Wednesday, February 15, 2006

Islamic regimes bulldozers destroy Sufi gathering place in Qom

Iran Press News: Translation by Banafsheh Zand-Bonazzi.
According to reports from the regime-run site ENTEKHOB, the several-day long resistance of the Nematollahi Sufi Dervishes to the closing of their Hosseini'yeh (spiritual center) came to a brutal end on Monday night, Feb. 13th as fundamentalist groups gathered and chanted "Death to Sufism", leading to violence and finally the destruction of the Hosseini'yeh.

Passers by reported that there was no trace of the brand-new building of the Hosseini'yeh by late Tuesday morning, Feb. 14th. A resident of Qom reported: "Several of the city's streets have now been officially closed down to traffic, the electricity in that area has also been shut off and it feels just like martial law. They are beating people. Some of the Sufis who are Imam Ali worshippers were attacked in their spiritual center and the security forces took the blankets inside the center and set them on fire because they had done a peaceful sit-in for days to protect their Hosseini’yeh. Ambulances were coming and going. The stores are all closed..."