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The book “Evenings of Keriskan” is the memoirs of Amir Saeedzadeh – a former, young Kurdish prisoner of war. It is composed of 280 pages in 27 chapters. There is also one chapter containing documents and photos. The book was first published in 1394 AH.
The composer’s creativity in bringing the parallel narrations of Saeed and his wife is one of the things that has made this book more attractive. In the first chapter, readers read Saeed’s memoirs and in the second chapter, they read the memoirs of his wife. So, approximately half of the book is devoted to Saeed’s memoirs and the other half is devoted to So’da’s, his wife. The memoirs of this brave Kurdish wife are usually shorter in length than the husband’s memoirs.
The victory of the Revolution
After the victory of the Islamic Revolution, Kurdistan – that cultural area which benefits from many geographical and natural beauties and is the home to kind, religious, intellectual people – quickly underwent unfortunate changes due to the plots hatched by Global Arrogance and implemented by anti-revolutionary forces. The enemies’ imprudent crimes and hostilities caused the hopes nurtured by the honorable Kurds – who had expected their economic condition and livelihood to improve and who had wished for a peaceful life – to remain unfulfilled. This was the result of the malicious, evil behavior of false pretenders and the sworn enemies of Iran, the Kurds and the Islamic Revolution.The life of Saeed and So’da is an example of the pains suffered by the people of that area. In addition to the activities of anti-revolutionary grouplets, the Iraqi government launched air strikes on Iran. Mustafa, Saeed’s brother, was martyred in the very beginning, leaving his wife a widow with a three-month-old baby. The bombing raids of the anti-revolutionary forces, insecurity in the area, the appearance of a reactionary group by the name of “Khabaat,” and the assassination of revolutionary and loyal forces were some of the critical events and tragedies that influenced Saeed as he chose to infiltrate into the anti-revolutionary grouplet, risking his life and that of his family.
From that time on, anxiety, fear and apprehension engulfed So’da’s heart, the other members of her family and that of her husband.
Infiltration into Komala
By establishing the group “The Muslim Kurds’ Death Embracers,” courageous Kurds showed their zeal for their religion, their traditions and their land to people throughout the world. And by giving martyrs on a daily basis, they strengthened the bond between Shi’a and Sunni and between the Kurds and the Persian people.
Amid these events, Saeed, who had infiltrated into the intimidating Komala organization, was severely tortured by them because they began to have suspicions about who he was. He was transferred from one prison to another. During those transfers, he witnessed the ugly, indecent relations common among the anti-revolutionary forces, which was incompatible with the Kurdish zeal and with religious norms.
Competition mounts between Komala and the Democratic grouplet, but it is the innocent villagers who suffer the consequences. But there is another test waiting for Saeed. The anti-revolutionary forces introduce him as a helicopter pilot who is shooting and killing people’s cattle. Now, Saeed is faced with innocent villagers who chastise and beat him. Saeed is beaten and insulted. Blood flows down his face, but he focuses all his attention on memorizing the routes and paths used by the anti-revolutionary forces.
Escape from Komala Prison
Every few days in the Komala Central Prison, a Kurdish Guard, Death Embracer or Basiji was hanged and martyred by the Komala. Therefore, he needed to escape from prison. On the eve of his escape, he saw Imam [Khomeini] in his dream. So he became determined to escape from the prison. He first climbed the high wall next to the river and then he jumped into the water. He swam against the direction of the strong current. He endured the unbearably low temperature of the water and swam toward Iraq, thus deceiving those who were chasing him who thought he was heading toward Sardasht. Later, he returned toward the camp of the insiders. The bread and halva [an Iranian sweet] that he had taken with him was no longer edible because of his long hours of swimming in the water, and he found nothing else to eat. So he ate some plants, but these cause his condition to worsen and for him to lose a great deal of water. He traveled on side roads and difficult passes for three days, enduring these horrifying circumstances until he arrived at the revolutionaries’ base. Up to that time, he had spent 19 full months in captivity while being subject to physical and mental torture and pressure. But he did not know what his family had gone through and that they had decided to hold a funeral for their son, thinking that he had been hanged. When they finally saw their dear Saeed among the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps they felt relieved.
Joining the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps
Mam Rahman, Saeed’s father, was taken by the Komala only a short time after Saeed’s escape from the anti-revolutionary forces. They only set one condition for his release, that Saeed should turn himself over to the Komala!
After a few days, Saeed’s house was attacked with the intention of blowing it up. Later, a shop where he worked undercover as a barber was also attacked. The attackers used a grenade. These events made Saeed put an end to his undercover role and he officially joined the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, serving in the Basiji of the Tribes.
One of the members of the Democratic grouplet who worked as a mercenary for the Iraqi intelligence services sent a message to Saeed, saying, “Iraq is ready to pay you your weight in dollars and dinars provided that you do for Iraq what you are doing for the Guard Corps now.” Saeed responded, “I will not exchange my country’s soil for dinars and dollars.” After that he said, “My faith and my conscience improve when I realize that I have chosen my path correctly and that each and every one of my friends from the Revolutionary era has joined the large crowd of martyrs.”
Indeed, the martyrdom of one’s friends and comrades is not a sign of defeat for the pious, revolutionary youth. Rather, it is a sign that they have made the right choice.
