1978 Qom protest
1978 Qom protests refers to the demonstrations against the Pahlavy dynasty ignited by the Iran and Red and Black Colonization article published in Ettela'at newspaper on 7 January 1978. The article insulted Khomeini,[1] describing him as Indian Sayyed, who later founded the Islamic Republic of Iran.[2]
9 January 1978 (19 Dey) is regarded as a bloody day in Qom.[3]
Prelude
The 1978 Qom protest was precedented by 1978 Qom protest also staged by the seminary students. On 7 January 1978, an article insulting Khomeini was published by a pseudonymous author in Ettela'at, an afternoon newspaper in Tehran.[1] Reacting to the article, huge protests were formed in Qom.[2]
The event
At the evening of the 7 January 1978, students of seminary in Qom made hand copies of the article, a cheap and safe method, adding the addendum that the next day a meeting was to be hold at the Khan seminary in protest to the contents of the article. Students protested the next day, on 8 January, and bazaar were closed on 9 January 1978. The 9 January protests turned violent when someone, protestors or provocateurs, threw stone breaking the window of a nearby bank which resulted in the security forces using live ammunition to disperse and attack people. Between 5-300 people were consequently killed in the protest.[1]
Aftermath
The incident was spread throughout Iran and quickly became an important landmark triggering a revolutionary mobilization.[1]
References
- ^ a b c d Kurzman, Charles (2003). "The Qum Protests and the Coming of the Iranian Revolution, 1975 and 1978". Social Science History. 27 (3): 287–325. doi:10.1017/S0145553200012554. ISSN 1527-8034. Retrieved 8 January 2019.
- ^ a b Keddie, Nikki R.; Richard, Yann (2006). Modern Iran: Roots and Results of Revolution. Yale University Press. p. 225. ISBN 9780300121056. Retrieved 8 January 2019.
- ^ Hovsepian-Bearce, Yvette (2015). The Political Ideology of Ayatollah Khamenei: Out of the Mouth of the Supreme Leader of Iran. Routledge. ISBN 9781317605829. Retrieved 8 January 2019.