The Eternal Legacy of the National Government of Azerbaijan and the Heroic Figure of Safar Ghahramani

Yashar Gulshen - November 6, 2005

Safar Khan

Pan-Iranists are terrified of the memory of the National Government of Azerbaijan, especially the mention of Seyed Jafar Pishevari, and they constantly try to erase this revolutionary period from people's memories. Whenever they are forced to reference it, they quickly bring up the conspiracy of the Russians and the plan to divide Iran, in an attempt to marginalize the true origins of the movement and the achievements of its one-year government.

Three years ago, when Safar Ghahramani, the revolutionary peasant and officer of the National Government of Azerbaijan, the longest-serving political prisoner of the Pahlavi regime, passed away, it was understandable why the Pan-Iranists were cautious. Naturally, Safar Ghahramani was not someone whose significance could easily be ignored. He had spent the longest years in prison under the Pahlavi regime, and had shared imprisonment with political prisoners from various groups, ranging from religious to leftist and liberal circles. All revolutionary groups in Iran, from the Democratic Party era to the time of the 1979 Revolution, from Tudeh Party prisoners after the August 1953 coup to the Fadaiyan guerrillas and Mujahideen, and from religious groups to the clergy and merchants, had known him closely in the narrow confines of the Pahlavi prisons, benefitting from his kindness and personal influence. Most importantly, he was greatly respected among all the freedom-loving people of Iran, particularly the people of Azerbaijan.

This time, during the various memorials held for Safar Ghahramani, the Pan-Iranists, while honoring him, employed specific tactics to try to separate him from his true essence. Despite their attempts to glorify him, they wanted to portray him in a way that would prevent his 27 years in prison from reminding people of the collective suffering of his people and the significance of the National Government's power. It was expected that they would face serious resistance from those who wanted to uncover Ghahramani’s true identity and analyze him within the context of the event that led to his imprisonment. As a result of the people's resistance, the plans of these self-proclaimed freedom advocates, who were often Pan-Iranists opposed to the national rights of non-Persian peoples, did not progress as smoothly as they had hoped. For example, during the main ceremony in Karaj, when Azerbaijani youth attempted to highlight the true reasons for Safar Ghahramani's imprisonment, these supposed pioneers of freedom snatched the microphone from them, causing a scene and leaving. In contrast to these individuals, others, who maintained a degree of respect for Ghahramani’s personal dignity (albeit outside of his revolutionary context), found themselves caught in dramatic situations triggered by their unease with his brilliant memory.

Masoud Behnoud, concerned by the respect shown by Ghahramani’s fellow prisoners, stated, “He was a simple-hearted Azerbaijani man who, in his youth, rebelled against the injustices imposed on the people of his village and was imprisoned.” Interestingly, the panic and confusion of the Pan-Iranists had the opposite effect of what they intended. By referring to "village" and "simple-hearted Azerbaijani," the same term used later to describe Ansafali Hedayat, the free-thinking journalist from Tabriz, Behnoud inadvertently undermines the very narrative constructed by his peers about a Russian conspiracy behind the creation of the National Government, thereby affirming the popular and revolutionary roots of that government.

The reality is that the long imprisonment and heroic resistance of Ghahramani cannot fully explain the mythic aura that people saw in him. This is only one aspect of Ghahramani’s extraordinary personality. What made Safar Ghahramani exceptional was that he was a remnant of a golden revolutionary era and an example of the peasant revolutionaries who founded the Democratic Party and later formed the backbone of the Fadaiyan Army. Ghahramani was one of the revolutionaries who, in a candid admission by the Shah’s mother, revealed that landlords sought the Shah’s military help to drive farmers off their land. Moreover, Ghahramani was a witness to the tragic massacre of 30,000 innocent lives and the exile of tens of thousands when the Pahlavi forces occupied Azerbaijan on December 12, 1946. Later, during his long years of imprisonment, Ghahramani had the historical opportunity to maintain the link between the Democratic Party and anti-autocratic fighters until the 1979 Revolution.

The memory of Safar Ghahramani, especially as we approach the 60th anniversary of the establishment of the National Government, remains a source of pride, love, and hope for the oppressed people of Azerbaijan. It also serves as a reminder of the hundreds of thousands of revolutionaries from that legendary revolution, and the shameful and ignoble face of fascism in the face of the people’s will.