In 2009, there was a turning point in the change of mindset among the people of Iran. Although the ruling regime and its media outlets made great efforts to not only censor but also suppress news, with the help of technologies such as Facebook and satellite networks in the hands of the people, news of protests reached even the most remote areas of the country. This sparked a new phase of political and social thinking throughout the country. The province of Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad and the village of Dil were not exempt from this movement.

Dil village is known as the largest village in Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province, located 25 kilometers from Gachsaran city. This village, with a population of nearly five thousand people, is famous for its unique dialect and has been a religious village since ancient times. Before the revolution, there were also religious leaders residing in the village who, along with the locals, were involved in activities at the city level during the revolution. Dil also had the highest presence in the front lines and the highest number of martyrs, veterans, and freed prisoners during the war and after the revolution compared to its population.

In 2009, there was a year of transformation and enlightenment; events that caused the ice of minds that had been frozen for over three decades with the cold of trust in the revolution to melt. Trust was lost and people sought a solution to reform matters. The youth of the village of Dil, like other youth of this land, followed the news and events of the capital and analyzed and thought about these events. This is how the books they studied changed and the discussions in gatherings turned away from trivial matters and towards enlightenment. University students, who were mostly active members of the Basij and came from families with good social status, instead of wasting their time, turned to studying books and, due to the situation prevailing in Iran and the lack of freedom, automatically sought out banned and underground books, most of which they accessed through the internet and Facebook. On the other hand, with the news of the events of 2009, the desire to join the Basij became less and less each day

If we go back to the political situation of the village of Dil, the people in the previous regime prevented the establishment of a gendarmerie station and the construction of a castle in the village of Dil and forced the ruling government to move the station to the nearby village of Aro. They were pioneers in revolutionary activities at the provincial and perhaps even national level. After the revolution and from 1978, the majority of educated villagers took key positions at the city and provincial levels. However, the village of Dil and its people were mostly known as supporters of Hezbollah and fundamentalist figures. In fact, in the parliamentary and presidential elections, until recent years, their votes for the reformist faction did not even reach 10%. Two fundamentalists from this village, named the late Mohammad Ali Nabizadeh and Alimorad Jafari, were representatives of the people of Gachsaran in the sixth and seventh terms of the Islamic Consultative Assembly.

On 4 November 1993, a group of middle and high school students participated in a march to commemorate the 13th of Aban – which was from schools to the Martyrs’ Cemetery. Most of them, due to their young age, chanted slogans against the government officials and demanded freedom of speech, more for the sake of entertainment rather than a specific purpose. During that day, with the cooperation of school officials, a number of students were arrested by the Information Department, including Mr. Ebrahim Mobaraki, Azizollah Barfi, and Kourosh Purzaki. Among the detainees, Mr. Ebrahim Mobaraki was held in detention for a longer period and afterwards, he was prevented from continuing his education and getting a job in government organizations. At that time, when there was no internet or satellite, the news of this incident was broadcasted by Radio London.

Let me go back to that year 88; on the night of Tasua, the village of Deyl and its mourning processions had a special atmosphere. In some of the processions, green fabrics were distributed among the mourners as scarves and wristbands. On the day of Ashura, as every year, the chest-beating processions make their way to the martyrs’ cemetery. At the entrance of this cemetery, next to the graves of the martyrs of the Iran-Iraq war, on a three-meter green fabric, with beautiful and bold calligraphy, a message of condolences for the passing of Ayatollah Montazeri to mourners and Shia Muslims around the world, caught the eye of every observer.

From the beginning of the Ashura ceremony, the color and scent of security were evident. While the security forces were filming the ceremony, at the beginning of the program, several times the police officers entered the circles of chest-beating, which were protested by the enlightened people of Dil village and came out. After all the village delegations gathered at the martyrs’ cemetery, with a pre-determined and coordinated movement, close to 40 young people from Dil, wearing headbands, wristbands, and green scarves, and some wearing green shirts and even green pants, entered the middle row of chest-beating in the southern style. But on the evening of Ashura, news of the arrest of Dil youth quickly spread throughout the Gachsaran county. More than 10 young people from Dil village were arrested by the intelligence agency. Sayyid Mohammad and Sajjad Miri, as the designers of the Ashura program, and Sayyid Ismail Miri, the uncle

The young and educated population of the village of Dil, unlike previous years when they did not criticize the officials and the system and considered it a heinous act, were resentful of the approach of security forces, which instead of showing mercy towards the youth, caused a rift between the system and the people by destroying and injuring their feelings. With the change in the mindset of the people of this village from closed-mindedness towards open-mindedness and enlightenment since 2009, this change was not only evident in the votes cast in various election boxes, but also in the mentality of the people of the city and even the province towards the people of Dil. Prior to these events, the residents of Dil were seen as security personnel and informants, but in recent years, the people of the province have paid attention to the Dilis as trustworthy and enlightened individuals.

