Prison Memoirs “The Last Laughter of Leila” by Mehri Hajinejad – Part Eighteen
In the previous part of these prison memoirs from “The Last Laughter of Leila,” Mehri Hajinejad described collective life inside prison and the deep bonds of love and solidarity among imprisoned members of the Mojahedin. In this section, the author, who at the time was a teenage schoolgirl, recounts the regime’s attempts at ideological indoctrination through forced classes inside Khomeini’s prisons, and keeps alive the memory of one of her steadfast fellow prisoners, Aghdas Hosseinzadeh Taqavi, through a personal and moving recollection.
Closed-Circuit Television and “Educational” Classes
From 1983 onward,[1] the regime began trying to “educate” and “guide” us by broadcasting various films filled with the incoherent ramblings of fossilized clerics through the prison’s closed-circuit television system.[2] At times, they would even bring clerics into the ward, men who, intellectually speaking, truly belonged to fourteen hundred years ago.[3]
We faced a real dilemma about attending these classes. On the one hand, they gave us a rare chance to exchange notes with our friends in the lower ward. On the other hand, attending these sessions lent a degree of legitimacy to the regime’s fraudulent spectacle. After consulting among ourselves, we decided that each time only two people would go, rotating, so we could at least gather news from the lower ward.
We called it “visiting friends in the lower ward.”
Before long, the collaborators figured out why we were attending these sessions. Homa Ghasemlou,[4] a turncoat collaborator who went out on the streets with interrogators from Branches 7 and 4 to hunt Mojahedin, would loudly say: “These are hypocrites.[5] You can tell from their faces; they’re not here to listen. They come to see their friends and exchange information.”
For the first round, it was decided that Narges and Afsaneh would attend this sham class. It was a fascinating combination: Narges was exceptionally mischievous and energetic, while Afsaneh had an extraordinary ability to normalize situations and remain composed.
When they came back, it was as if we had two hours’ worth of entertainment. They described everything they had done, and we were doubled over with laughter. Afsaneh, with incredible patience, had written down everything that had happened in our ward, including the names of newly arrested prisoners, and passed it on to the women in the lower ward. Narges, with her usual mischief, had written a three-page “summary” of the cleric’s lecture. When we looked at it, we saw a long list of animals: donkey, cow, scorpion, snake, and so on. The girls read the list and burst out laughing, and Narges swore that every single word had been said by the “teacher.” She said, “I think this ‘professor’ came straight from a zoo, or maybe he runs a circus, because his entire lecture revolved around animals.”
Afsaneh added that under the pretext of taking notes on the idiot cleric’s nonsense, she had written everything she needed to convey to the women downstairs. Then, pretending she had a question, she stood up, handed her question to the mullah, and sat beside Farangis, who was in the lower ward, and calmly carried out everything she had planned throughout the class.
Another time, when Zahra Mazoujian and I went, halfway through the session Zahra caught sight of my drawing of the cleric’s face and almost burst out laughing; I was terrified we’d be exposed. The cleric in question had one blind eye and was extremely lecherous. I had drawn one eye completely blind and placed a large camera in the other. Another prominent feature of the drawing was the lice crawling all over his head and face. That day, Zahra cleverly managed to receive a note from Hajar in the lower ward.
This situation didn’t last long. Once the prison guards realized that we weren’t attending to listen to their nonsense but were instead carrying out our own activities, they shut the classes down entirely.
In Memory of Aghdas Hosseinzadeh Taqavi
Aghdas Hosseinzadeh Taqavi, my dear comrade and fellow prisoner with whom I spent long days and nights in prison, had worked with the Tehran teachers’ section before her arrest. Despite savage torture, the interrogators were never able to extract anything from her. An interrogator once told her, “I know you’re a hypocrite. I’ll beat you until you confess.” Aghdas, knowing they had nothing on her, resisted and replied calmly, “I’ve never been involved in anything.”
