Mother Forough Tajbakhsh(Mother Lotfi)
Mother Forough Tajbakhsh, Mother Lotfi, was one of the pioneers of the Khavaran Mothers. Mother Lotfi was born on 05 Farvardin 1309 (27 July 1930) in Neishapour. At the age of sixteen, while she was studying in high school, she married her husband Nasrollah Lotfi in Mashhad. She came to Tehran with her husband and continued to study in the field of humanities up to the level of High School in this city until before her first child was born. She had four children, namely, Anushiravan, Jamshid, Nader and Elham.
Anushiravan, the eldest son of Mother Forough, was arrested by Savak for the first time in 1350 (1971) and after a year was released from Qezel Qale prison. Anoushirvan was arrested two years later in 1952(1973) during a SAVAK attack on his residence in Qazvin. He was arrested along with several of his comrades in the Organisation of People’s Fadai Guerrillas and sentenced to life in prison after he was brutally tortured.
At the initial follow ups made by his family, they were told that Anushiravan was hit by a bullet and killed in a team house in Ghazvin. The family held a memorial service for him. Three years later in 1355 (1976), Anushiravan contacts his family by phone from Evin Prison. During all those years the Shah’s secret police had denied Anushiravan’s existence in prison and his being alive. From that time onwards until the release of Anushiravan in Dey 1357 (Dec.-Jan. 1978-79), Mother Forough’s one foot was in prison and the other foot in struggle for her son’s release. Mother Forough together with mothers and fathers of other political prisoners staged a sit-in for two months in the fall of 1357 (1978) at the Justice Administration Building in Tehran for the release of their children. Ultimately Anushiravan and a number of other political prisoners were released in the month of Dey 1357 (Dec.-Jan. 1978-79) at the place of sit-in at the Justice Administration Building in Tehran.
The Islamic Republic arrested Anushiravan in Shahrivar 1362 (Aug.-Sep. 1983) and tortured him. Prison once again became familiar to Mother Lotfi. Anushiravan was one of the first political prisoners executed by the Islamic Republic in the summer of 1367 (1988) in Evin Prison. From that time onwards Mother Lotfi, together with many other mothers, made extensive efforts to locate the place of burial of their loved ones. With the disclosure of the place of burial of a group of victims at the Khavaran abonded Cemetery, Mother Forough together with many other mothers and other members of the families engaged in justice-seeking and asking for the facts related to the execution of their loved ones. Mother Forough was an enthusiastic, brave and fearless woman and a patient and determined human being. She was always at the forefront of families’ justice-seeking struggles by holding Noruz ceremonies on the last Friday of the year and the anniversary of the massacre on the 10th of Shahrivar (30 August) and resistance against the destruction of Khavaran. Mother Lotfi always played an effective role in organizing and maintaining the cohesion of the Khavaran Mothers and their protests. For that reason she was always put under pressure by the secret police of the Islamic Republic. Mother Lotfi, following a period of sickness died on 21 Bahman 1397 (10 Feb. 2019) at the age of ninety at the Tous Hospital in Tehran.
Anushiravan Lotfi
Anushiravan Lotfi was born in Tehran in 1328 (1949). He was arrested once in 1350 (1971) by Savak – the secret police of the Pahlavi regime – and sentenced to one year’s imprisonment. Anushiravan was arrested again in 1352 (1973) and was sentenced to life imprisonment for his political activities in relation with Organisation od People´s Fadai Guerrillas. Anushiravan, together with hundreds of other political prisoners, was released from the prison of the Pahlavi regime in the month of Dey 1357 (Dec.-Jan.1978-79).
The Islamic Republic arrested Anushiravan in Shahrivar 1362 (Aug.-Sep. 1983) and executed him by firing squad in Evin Prison on 25 Khordad 1367 (15 June 1988) and buried him at the Khavaran Cemetery. Anushiravan was 39 years old at the time of his execution. Anushiravan had graduated from the Tehran University’s Faculty of Technology in the field of Electrical Engineering.
Father’s name: Nasrollah
Family status: Married
Occupation: Professional political activist
Education: In the field of Electricity from the Tehran University’s Faculty of Technology
Organizational affiliation: Fedaian Organization (majority faction)
Date of arrest: Shahrivar 1362 (Aug.-Sep. 1983)
Date of execution: 1367 (1988)
Place of execution: Evin Prison
Place burial: Khavaran
Age at the time of death: 39 years
14 July 2014 corresponding to 23 Tir 1393