Declaring war against MKO

It was some time that I had not heard from my daughters, Maryam and Fatima. Mohsen Tarighat who was in contact with me would give some news about their health to me, but it was some time that he would give me any news. One day I asked him to set a meeting for me with Fatima. My aim was to ask her for the last time to separate from MKO. If she would not accept I would ask her to give me my daughter. I was deeply worried about my daughter and her fate. Mohsen accepted to do it for me. In the next meeting we had, he told me that Shahourzadeh (Fatima) had accepted to see you the day after tomorrow in the last place for appointments (in Gorgan Street). I was really happy of hearing it and began counting the moments till that day. On that day, I went there and waited to visit my wife. But alas!  She did not come. After few hours I came back hopelessly.

In another meeting that I had with the late Andarzgou, I informed him about this matter and asked him: “Haj Agha! Am I not my kids’ father? I want my daughter!” He said: “How?! What can you do?” I said: “I want to them a deadline. If they don’t give Maryam back in one week, I would reaction by arms. Wherever and whenever I see any of them I would shoot them.” Haj Agha did not tell me to do that. He did not also confirm my intention; he just took silent.

The next day I visited Tarighat and told him: “Why didn’t my wife come?” He said: “She is wise and grown-up. She herself decided not to come.” I said: “Mohsen! Inform MKO they have only one week to give my daughter back or I would any of them wherever and whenever I see them. They can shoot me wherever and whenever they see me either. Go and tell them I have declared a war against them.” Mohsen tried to dissuade me but I was confirmed on this decision. Tarighat knew that if I say something I would do it. So, he got upset and worried.

Day and night I were thinking about Maryam. I was ready to devote my life for her. Day by day the fire of fighting them would become more and more serious in me. The dependence of father to his daughter is something special that I would feel it deeply those days.

Day after day passed and I heard no news about Maryam. I became ready to fight with them in the places that I knew. Since it was also possible for me to be killed, I called my mother-in-law to ask about the health of my other daughter Zahra who was there with her. She picked up the phone. Her voice was sad and worried. After greetings she asked: “How is Fatima?” I said: “Thank God, she is ok!” She asked again: “How is Maryam?” I said: “She is also good. I wanted to bring her to you…” Suddenly she burst to cry and I could not finish my sentence. She was crying hard and could not continue and put down the phone.

I got so worried. I guessed something bad had happened to Zahra. I walked about ten minutes around the telephone booth and then called again. My mother-in-law picked up the phone again. I asked: “Mum! What has happened? Why are you crying?” She narrated sadly for me: “Ahmad Agha! At the time you were telling me Fatima was ok and you wanted to bring Maryam to me, she had stuck to my legs and would not leave…” I was shocked and at the same time so happy to hear my deadline had worked and they had returned Maryam. I asked: “What has happened?” She said: “I do not know; I just know that yesterday after sunset, Mirza Gholam-Ali called and said: ‘Your granddaughter is here with me. Please come and take her.’ I went there and saw Maryam was in his arms.” Mirza Gholam Ali was a friend of my father-in-law and a texture seller.

Mirza Gholam Ali had narrated for my mother-in-law: “About sunset, a young man came to my shop and stood for some moments in front of counter and checked around. Another person was standing in front of the shop and watching inside. Few moments later your daughter (Fatima) came in and after greetings asked the price of some textures and then said: ‘Mirza Gholam Ali! Take care of kid for some minutes, I should go to a shop near here and I’ll be back soon.’ I said: ‘It’s praying time I should go for prayers; it’s getting late!’ She said: ‘It won’t take long I’ll be back right now.’ And she went. Minutes later the kid began crying. I waited for her, but she did not come. I lost on-time prayers. I called you to come and take this innocent kid.”

After his call, my mother-in law would go to his shop and take Maryam and the bag filled with her clothes and other things. She said: “When you called, I understood that you had been separated and known nothing about each other. And the kid was so frightened and lonely that would not go out of my arms. Sometimes even when she is on the ground, comes and sticks to my legs.”

Hearing these sentences, I started to weep. I felt so sad because of the situation that my little kid had to face and I damned myself for her. On the other side I was happy about her and felt relax. On the next days I would go to see my kid. She would cradle on the ground this side and that side; she seemed to be sick and would frighten everything since she had not been fed with love and affection for a long time. She would take shelter in her grandmother’s arms all the time. After this event, I missed all my hope to get Fatima back. Few days before my separation from MKO, while she was sitting beside me in the pickup truck going somewhere, I asked her to come with me, but she presented excuses. Anyway, in order to show her that she was not losing all her chances with me, I told her: “Fatima! I would surely separate from MKO and if you do not want to come with me, be sure if you reached someday to this conclusion that way you are going through is wrong, you can come back to me and be sure that I would warrantee your security, and if you could not find any way to make contact with me, just call your Mum and tell her. I would come to take you.” This way, she found the best way to bring Maryam back to me was her Mum’s house. However, she left and was lost in the mass of fog and darkness.