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Tasu'a and Ashura Marches of 1978 in Tehran

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Tasu'a and Ashura Marches of 1978 in Tehran were among the largest marches leading to the victory of the Islamic Revolution of Iran against the Pahlavi government. Held on 10 December and 11 December 1978 by the order of Imam Khomeini, the leader of the Islamic Revolution, these demonstrations took place during the first decade of Muharram 1978. By holding widespread demonstrations across the country, the people paved the way for the fall of the government of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. In this march, the leadership of Imam Khomeini was consolidated.

Many scholars of Tehran, such as Sayyid Mahmud Taliqani, Sayyid Mohammad Beheshti, Mohammad Mofatteh, and Muhammad Rida Mahdawi Kani, played an important role in organizing and inviting people to this protest movement. These efforts led to the presence of millions of people in various cities of Iran. The global press also described this historic event as the largest march in contemporary history.

Million-Strong March

The Tasu'a and Ashura Marches of 1978 in Tehran are considered among the most populous demonstrations of the Islamic Revolution of Iran.[1] This march was carried out by the order of Imam Khomeini.[2] In response to this call, on 10 December and 11 December, people demonstrated against the government of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the second king of the Pahlavi Dynasty,[3] and the ground for the fall of the Pahlavi dynasty became smoother.[4] In his speech on the day of Ashura (11 December), Imam Khomeini considered the demonstrations of these two days a popular referendum indicating the illegality of the Shah's government.[5]

According to Abbas Gharabaghi, over 2 million people from Tehran were present in the Tasu'a and Ashura march.[6] Also, Javad Mansouri has estimated the number of participants throughout Iran in these two days to be around 16 million.[7]

The Tasu'a and Ashura demonstrations had effects for the revolutionary people such as the consolidation of Imam Khomeini's leadership and the status of the revolutionary clergy.[8] Abbas Gharabaghi, the Minister of Interior of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, considered it a sign of the Pahlavi government's weakness.[9] Also, William Sullivan, the ambassador of the United States in Tehran, described the fall of the Shah as inevitable after these demonstrations.[10]

Hossein Fardoust, the head of the Imperial Inspection Organization, reported that upon seeing the crowds of people from a helicopter, Mohammad Reza Shah said: "What is the use of my staying?".[11] According to Javad Mansouri, a researcher in the field of the revolution, on the afternoon of Ashura, the fall of the Shah became certain.[12]

On 4 January, the US sent General Huyser, the Deputy Commander of US Forces, to Tehran to convince the Shah to introduce a national prime minister and leave the country temporarily.[13] The global press considered this event the largest march in contemporary history,[14] and the New York Times declared that the Pahlavi regime must step aside and religious leaders take over affairs.[15]

From Beginning of Muharram to Ashura

According to documents of the history of the Islamic Revolution of Iran, from the night of the first of Muharram (1 December, 1978), people protested against the Pahlavi government by chanting slogans on rooftops.[16] Government forces attacked protesters on the first night of Muharram, killing and wounding a number of them.[17]

Imam Khomeini, the leader of the Islamic Revolution of Iran, delivered a speech in Paris on 2 December 1978 (1st Muharram), condemning this massacre and calling people to struggle against the regime.[18] Mahdi Iraqi, a member of Fada'iyan-i Islam, came to Tehran from Paris by the order of Imam Khomeini to organize the Tasu'a and Ashura marches.[19]

According to Abbas Gharabaghi, the Minister of Interior at the time, on 8 December, the government, after consulting with the Shah and Sayyid Muhammad Kadhimm Shari'atmadari, one of the Marja's, declared the mourning march of Tasu'a and Ashura to be free (permitted). Also, army commanders were ordered not to show any reaction to the taking down of the Shah's statue.[20]

It is reported that on Tasu'a, the people of Tehran demonstrated with the widespread presence of women and slogans in support of Imam Khomeini, which ended with congregational prayer led by Sayyid Mahmud Taliqani, a political activist.[21] The demonstration of the next day (Ashura) was held with greater intensity, and people chanted the slogan "Death to the Shah".[22] In the resolution at the end of the march, emphasis was placed on the fall of the monarchy and the formation of an Islamic government.[23] This resolution was drafted by Sayyid Mohammad Beheshti[24] and Ali Akbar Nateq Nouri, a member of the Combatant Clergy Association, read it in Azadi Square, Tehran.[25]

Role of Religious Scholars

According to the Islamic Revolution Document Center, on 5 December 1978 (4th Muharram), Sayyid Mahmud Taliqani invited people to participate in the Tasu'a march in a statement, emphasizing that this movement would start with complete order from his home.[26] On 7 December, more than 160 scholars of Tehran, including Sayyid Mahmud Taliqani, Sayyid Mohammad Beheshti, Morteza Motahhari, Mohammad Mofatteh, and Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, called on people to be present in the Tasu'a and Ashura marches.[27] Also, on 9 December, many scholars of Qom invited people to participate in the Tasu'a and Ashura march in a statement.[28]

