SOUVENIR OF MY SISTER AND BROTHER OF NUK
NUK
Muhammad-Husayn and Shikkar-nisa' had just returned to their house after a long hard day's work in the fields of their farm . Their name is MA'SUMI.
They lived in a tiny little almost forgoten hamlet , a spot on the road called NUK
Remember it It rhymes with wonderful'!
The story begins on November 22, 1980
a full moon was shinning and splashing its friendly light on the few scatterd houses of their small village , Muhammad ad Shikkar-Nisa' washed away the stains of their day work, said their prayers and ate their dinner ......... it was9.00 pm when they take tea it was the most peaceful time relaxing recuperating resting their aching bones
At that happy moment between husband and wife their lives were almost at an end.
Masked and armed men were scaling the garden wall.
They moved silently and stealthily toward the house....
it was 10.00a.m exactly november 22 1980
the moon awas in full splendour when Muhammad HUSAYN SAID 'I must go tothe stable and fill the feeding trough for the sheep,'
Hurry back.' Shikkar-Nisa told him ' or your tea will be cold. It was thelast time she would see her hushand alive, the last words she would ever say to him.
Shikkar-Nisa. swept up the almonds, and started to finish her own tea , when she heard the outside door open . There was a curtain across the innert door , so she called out:
Muhammad?'
No reply.
Suddenly , several masked men swept into the room.
Inthe dim light of the kerosene lamp, Shikkar-Nisa could not tell they were masked . She turned tothem with a smile . She liked people. Even unexpected visitors .
As they moved into the light ,Shikkar-Nisa saw they were masked. She cried out,dropped her glass of tea to the floor, and tried to escape. They seized her roughly by the arms and dragged her across the room. She cried out,
'Muhammad!'
One of the masked men choked her to keep her quiet ,Shikkar-Nisa moaned ,. She begged them not to hurt her husband. Do watever they want to her, she cried , but dont harm Muhammad. Her pleas went unanswered. They choked off further comment.
Still no word had yet been spoken by the atackers. Masks can cover the face ; spoken words can indentify the speakers .
The marauders carried a heavy wooden door from the corner of the house. They tied SHIKKAR-NISA TIGHTLY WITH ROPE, PLACED THE DOOR ON TOP OF HER PLACE DRY WOOD ON TOP OF THE DOOR ,POURED THE CONTENTS OF A KEROSENE LAMP OVER THE WOOD AND SPLASHED HER CLOTHING.
Even when she realized that they intended to burn her alive., her only thought was for the safety of her husband, Muhammad.
The ARSONISTS THREW A LIGHTED MATCH. tHE FUMES FLASHED INTO FIRE.
They watched until they were sure the flames were high enough to burn Shikkar-Nisa' to ashes into a short time. With a grunt of satisfaction, they left . It was only part of their night's work.
Now it was Muhammad's turn
They knew wher exactly where to find him.
Shikka-Nisa'TRIED TO SCREAM AND WARN HIM. it was useless
She later told her neighbours,My whole life , a flood of memories , the children growing up, all passed through my mind, Strangely enough, my fear turned to calm, as I waited for the flames . I could think only of my husband Muhammad .I cried out in anguish and prayer.'
Shikkar-Nisa' knew they were being killedbecause they were BAHAIS`
They had been warned that it was dangerous to be a Bahais these days . What days was it not , in IRAN ?(TO-DAY 4TH APRIL 2006 SITUATION IS WORSE) It would be wiser they were told,to give up their Faith. They always gently but firmly refused. They were now paying for it.
The heat surrounding Shikkar-Nisa ' became intense . The pain almost unendurable. But the flames reached the nylon ropes, melted them , and Shikkar-Nisa' was able to free herself.
Half of her body was burned and charred. Crying and moaning,she seized her husband's overcoat, wrapped herself in it , and ran outside . She couldn't find Muhammad anywhere. She rushed to the nearest house for help.
The neighbours cautiously opened the door . They were not Bahais and it was dangerous to become involved in things happened at night .They were horrified to see her terrible condition, and their children started crying.
Shikkar-Nisa' told them what had happened. She asked them please to help find her husband.
They refused to leave the house. they were afraid. One man however . did agree togo upon the roof to see what he could. He could see nothing , he said even though the moon was full
Shikkar-Nisa' realized they did not intend toi help her . She borrowed a hurricane lamp and carrying it in her burned hands, rushed out to begin her own search . Along the road . she saw a crumpled form fallen in a ditch. It was her dear husband Muhammad.
'I foundto my horror.' Shikkar-Nisa' later wept, ' that I was too late! He was dead, He had burned to death in the path of His Beloved.'
Neighbours said later that many of them had heard Muhammad-Husayn's cries of anguish as the masked murderers had seized him and set him afire. The neighbours had gone to their windows and opened their doors to peep out to see what was happening. They admitted witnessing the death of this brave man, but no one had gone to his rescue. He and his wife were Bahais, after all. and Bahais were in trouble with the authorities....
When Shika-Nisa' saw the charred body of her dear husband , she wept biterly.
This is a heartless ,cruel murder ,' she said to those few who had finally come out of their houses to see what had happened , We have shown you nothing but love and kindness for all these years , and you have done this terribe; things to us.'
She knew it had not been strangers hiding behind those masks,
Silently, everyone returned to his home, Not one neighbour would stay to help poor Shikkar-Nissa'take the body of her murdered husband home. No one even vounteered to inform her son-in-law who lived in Zirk, a neighbourting village half a mile away.
Witnesses reported that the ringleader was startled and alarmed to see Shikkar-Nisa' still alive and standing by the ditch. H e was afraid she might be able to identify him. Seeing her alone , after the neighbours had left , he hurried to her side as though to help. Shikkar-Nisa'was weeping.
They reported later that this criminal tried to finish off the helpless women by striking her violently before rushing off .
After he left , Shikkar-Nisa' could no longer talk. She had lost the power of speech.
In the middle of the night this poor , half-burned woman, broken-hearted, hardly able to walk, was forced to abandon the charred remains of her husband, No one would help. slowly she made her way home, and locked herself alone in the now empty house.
Her son-in-law came the next day.
He found his father-in-law lying in the ditch covered with ashes, his face black with soot.He was told more of the tragic story by eyewitnesses who not afraid to talk in the daylight as they had been in the dark.
The murderers, they said. had soaked Muhammad-Husayn with fuel, and set him ablazed. Then they began shouting at him Run! Run!'
The piteous man , already a human torch, ran as best he could,He fellinto the ditch, crying with the agony of pain. They piled woodon top of him, splashed it with more kerosene, and burned himto death , Delighted with their nights's work, they warmed themselvs by the fire before leaving.
Shikkar-Nisa' still could not speak. Her only response to her son-in-law's first question was the tears which flowed down her cheeks as she kept pointing toward the place where Muhammad had been murdered. Sh was so terribly burned that she had to be carefully wrapped in a blanket and taken in that fashion on the bus to the hospital.
By then she was in a coma , and she died six days later .
Shikkar-Nisa' is buried with her martyred husband Muhammad-Husayn, side by side , united in death as they were in life.
LOOK AT THEM NUK, these two darling souls, They are from your village.
----From the BAHAIS IN IRAN-A CRY FROM THE HEART-Wlliam Sears-1992
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