In the 90th election for the Islamic Consultative Assembly, two people from the village of Dil registered; one was Alimorad Jafari, who was elected to the parliament and was from one of the well-known branches of fundamentalism at the national level, and the other was Khatoun Alah Karampour, a senior communications expert, university professor, and the only female candidate in Gachsaran county. Before the qualification results were confirmed by the Guardian Council, Khatoun Alah Karampour, in several election meetings, clarified the country’s situation and explicitly declared her reformist tendencies and election activities in Mir Hossein Mousavi’s headquarters, which led to her disqualification by the Guardian Council; although she came from prominent families in Gachsaran county and was the niece of the late Ayatollah Mohammad Ali Jafari (who had been teaching and researching in the seminary in Shiraz for years) and the cousin of Ali Alah Karampour

During the election days, numerous announcements were made regarding the transparency of candidates’ status and the actions of the Guardian Council, which were broadcasted in city levels and election meetings. At the end of all of them, it was written: “Youthful intellectuals of Dil village, wait for us.” And perhaps this is the beginning of a self-made political organization in Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province.

On the morning of February 18, 2013, which coincided with the day of celebrating the victory of the revolution, which was held every year on one of the days of the Fajr decade in the village of Dil, a widespread slogan writing was carried out in the village. These slogans were painted with spray paint on the walls of the village, the streets, and the walls of the celebration venue. On the morning of February 18, when teachers, village headmen, council members, and Basij forces woke up to celebrate, they were amazed to see the colorful walls of the village. The slogans were mostly “Death to the dictator”, “Death to the principle of the Supreme Leader”, and “Salute to the martyrs”. This news spread throughout the city, the province, and perhaps even the capital, causing a commotion and anxiety in Dil. After taking photos of the writings on the walls and the presence of security forces, the slogans were erased by the

During the days leading up to Nowruz, a group of fundamentalist Dail residents organized a meeting with the invitation of Ayatollah Seyyed Sharafeddin Malek Hosseini, the representative of the Supreme Leader in the province of Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad. This meeting was held to get closer to Mr. Malek Hosseini and to provide coverage for the slogan writing on February 18th in a mosque in the city of Gachsaran, and lasted until midnight. On the same night, after the meeting, slogan writing was also held for the second time in Dail. In addition to the previous slogans, this slogan writing included slogans against Sharafeddin Malek Hosseini and his father, who were traditionally representatives of the Supreme Leader.

Slogan writing in the village of Dil and Gachsaran county was repeated from time to time. On the morning of Tasua day in 1391, when people woke up, in most houses, envelopes with a one-page announcement were placed. The announcements were about the oppression of the people of Dil in the past, clarification of the current situation of the country, the spread of oppression and injustice by the government, the events of 1388 and the Kahrizak detention center, and ended with the phrase “Wait for us.”

After these announcements, the atmosphere in the village of Dil became completely secure. People were taken to security agencies for questioning multiple times, but no one was arrested. At night, Basij and Sepah forces patrolled the village of Dil and the route from Gachsaran to Dil, discreetly. Near the fortieth day of 1392 (January 2014), on the second night of Dey month, a news about the disappearance of Mehdi Salehi, a 34-year-old employee of the Gachsaran Oil Company, spread in Dil. The last news his family had of him was that he had said in a phone call around 5:30 pm that he was on his way from Gachsaran to Dil. He had gone to the city to buy some necessities for a vow, but he had not returned home and was not answering his phone. His family went to all the hospitals, security agencies, and law enforcement centers in the city until morning, but

At three o’clock in the afternoon, Mehdi Salehi was released, but no one knew about Abbas Sadeghpour’s situation. Mr. Salehi stated that last night, before reaching the village, a car approached us honking and flashing its lights, and asked for gasoline; the car belonged to the oil company and the driver was from the company’s high-ranking security forces. Based on my previous knowledge, I stopped on the side of the road to help them, but suddenly one of the passengers went towards Mr. Sadeghpour and knocked him to the ground, tied his hands and blindfolded him, and they got into the government-plated car – which was parked behind the first car – and drove off. They also tied my hands and blindfolded me, and we drove back towards Gachsaran. From the moment of our arrest until we were released, I begged them to at least let me contact my family to ease their worries, but they kept saying