Protecting the property of the people even in wartime
One of the astonishing incidents, which also took place in the southern fronts of the country, was an incident that took place during the Valfajr Operation. When Saeed was on his way from Soleimaniyah to Sardasht after having fulfilled his mission, he saw an Iranian border guard who had been injured. The guard was unable to move. Saeed carried the man from under a pear tree and put him down next to the road. Later, he decided to pick two pears from the tree to give them to the man for him to regain some of his strength. However, the injured border guard beseechingly asked him to not pick the pears, saying, “They belong to the people. I won’t eat them.” After Saeed and the border guard set off for the other side of the river, one of the enemy’s mortar shells struck the tree. It was the exact place where they had been, and they would have been struck too if they had stayed there.
Now consider a similar incident that took place in the southern front.
Colonel Salimi, one of Imam Khamenei’s companions during the days when Susangerd had been besieged by the Iraqi army, narrated, “We received word that several officers from the Air Force, the Guard Corps, the Army and a number of guerilla combatants had been besieged in Susangerd. One of the officers called, saying that they were under heavy fire without any food. He asked if they had permission to go to the abandoned shops and take biscuits and fruit juice in the amount that they needed.” Colonel Salimi narrated that when he relayed the question to Imam Khamenei, he was deeply moved and said in response, “They are such good, pure, angelic youth. Tell them to go and eat anything they can find. It is completely alright.”
The Leader of the Revolution wrote in his memoirs later that when he discussed the matter with Imam, he answered that our forces are very committed to religious and moral issues.
Saddam’s crimes in Sardasht
Simultaneously with the courageous actions of the brave Kurdish men and women, the anti-revolutionary forces intensified their malicious, evil behavior. In the month of Tir in 1366 AH, Iraqi airplanes dropped chemical bombs on the brave people of Sardasht and some other cities in Kurdistan in order to support the anti-revolutionary forces and to invade the land belonging to the brave Kurds. The children, teenagers, youth, women, men and the elderly in Sardasht were still suffering from the injuries to their bodies and its pain, which were a result of the cruel actions of the anti-revolutionary forces. Now, they had to tolerate new pains: eye irritation, loss of sight and problems in breathing. The Takhti Gym in Sardasht turned into the place for taking care of the victims from the chemical attacks. That same night, around 1,000 people suffering from injuries due to the chemical bombs were hospitalized in the Takhti Gym. The medical rescue team did not have the capacity to take care of such a large number of people, nor was it possible to transfer them to nearby cities because the roads were not safe. After a short time, the news came that Bukan, Mahabad, Baneh and Saqqez were filled to the brim with similar patients.
The beautiful, astounding nature in Sardasht had also been severely affected. The leaves on the trees had turned yellow and were falling off the trees. The cattle had suffocated to death. Instead of rain, one could see a shower of sparrows, flapping their wings quickly and falling to the ground. Everything including water, foodstuffs and people’s clothing had been contaminated and the lung patients were being martyred. In some areas, entire members of a family were martyred. Saeed’s lungs had been affected as well.
The Iraqis’ crime in using chemical weapons against human beings even affected the future generations of the people in that area. A few months later, Saeed and So’da’s child was born and he was named “Mostafa” after his martyred uncle. But it soon became clear in medical examinations that the boy had been affected by the chemical agents during the mother’s pregnancy. A grave tragedy had been created by a malicious enemy with the support of westerners, easterners and those who claimed to be supporting human rights.
Taken captive by the Democratic Party of Kurdistan
The war imposed on Iran by Iraq came to an end, but not for Saeed, So’da and their children.
Having cooperated in identifying members of the MEK and having detected their moves before their Mersad Operation, Saeed was dispatched on another mission. After some time, he was captured again in the month of Ordibehesht in 1370 AH, this time by the Democratic grouplet. Thus, bitter days in a new difficult test began to unfold for Saeed. He was taken to the headquarters of the Democratic Party in the Keriskan area and put in prison. He soon realized that a number of prisoners were taken outside the prison every day in order to dig holes for burying those who would be hanged in the afternoon. “Evenings of Keriskan” refers to those sad hours when the people and youth in the Guard Corps were hanged by the agents of the Democratic Party.
The torture endured by Saeed during his captivity trouble the heart of every honorable person: piercing his body with needles, whipping him and then putting his injured body on a furnace, which had just been turned off. The hot ashes in it continued to give off heat and burn his skin until it began to blister. These are only some of the pains that Saeed had to endure during his new captivity in Keriskan.
So’da and her five children were also experiencing hard days, and she was insulted by the people around her. She couldn’t even cry as a result of the effects of the chemical weapons. During her visit with Saeed, she found out that the anti-revolutionary forces had told him many lies about her in order to aggrieve his soul.
Mr. Teacher
Finally, he was released after four years and two months, and he returned home on Tir 23, 1374 AH. However, the effects of the torture and his poor diet could be seen in him.
After one year, he was employed by the Department of Education and began his teaching profession. Kak Saeed Sardashti [in informal Kurdish] or Amir Saeedzadeh thus became Mr. Teacher for the first grade in an Elementary School.
Saeed and So’da, a brave Kurdish couple, and their family emerged victorious from of all of these tests after living a difficult life. They were able to endure all sorts of hardships and difficulties thanks to their faith, patriotism, zeal and the other outstanding moral characteristics of the Kurdish people. They have turned into embodiments of “the pure life” in the new era.
May God’s greetings and those of His Friends be upon them
God is the source of all success
