Zoroastrian cemetary destroyed in province of Yazd

Iran Press News: Regime-run news agency Alborz reported on the destruction a Zoroastrian cemetery in the township of Taft, in the province of Yazd. The report wrote:

“Sheibni, the head of cultural heritage of Taft said that the destruction of the ancient and Zoroastrian cemetary by suspicious individuals is for the purpose of annexing precious property. There are only 3 Zoroastrian villages in the township of Taft that have been registered as national heritage, historical villages and with the tourist board and should be under the full protection and more diligent care; as such we expect more cooperation from the disciplinary guards and the police.”

Ardeshir Kammeh, the head of Taft’s Zoroastrian assembly said: “This cemetery is the burial place of more than 3 generations of Zoroastrians who were forced to convert to Islam. The cemetery and fort belong to Zoroastrians in the village.”

Shahnaz Shahzadi, a Zoroastrian researcher said: “This cemetery belongs to 3 or 4 generation of Zoroastrians who were nominally Muslim, but in principle and the customs lived as Zoroastrians. After converting to Islam, these Zoroastrians were not permitted to bury their dead in the crypt and as such they buried people according to Zoroastrian customs in the cemetery.”

Editor’s note: Starting from the early twentieth century, Tehran experienced skyrocketing migrations from all Iranian minorities, including the Zoroastrian population which increased from about 50 merchants in 1881 to 500 by 1912. During the the Pahlavi dynasty, Zoroastrians changed from being one of the most persecuted minorities in Iran to a symbol of Iranian nationalism. However with the advent of Khomeini and his Islamist revolution, once again Zoroastrians in Iran were coerced to convert to Islam and were persecuted in illusive ways. The authorities of the Islamic regime have pressured and maltreated members of the Zoroastrian community in every way possible, as they are one of the last but strong vestiges of the pre-Islamic Iran and they are a most respected and revered community among Iranians; the Islamic republic however continues to make every attempt to destroy what is left of their small community in a perpetual attempt to entirely Islamize the Persian heritage. As a result, the ancient Persian new years celebrations are being disparaged and now the number of days that was usually allocated for the commemoration of the Persian new year holiday, Norooz, is being shortened and prorated to the Islamic Eid Fetr which is the commemoration of the end of the month of Ramadan. In Iran, after Muslims rose to power in the seventh century A.D., the Zoroastrian population was decimated by massacres, persecution and by-the-sword conversions to Islam. Seven boatloads of Zoroastrian refugees fled Iran and landed on the coast of India in 936. Their descendants, known as Parsis, built Mumbai, formerly known as Bombay, into the world capital of Zoroastrianism.