Notes

  1. ↑ Qarabāghī, Iʿtirāfāt-i Jinirāl, p. 74.
  2. ↑ «Suqūṭ-i Jazīra-yi Thabāt-i Āmrīkā ba dast-i Hayʾatī-hā», Daftar-i Ḥifẓ wa Nashr-i Āthār-i Āyatullāh Khāminiʾī.
  3. ↑ Hāshimī Rafsanjānī, Kārnāma wa Khāṭirāt-i Sāl-hā-yi 1357 wa 1358, p. 596.
  4. ↑ Manṣūrī, Āshnāyī bā Inqilāb-i Islāmī-yi Īrān, p. 225.
  5. ↑ Imām Khumaynī, Ṣaḥīfa-yi Imām, vol. 5, p. 211.
  6. ↑ Qarabāghī, Iʿtirāfāt-i Jinirāl, p. 72; See also: Ābrāhāmiyān, Tārīkh-i Īrān-i Mudirn, p. 286.
  7. ↑ Zāhidī, Dar Maydān-i Inqilāb, p. 181.
  8. ↑ «Nigāhī ba Taẓāhurāt-i ʿAẓīm-i Tāsūʿā wa ʿĀshūrā-yi Sāl-i 1357», Webgāh-i Markaz-i Barrasī-yi Asnād-i Tārīkhī.
  9. ↑ Qarabāghī, Iʿtirāfāt-i Jinirāl, pp. 72-73.
  10. ↑ «Nigāhī ba Taẓāhurāt-i ʿAẓīm-i Tāsūʿā wa ʿĀshūrā-yi Sāl-i 1357», Webgāh-i Markaz-i Barrasī-yi Asnād-i Tārīkhī.
  11. ↑ Fardūst, Ẓuhūr wa Suqūṭ-i Salṭanat-i Pahlavī, vol. 1, pp. 589-590.
  12. ↑ Manṣūrī, Āshnāyī bā Inqilāb-i Islāmī-yi Īrān, p. 225.
  13. ↑ «Āghāz wa Pāyān-i Maʾmūrīyat-i Huyser dar Īrān», Webgāh-i Markaz-i Asnād-i Inqilāb-i Islāmī.
  14. ↑ «Nigāhī ba Taẓāhurāt-i ʿAẓīm-i Tāsūʿā wa ʿĀshūrā-yi Sāl-i 1357», Webgāh-i Markaz-i Barrasī-yi Asnād-i Tārīkhī.
  15. ↑ Ābrāhāmiyān, Tārīkh-i Īrān-i Mudirn, p. 286.
  16. ↑ Zāhidī, Dar Maydān-i Inqilāb, p. 181.
  17. ↑ ʿAmīd Zanjānī, Inqilāb-i Islāmī, p. 237.
  18. ↑ Imām Khumaynī, Ṣaḥīfa-yi Imām, vol. 5, pp. 163-164.
  19. ↑ «Suqūṭ-i Jazīra-yi Thabāt-i Āmrīkā ba dast-i Hayʾatī-hā», Daftar-i Ḥifẓ wa Nashr-i Āthār-i Āyatullāh Khāminiʾī.
  20. ↑ Qarabāghī, Iʿtirāfāt-i Jinirāl, pp. 70-72.
  21. ↑ «Taḥlīl wa Riwāyat-i Taẓāhurāt-i ʿAẓīm-i Tāsūʿā wa ʿĀshūrā-yi 1357: Nuqṭa-yi ʿAṭfī dar Inqilāb-i Islāmī-yi Īrān», Webgāh-i Markaz-i Asnād-i Inqilāb-i Islāmī.
  22. ↑ «Nigāhī ba Taẓāhurāt-i ʿAẓīm-i Tāsūʿā wa ʿĀshūrā-yi Sāl-i 1357», Webgāh-i Markaz-i Barrasī-yi Asnād-i Tārīkhī.
  23. ↑ Hāshimī Rafsanjānī, Kārnāma wa Khāṭirāt-i Sāl-hā-yi 1357 wa 1358, p. 596.
  24. ↑ Manṣūrī, Āshnāyī bā Inqilāb-i Islāmī-yi Īrān, pp. 224-225.
  25. ↑ «Nigāhī ba Taẓāhurāt-i ʿAẓīm-i Tāsūʿā wa ʿĀshūrā-yi Sāl-i 1357», Webgāh-i Markaz-i Barrasī-yi Asnād-i Tārīkhī.
  26. ↑ «Iʿlāmīya-yi Āyatullāh Ṭāliqānī mabnī bar Daʿwat-i Mardum ba Taẓāhurāt-i Tāsūʿā dar Sāl-i 57», Webgāh-i Markaz-i Asnād-i Inqilāb-i Islāmī.
  27. ↑ «Nigāhī ba Taẓāhurāt-i ʿAẓīm-i Tāsūʿā wa ʿĀshūrā-yi Sāl-i 1357», Webgāh-i Markaz-i Barrasī-yi Asnād-i Tārīkhī.
  28. ↑ Khusrawshāhī, Asnād-i Nahḍat-i Islāmī-yi Īrān, vol. 3, p. 218.

References

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