back half a century at an uprising in Dezful
July 22, 2003
The Iranian
Early in September of 1951 a round, heavyset middle-aged man
walks into an old, archaic city - so old in fact, that he can feel
the dust beneath his feet.
For 3 straight days people have been
waiting for him around the train station that arrives from Shushtar
with their "gifts". They are ragged and hunger stricken but they
have brought anything they could spare: skinny cows, sheep, sacks
of rice. For three
days they have been standing there, waiting and hearing speeches
by those around them. One man goes up a stool every hour and
announces "belakhareh Aghaayeh Baghai beh een makaan khaahad aamad
va baraayeh
shomaa sokhanraani
khaahad kard." (Mr. Baghai will eventually come and deliver
his speech to you.) And so they wait.
Alongside them, a young, ambitious,
brilliant doctor is there to greet him. One of the first doctors
in his city to graduate from
the University of Tehran and the son of a
much-respected local clergyman, he is nothing short of a god in
their eyes. His popularity soared a year back when Dr. Shams,
a well-known physician and professor at the University of Tehran
traveled to Dezful to try and find a cure for an outbreak of trachoma
-- a major cause of blindness in Asia.
In the town mosque,
as Shams is giving a speech, the young doctor, Gooshehgir, stands
up and in the captivating, stunning voice that was his mark to
fame, reveals the true reasons for the spreading disease: no sewage
system, no electricity, no running water, no hospitals. His town
has been neglected and misused by the rich minority "khans" and
this problem - like so many others - is their fault.
Finally, Mozafar Baghai arrives to the sound of people screaming
and yelling and shouting with joy. He comes from a nearby town
with people
whom at first glance, seem much similar to this one. They have
similar accents and food. But unlike the
previous town, the outcome here will be nothing short of a triumph.
In Shushtar he resides for 24 hours. Declares a meeting in the
town mosque and gives the settlers astonishing and yet disastrous
news: they are living amongst British spies he reveals; spies who
are gradually eating away at their small community.
But before
he can go on, an elderly man from the Namaki family gets up and
begins to speaks: "Aghay-e Baghai," he says, "Jaasoos
too een shahr amal nemiyaad.(Spies don't grow in our town). This
is an ancient town. We have been living amongst each other for
a thousand
years.
We
know
everybody
and everything. The result of this is that as soon as you leave,
we'll all be suspicious of one another and the harmony that
has existed here for so long will be no more. But, if you are
certain, give us their names and we will deal with them immediately.
Give
us the names of these spies right now, right here, and we will
give them what they deserve."
Literally thrown out of Shushtar,
he heads on, still hoping. The people there had no liking for
him anyway. They've been
watching him like a hawk during his whole stay and they have
noticed, to their disgust, that he does not pray.
Why this man
who was so swiftly kicked out of Shushtar goes out to be so immensely
popular in Dezful is not very clear. Perhaps
because almost all the farmlands of Shushtar had been destroyed
by great floods centuries before. There is not much valuable
land to work on. People live their lives by trade. They
are mostly tradesman, craftsmen and merchants. But Dezful is
rich in agricultural land. It is a typical fiefdom. A feudal
town with poverty-stricken land workers and conventionally rich
landowners.
Then there is the introduction people
have been given by their hero, Dr. Gooshehgir. He has preached
uprising against
the khans, he has given them much to respect and admire in Baghai,
he has advertised and advocated Baghai's party: Hezb-e
Zahmatkeshan-e Mellat-e Iran (Iran Toilers Party). Before long,
almost everyone
in the city will be a member. The party with Khalil Maleki, though
not
totally
communist,
had Marxist tendencies. After Maleki leaves, there is no clear
ideology associated with it. Baghai was too lazy, and too occupied
to come up with one.
And then there are the speakers and microphones. The townspeople,
having never seen them before, see it nothing short of a miracle.
In the town mosque they meet and Baghai, regurgitates himself,
only this time, the people hang on to his every word. They cheer
and shout. Their savior it seems, has finally
arrived.
