Imprisoned Dervishes Launch Hunger Strike in Protest Over Gonabadi Dervish Leader’s Condition
Following the refusal of Noor Ali Tabandeh, the leader of the Gonabadi Dervishes, to eat food, a number of imprisoned dervishes have begun a hunger strike.
Alireza Roshan, one of the managers of the Noor Majzoban news website, told Voice of America on Monday, November 13, that 71 imprisoned Gonabadi dervishes, along with a number of dervishes outside prison, have been on hunger strike since Sunday, November 12, in protest of the current situation of the dervishes and following Noor Ali Tabandeh’s refusal to eat food and take medicine.
Sixty-eight imprisoned male dervishes, including Kasri Nouri, Mohammad Sharifi Moghaddam, and Saeed Durandish at Fashafuyeh Prison, and three imprisoned female dervishes named Sepideh Moradi, Shokofeh Yadollahi, and Sima Entesari at Evin Prison, are among those who have begun the hunger strike.
Currently, there is no accurate count of dervishes outside prison who have begun the strike, but it is said that a group of them are families of imprisoned dervishes.
According to this Gonabadi dervish human rights activist, Noor Ali Tabandeh, the leader of the Gonabadi Dervishes, has been refusing to eat food and take medicine since Thursday, November 9, in support of imprisoned dervishes and in protest of their medical conditions in prisons, and has demanded the release of dervishes from Iranian prisons.
On the other hand, imprisoned dervishes have also asked Mr. Tabandeh to end his hunger strike. Their demands are to remove the security perspective toward Gonabadi dervishes, reopen the Amir Soleimani Husseiniyeh in Tehran, and lift restrictions on Noor Ali Tabandeh for freely meeting with his supporters.
According to Alireza Roshan, imprisoned dervishes are currently not allowed to visit Mr. Tabandeh, and if some dervishes have managed to meet with him until now, these visits have been accompanied by strict security measures. For this reason, imprisoned dervishes have announced that they will continue this hunger strike until these restrictions are lifted.
On February 3, 2018, following the widespread presence of security forces and plainclothes agents at Golestan Haftom in front of the home of Noor Ali Tabandeh, the leader of the Gonabadi Dervishes, a series of clashes occurred between security forces and special units with Gonabadi dervishes present at Golestan Haftom. Following these clashes, several police officers and Basij members were killed, and hundreds of Gonabadi dervishes were severely beaten and detained.
Following these clashes, 202 Gonabadi dervishes were imprisoned and sentenced to a total of more than 1,080 years in prison.
Mohammad Salis was one of the Gonabadi dervishes who was detained on charges of killing security personnel in these clashes and was executed on the morning of June 19.
The U.S. Secretary of State called the execution of this Gonabadi dervish “cruel and unjust” and said that the people of Iran deserve respect for human rights and freedom.
The United States has also repeatedly condemned the suppression of followers of religious and sectarian minorities, including dervishes, Baha’is, Christian converts, and even Sunni Muslims by the Islamic Republic regime.
Source: Voice of America
