Eco-activist Sharif Bajour and his three friends, Omid Hohnepooshi, Rahmat Hakiminia and Mohammad Pajoohi, who lost their lives in a fire in Marivan, eastern Kurdistan, in unexplained circumstances, have been laid to rest by thousands of people.

The funeral procession was in a place of special importance in the history of Marivan. In 1979, the eastern Kurdistan city was besieged by Iranian military. Engineer and founder of the Komala movement, Fuad Mustafa Sultani, who was staying in Marivan at the time, decided to leave the city to prevent it from being destroyed by Iranian security forces. In protest against the Iranian regime, a large part of the population joined him. The funeral took place in the area from where the population of Marivan left the city forty years ago.

The same sight as it was forty years ago

55-year-old Hesen Alizadeh said the funeral scene took him back to 40 years ago. "When we left the city with Kak Fuad in 1979, I was only 16 years old. The sight of forty years ago was the same as it is today. There was only one difference: at that time, we left the city to protest against the Iranian state and its military. Today we passed the same place to bury Sharif Bajour and his friends in the land they loved very much. For all those of my age, or those even older, the past has come to life again.”

Sharif Bajour: Eco-activist and civil rights activist

Sharif Bajour came from Marivan and was a well-known eco-activist and civil rights activist in Rojhilat (Eastern Kurdistan) and Iran. He tirelessly participated in the firefighting of forest fires throughout the country. After the devastating earthquake in Kermanshah and the surrounding area last December, which killed hundreds of people, he spent three months collecting and distributing aid. Because of his commitment, he was known and popular among the population.

Twelve days before Sharif Bajour was found dead, he had been summoned to the center of the Sepah-Pasdaran (Iranian Revolutionary Guard). There he is said to have been threatened to “watch his step” because of his extensive involvement in “every matter”. In response to the threats, he said that he would do all he could to protect the people and their land.