***
He preaches violence, revolt, and uprising against the khans.
They are "British
spies and thieves". He goes about town in his white tuxedo; women
cheering, men clapping. They admire him even more when they
see his mannerisms: when wanting to bathe, he does not use private
baths - hamoom-e nomreh - like the evil khans do, but sits right
there in the middle of the public bath and lets people come by
to scrub him.
People are euphoric. "Eesoon si shah rah beroo-ey,
pas soba si Baghai raees jomhoor-e Iran-e!" (Today you
march for the Shah, the day after tomorrow you will march for Baghai,
the
president of Iran!) one man tells everybody
in their local accent. The Party is with Mossadegh, and so are
they. The khans are with the Shah. After Baghai changes sides as
a result of Mossadegh's
direct confrontation with the palace, so do they.
They occupy a building and
name it the party's headquarters. They publish a newspaper called Farid-e
Dezful. Their motto is "Maa baraay-e
raasti va aazaadegi ghiyaam kardeh-eem." (We have risen to seek the Truth
and be Free). The problem is that most of the party members
are illiterate and so
the newspapers
are left
unread.
An all out war is declared. People are battered, sometimes killed
daily. The khans lose their workers, their lands are looted and
destroyed, their cars
stolen,
their horses disappear. But they are small in number and incapable of revenge.
They do what they can.
Moghaddam, a local teacher, son of Gholamali Hett,
- Hett meaning liar - is
paid by the great Khan to write an insulting letter against the
Party. Once the letter is out, Mousa Alamshah, one of the Party's
main organizers,
tells
the
townsmen during one of their local meetings: "Mardom-e
Dezfil! Biney kouak-e Gholoomali Hett beh aghaatoon Ghooshehgir che ghoftaa..." (People
of Dezful! Come around and see what the son of Gholamali Hett has said
of your savior Gooshehgir...")
Right then a blind boy who roams the town, starts circling
around the pool in the mosque singing "Hetta Hetta Hettata" ...
before long, children come to join him.
And the name sticks. All khans and their followers will be called Hett.
The khans, not wanting to stay behind, start calling the Party
members
"Bagh", short for Baghai, and meaning frog, in their native tongue.
The city is divided; Sahra-Bedar belongs
to the biggest khan and is host to most of the landowners. The
rest of the city is Bagh-occupied.
Everyone in labeled - even those who get into small confrontations
with landowners. Once a man is chased into the river, dragged
out and beaten
to near death, for selling a sack of rice to one of the khans. A
16-year-old boy - the son of a poor landowner - is stabbed to death
at night
The Bagh outnumber the
Hett beyond belief. And so the richer landowners move to Tehran
where they will stay for the next 2 years.
Ghooshehgir's popularity though, is still rising. To a point where
his relatives are heard saying of his future plans: "Emsaal vakil,
saal-e ba'd
vazir, ba'desh nokhost vazir o ba'desh ham enghelaab o raees-e jomhoor-e
Iran". (This year member of parliament, next year a minister, then
prime minister and then the revolution that makes him president).
He is not just popular in Dezful, but the smaller towns around
it. The
Arab
tribesmen adore him. The people worship his every step. He is asked
over and over to intervene
to stop the violence. But he knows it is beyond anyone's control.
"Ar helomshoon, si khodom ham hette khoonen". (If I let them,
they'll start calling me a Hett too). Gooshehgir himself,
is more Hett
by blood than any. His wife is the niece of the great khan; his
family has owned land
for
centuries.
The Party has local meetings usually near the riverside.
The people call these meetings "meten". Many townspeople
still remember waking up in the middle of the night to the
sound of their neighbor's
voices screaming: "Mellat versey roo'eym hezb. Metena."
For
the first time in their lives they see live plays. Goltala Dara-zan,
a round chubby woman who makes a living by playing her dar, provides
the music. Zaar Leyva (Crazy Zaar) wearing a large rice sack plays
Farhoudi, Dezful's MP - a respectable, well educated university
professor supported
by the khans. Another man plays the great khan himself.