She introduced herself as Aghdas Taqavi, and due to sheer bad luck, for a while the regime’s agents tortured her simply because they confused her with Aghdas Taqvaei,[6] a brave student member who had been killed in May 1982 at Commander Zabeti’s base, solely because of the similarity in their names.
I first saw Aghdas in Evin Prison in 1982.[7] She had been severely tortured: her eardrum was ruptured, and her legs were covered in blisters. They brought her to Room 1, where she stayed with us for some time. Without us needing to speak, I knew nothing had been extracted from her, and that she was resisting precisely to prove that fact.
We spent five- or six-months side by side, sharing the same group and expenses. Aghdas was quiet but always wore a gentle smile, a sweet smile that has forever imprinted her memory in my mind.
Whenever she returned from interrogation and it was clear she had been under intense pressure, she would smile and say, “Mahboubeh, recite this: ‘Indeed, with hardship comes ease.’”[8] And I would reply, “Aghdas, recite this: ‘Do not grieve; indeed, God is with us.’”[9]
It was in 1983 that one day, without any belongings, Aghdas was suddenly taken from our ward. None of us knew where she had been taken.
In 1984, she returned to our room, but was far thinner and more broken than before. She only said that she had spent some time in Ward 209[10] and sometime in Gohardasht Prison.[11]
In 1985, Aghdas and I were separated again, she was transferred to Ward 1, and I was sent to Gohardasht. I never saw her again in prison.
Aghdas was sentenced, yet they never formally issued her a ruling. Even on the last day, the interrogator told her: “From your stubbornness, I know you’re a Mojahed. I kept you for five years but couldn’t build a case against you, and now it seems you must be released.” And so, after five years of imprisonment and relentless torture, the executioners failed to uncover even her true organizational identity.
Aghdas possessed an extraordinary calm and inner certainty. Whenever I spoke with her, I took joy in her deep confidence and composure. Her ear injury caused her constant, unbearable pain, with pus and blood continuously draining from it. In addition, the inhumane torture had left her with severe, relentless headaches. Yet Aghdas stood like a mountain, patient and unyielding.
After her release, she joined the Mojahedin and was later killed during Operation Eternal Light.[12] To me, Aghdas has always been a living example of a selfless and principled Mojahed, someone whose memory, like a fresh flower, remains alive, vibrant, and fragrant in my heart. I miss her deeply.
[1] 1983 – Refers to the Iranian calendar year 1362, during the consolidation phase of the Islamic Republic’s prison system and mass repression of political prisoners.
[2] Closed-circuit television – A surveillance-controlled broadcast system used inside Iranian prisons to transmit propaganda and ideological content.
[3] Fourteen hundred years ago – A reference to the early Islamic era, used critically to describe the clerics’ outdated worldview.
[4] Homa Ghasemlou – A former political prisoner who collaborated with prison authorities and interrogators after breaking under pressure.
[5] Hypocrites (Monafeghin) – A derogatory term used by the Islamic Republic to refer to members or supporters of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK).
[6] Aghdas Taqvaei – A student militia member affiliated with the Mojahedin, killed in May 1982 during a raid on their safe house.
[7] Evin Prison – A notorious prison in Tehran, widely known for holding political prisoners and for systematic torture and executions.
[8] “Indeed, with hardship comes ease” – A verse from the Qur’an (94:6), often invoked for patience during suffering.
[9] “Do not grieve; indeed, God is with us” – A Qur’anic verse (9:40), associated with perseverance and faith under threat.
[10] Ward 209 – A high-security interrogation ward in Evin Prison, run by intelligence services and infamous for severe torture.
[11] Gohardasht Prison – Also known as Raja’i Shahr Prison, near Karaj, notorious for holding political prisoners and mass executions.
[12] Operation Forough-e Javidan – A major military operation carried out by the Mojahedin in July 1988, known internationally as Operation Eternal Light.
