Draft:Shidrukh

Shidrukh Amirkia-Baqa (Bagha)
شیدرخ امیرکیا بقا
Born	Shidrukh Amirkia (1935-10-07)October 7, 1935 Tehran, Iran
Died	January 4, 1982(1982-01-04) (aged 46) Evin Prison, Tehran, Iran
Resting place	Khavaran cemetery, Tehran, Iran
Education	Nour-Bakhsh High School
Occupations	Culinary instructor, television presenter, community activist
Known for	Iranian Bahá'í activist, executed for religious beliefs
Spouse	Manouchehr Bagha (m. 1952)
Children	3 (Manousheed, Mojan, Merat)

Shidrukh Amirkia-Baqa (شیدرخ امیرکیا بقا; October 7, 1935 – January 4, 1982) was an Iranian member of the Bahá'í Faith known for her decades of service to the Bahá'í community in Iran and for her execution during the persecution of Bahá'ís following the Iranian Revolution. Throughout her life she participated in educational, devotional, and community-building activities, and served on Bahá'í committees. Following the establishment of the Islamic Republic, she remained in Iran despite increasing persecution of Bahá'ís and was later imprisoned and executed because of her religious beliefs.

Although not widely known outside of Bahá'í history, Shidrukh's decades of involvement in the religion's educational and community activities have been documented by the Bahá'í community. Accounts of her life, imprisonment, and execution have been preserved through family correspondence, photographs, and records compiled by her contemporaries.

Early life and education

Shidrukh was born on October 7, 1935, at the American Hospital Tehran, Iran. She was the eldest of five children born to Rouhanieh Eghrari and Rouhoullah Amirkia (formerly Missaghian), both Bahá'ís of Persian Jewish decent. She attended Bozorg Mehr Elementary School and completed her secondary education at Nour-Bakhsh High School in Tehran.

From early childhood, Shidrukh demonstrated an aptitude for mathematics and a strong interest in music, particularly the piano. Encouraged by her father, who played the violin, and her uncles, who played the piano and the santour, she studied piano under Hasan Radmard. She became one of the first women in Iran to sing Bahá'í prayers accompanied by live piano music, a practice approved by Shoghi Effendi, then head of the Bahá'í Faith.

Personal life and career

In the summer of 1952, at age 16, Shidrukh married Manouchehr Bagha (Baqa). The couple had three children: a daughter, Manousheed, and two sons, Mojan and Merat. Alongside raising her family, she continued her personal education by taking English language classes.

During the mid-1970s, Shidrukh was a presenter on a cooking program on Iranian National Radio and Television. She also worked as a culinary supervisor at an upscale food specialty store in Tehran, overseeing the preparation of Western-style dishes and holiday meals for foreign residents and expatriates.

Bahá'í community service

Shidrukh was actively involved in local Bahá'í community administration and educational programs. She attended the First Bahá'í World Congress in London in 1963 and an international Bahá'í conference in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil, in 1977. In January 1975, she was appointed to the Bahá'í National Audio-Visual Committee of Iran.

Following the 1979 Revolution and the onset of intensified persecution of Bahá'ís in Iran, Shidrukh elected to remain in the country to assist local believers and elderly community members. In May 1981, she was appointed as an assistant to Jinous Mahmoudi, an Auxiliary Board Member for Protection. Despite government restrictions on non-Islamic religious gatherings, Shidrukh frequently hosted devotional meetings as well as administrative sessions for the Local Spiritual Assembly of Tehran and the National Spiritual Assembly of Iran in her home.

Arrest and execution

On November 2, 1981, Iranian Revolutionary Guards raided Shidrukh's home during a meeting of the Local Spiritual Assembly of Tehran. Shidrukh, her husband, and six members of the assembly were arrested and taken to Evin Prison. Her husband was released after one month upon signing a pledge to cease community activities, but Shidrukh remained detained.

According to testimonies from fellow inmates, prison authorities repeatedly demanded that Shidrukh recant her Bahá'í Faith as a condition for her release, which she steadfastly refused. On January 4, 1982, Shidrukh was secretly executed by firing squad alongside six members of the Tehran Assembly: Shiva Mahmudi Asadullah-Zadih, Fathullah Firdawsi, Iskandar Azizi, Khusraw Muhandisi, Ata'ullah Yavari, and Kurush Tala'i.

Burial and legacy

Following her execution, government authorities buried Shidrukh without notifying her family in an unmarked grave at the Khavaran Cemetery near Tehran, a site designated by authorities for non-Muslims and political dissidents. In late 2009, reports emerged indicating that the cemetery grounds containing her remains had been bulldozed and destroyed by municipal authorities.

Shidrukh's execution was formally announced to international Bahá'í administrative bodies in a cable sent by the Universal House of Justice on January 7, 1982.

External links

• Official Shidrukh Amirkia-Baqa Website
• Bahá'í World Publication, Volume 18, 1979-1983, Page 784
• Abdorrahman Boroumand Center for Human Rights in Iran
• Iran Press Watch, Baha’i Assemblies After the Revolution: Arrest, Torture and Execution, January 2022
• Iran Press Watch, Stop Persecuting the Baha'is of Iran: A Personal Plea, August 2009
• Situation of the Bahá'ís of Iran
• Archives of Bahá'í Persecution in Iran