Some people
don't understand what the whole thing is all about. They don't
know much of Mossadegh
or the Shah
either. One man, in a local paper asks: "Why don't Gooshehgir,
Kamali (another avid supporters of the Hetts) and Mossadegh sit
around a long
sofreh, eat some ghormeh sabzi and zereshek polo and just solve
their differences?"
On the 21st of Farvardin there is a bloody, 12-hour
gun battle as both sides take
up arms. The lines
are clearly
drawn. The Hett fight from their own lands, where a woman is seen
on the rooftop shooting at those below - in a place where females
were
hardly
ever
seen. That is a memory that whoever was there still carries to
this day.
None of the Hett participate in the street fighting,
except
for one man,
a rebellious,
stunningly good-looking, educated clergyman
avidly fighting for the Hett. Dressed as the Shia saint Imam Ali,
he rides a horse
into the city holding a sword, seeking justice. He splits
a man in half.
Despite the killings and chaos, it is the beginning
of the end to everything.
The khans, under immense pressure, write
a letter in their own blood addressed to Mossadegh begging for
his help and near the
end of Mordad,
send two
people to Tehran to deliver the letter. On their way, they
hear that Mossadegh's
government has fallen. They tear Mossadegh's name from the letter,
and -again, in blood - write to the Shah.
But soon
the conflict dies down and a few months later, with the fall of
the Mossadegh's government, the imprisonment of many of the local
townspeople
- Hett
and Bagh
- and
the return
of the khans, all goes back to the way it was before Baghai's visit.
Gooshehgir never gets elected to parliament. The first time
he runs, the government calls off the elections in many parts of
the
country
including Dezful,
because of riots. The second time he ran and lost to Princess Ashraf's
brother-in-law. Soon
after he is sent to prison and later suffers from an extreme case
of Parkinson's disease that ends his ambitious political career.
Those
who remember meeting
him speak of his electrifying presence, charismatic speeches,
and ability to lead. And yet he fails miserably.
Perhaps
not because
he was
not talented or dauntless enough, but because of his own wrongful
interpretation - and
evaluation - of the forces and parties involved: no matter how
ambitious the man, or how ingenious, in such a platform, in this
society, a president could not rise.
Instead of Gooshehgir, Enayatollah Khan's son makes his way to
parliament. Enayatollah Khan is one of Dezful's wealthiest, most
hated khans and is said
to have
resembled Churchill. On his way by train
to Tehran to undergo surgery, Enayatollah Khan takes a look at
Zahmatkeshan Party members who are throwing angry words and objects
his way.
"Zahmatkashoon!" he cries. "Taa tah tiyaatoon koor. Koo'akom
kho vakil biyes. Mo ghondy bisom ke nabisom vali koo'akom keh vakil
biyes. Eesoon ham beroo'om tehroon. Ar mordom porsomaa mey masjed-e
masjd-e vanen.(And then holding out his middle finger) eeyaan
beh folaan jaay-e Gooshaghir, ghafela
heshtesh jaa!" (Party members! To hell with all of you. My
son is now in parliament. I was never elected to office, but my
son is now a
member of parliament. And now I am going to Tehran. If I die, my
funeral will be held in the most prestigious mosque in the city.
But f*&# Gooshehgir!
In the end, he was the one left behind."
And right then the train starts moving, growing dimmer and dimmer
in the afternoon sun while the people stand there startled and
not knowing
what
to say. Perhaps
because harf-e hesaab harif nadaareh (common sense has no rival).
And this was as common as it gets.
***
Though seemingly insignificant at the time and soon
forgotten, the events of those two years - later followed by "eslaahaat-e
arzi" land reform - went
to reshape
and
redefine the lives of all Dezfulis - Hett or Bagh.
When age-old
borders are broken and unyielding boundaries are erased, the
deprived get a taste - or at least a tour
- of what they
are missing. There comes to life impetus and wonder and
danger that perhaps, now, after half a century of turmoil and discovery,
we
can
find and
decipher over
and over again.
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