Freedom Guards Step up

their presence in the cities and towns in Iranian Kurdistan

  Javad Aslani

 The Hekmatist Party’s Freedom Guards have stepped up their activities in the recent months. This initiative has stuck a cord with the revolutionary young men and women in the neighbourhoods of the urban areas. Freedom Guards in contrast to the established traditional nationalist armed struggles have offered a new way of organising, protecting and safeguarding the struggle of people against the Islamic forces in the neighbourhoods and districts. The Freedom Guards offer protection to people to carry out their struggle and make sure their achievements and gains are sustained. The expansion and growth of the Freedom Guards will empower people in their neighbourhood to establish their own control and cut off the interferences of the government oppressive forces from their daily activities.

Freedom Guards are made of gross root activists advocating revolutionary politics and offering a revolutionary alternative to the Islamic reaction in neighbourhoods and districts. 

In recent months major cities and towns in Iranian Kurdistan witnessed the emergence of units of the Freedom Guards and staging high profile armed presence and incursions into the heart of major centres of population. In the cities of Sanandaj, Mahabad, Marivan, Kamiaran, Sardasht and Naghadeh local units of Freedom Guards have taken over strategic locations and whole neighbourhoods and staged rallies and propaganda campaigns. Agitators within the units of the Freedom Guards address gatherings and distribute party literatures and invite people to intensify their struggle against the Islamic Republic.

Such appearances have proven very popular with local people and have been very successful in raising the morale of the local people and deterring the regime’s mercenaries from intimidating and harassing citizens.