The atmosphere was tense and frightening, around 7 PM, five different government vehicles entered the village of Dil and began arresting the youth. They first went to the home of Mojtaba Pourhasan, an English language teacher and the brother of martyr Iraj Pourhasan, and arrested him. Then they arrested Mehran Zakinnejad, a student of industrial management, along with Abdullah Alirezanejad, who was dressed in sports attire and ready to go to the gym. They went to the home of Mohammadreza Mobaraki, a star student of 88 and a mechanical engineering graduate, and asked his family to contact him and tell him that his friends had come to Dil to visit him. After this phone call, Mohammadreza asked his family to give the phone to the officers (or friends) and after the conversation, he gave them his friend’s address; a few minutes later, Mohammadreza Mobaraki was also arrested. Hamid Bozorg

For four days, no one knew about the situation of these individuals. Worried families were searching for news of their young ones every day from morning until evening in front of the Sepah headquarters in Gachsaran city. The news of the arrest of the young people from the village of Dil was broadcasted on various social media networks and foreign media outlets. Eventually, it was reported that the arrested individuals were taken to Yasuj. After 14 days, news came that they had been transferred to Gachsaran prison, and shortly after, the families were able to release their children by posting bail.

After a few months, slogans were written in every corner of the village of Dil and on the road leading to Gachsaran County. The slogans continued until February 11, 2016. When the villagers were getting ready to march to the Martyrs’ Cemetery on February 11, news came that the night before, despite all the security measures taken by the Basij and Sepah forces, slogans had been written on the graves of the martyrs of Dil village. The slogans had the same content as the previous ones, but there were more praises for the martyrs. Perhaps the slogan writers wanted to convey to the public that regardless of their beliefs and thoughts, martyrs are worthy of respect and that security institutions should not exploit the families of martyrs for their own benefit, as they have done in previous years.

Day by day, the security of the village was becoming more secure. In most of the village paths, surveillance cameras were installed and the Basij forces, both strangers and locals, patrolled and set up ambushes every night until morning. Despite all these measures, within a maximum of 20 days, widespread or small-scale graffiti would reappear in every corner.

On the afternoon of Monday, 10th of August 2016, three young men from the village of Dil were arrested by the forces of the provincial intelligence agency: Seyed Mohammad Miri, 31 years old, a petroleum engineer and one of the detainees of Ashura 88, Qasem Ghanbari, 33 years old, a shopkeeper and holder of a diploma in political science (nephew of Mohammad Miri), and Hassan Bozorgzadeh, 25 years old, a student of fundamental law.

A few months later, on January 30th, 2017, while six of the detainees from 2013 were being taken to prison to serve their sentences, a widespread protest took place in the village of Dil and the city of Gachsaran as a sign of objection to the unjust rulings. Now it was the turn of the security forces to intervene; they thought that these heavy sentences would serve as a lesson for the detainees and those who, according to them, had a poisoned mindset. The commanders of the Revolutionary Guards also stated in various occasions that the root of these movements was in the drought-stricken city.

While those individuals were being taken to prison, these widespread slogans – which have now spread from the village of Dil to the surrounding villages and the city of Gachsaran – show that they have not only dried up the roots of freedom movements, but have also irrigated them with their own bad actions. However, the reason that turned the village of Dil from a supporter of the Islamic Republic government to a haven for opponents of the regime must be poverty, injustice, class divisions, and the government’s bad treatment of critics who were only seeking their basic rights.

Not having freedom of speech in a remote village and suppressing freedom seekers has led to several people being deprived of job opportunities in government agencies, by security forces, with just a few lines written in a deprived province’s remote village. The actions of security forces have caused not only the youth, but also their families, to oppose the government, and every citizen of Gachsaran to become “Abbas” and “Mehran”. Are they not the ones who are imprisoned, while their brothers, nephews, or nieces are martyred and buried in the martyrs’ cemetery of Dil village, so that Majid, Qasem, and Mohammad can have freedom and prosperity?

I understand that you are hitting.

I understand that you are leaving.

I understand that you are pulling…

What do you do with inevitable growth?

This article has been written by one of the residents of the village of Deyl, with a preserved identity, for the sake of peace.