Foad Mustafa Sultani
Salah Bayaziddi
It was on August 30, 1979, in middle of one the steamy heat days of summer in Kurdistan, when suddenly state radio in Tehran stopped its regular news program and happily announced, "the leader of counter-revolutionary forces, Foad Mustafa Sultani killed today". The death news of Foad who was known as "kak Foad" (meaning brother Foad), shocked the Kurds and revolutionary forces whom were struggling in middle of a heavy battle following the declaration of Khomeini's Jihad against Kurdish people just 12 days earlier. Maybe at the time, most of people of Iran did have no idea about the role Foad had played in Kurdistan following the fall of Shah's regime in 1979 and how he became a symbol and an icon of struggle and fighting of freedom lovers in Kurdistan in such a short period
.
Kak Foad was born in 1948 in village near a Kurdish city of Marivan called "Almana" then completed his higher education in electronic engineering from a university in Tehran and it was at this time when he met many political activists and was influenced by their leftist ideas. The years later he became one of the main founders of a new Kurdish political party, popularly known as Komala, as the organization's most prominent figure he played a major in political arena of Kurdistan in the pre-years of Iran's revolution in 1979. After just a short period, Shah's secret police known as "SAVAK", found out about Komala's wide-spread activities and eventually some main founders of Komala including "kak Foad" arrested. The secret police brutally tortured him but they could not break the spirit of kak Foad and they failed to get any information about Komala's underground activities from him and he stood up against them in more heroic way when he went on hunger strike for twenty four days in prison.
After four years and just days before revolution of 1979, kak Foad was freed from prison and he immediately played a major role in advancing social and political uprising in Kurdistan. When the Mullahs took power in Iran in February 1979, and they started to suppress any freedom voice in Iran, kak Foad and his colleagues were just busy with reorganizing Komala's networks in Kurdistan where it was at the verge to become as one of the most prominent and popular Kurdish political parties in Iran. Very soon, the new Islamic regime in Tehran started to view Kurdistan as a major threat to its power and they had no hesitation to sent their bombers to Kurdish city of Sanandaj and kill as many they can just after a month of grabbing power. During all this period before the declaration of Khomeini's Jihad against Kurdish people in Iran, kak Foad's leadership played a major role in standing firm and strong against the domination of Mullahs in Kurdistan. He also showed his extra-ordinary abilities and skills of organizing non-violent and civil resistance of Kurdish people, therefore it is fair to say that he was a real pioneer of such a form of struggle in the modern history of Kurds. During this period. from the formation of the "Peasant Union" against the oppression of the landlords, leading the historical "Trek of Mariwan" to the skillfully engaging in rounds of negotiations with authorities of Iran, all were among the roles that kak Foad played in advancing social and political movement in Kurdistan.
After the declaration of Khomeini's Jihad against Kurdish people in Iran on August 18, 1979, Komala and kak Foad were in for-front of battlefield and among a leading resistance force against the occupation of Kurdistan by Mullahs. This so called Jihad against Kurds in Iran was resulted in a massive military strike across the Kurdish regions and at the end hundreds killed by death squad, heavy bombardment and in discriminatory shooting to innocent people. Just 12 days later, in middle of this wide-spread battlefield in Kurdistan, kak Foad was targeted by regime forces and he lost his life on August 30, 1979. Although, the death of Foad was a major blow to the newly reorganized Komala, but his spirit, legacy and credibility among Kurdish people has been remained alive and surely his legendary fame should be included among the leading forces for popularity of Komla for more than three decades.