Mohtadi founded Komala with fellow students in Tehran in October 1969. The year 1969 marks the founding date of the Komala Party. With the new party being alive, now Mohtadi and his fellow party members should put the best of their efforts to hide their track from the eyes of
SAVAK. They decided to cut off the extra communications that would lead to their arrest, following the decision to refrain from further discussions in political circles. Because the Mohtadi family was known to the eyes, both in Kurdistan and Tehran, their homes were always a place for surveillance by SAVAK. During this time, Abdullah's older brother, Salahedin arrested several times by SAVAK to force young and passionate Abdullah more careful and not to take risks aimlessly. With all of the incidents, at this exact period Mohtadi knew well that the Shah's regime would deal severely with any political move in existence, by remembering the lessons of the Kurdish movement in the 60's. They had to consider all aspects of their activities and further try to bring this party into the populace and the support of the populace into the party, so that at the right time, they can wage an armed endeavor against the Shah's regime.
Mohtadi in 1970s Despite all the efforts to remain in secrecy, in the 1970s, Mohtadi was arrested three times; with his last arrest, Abdullah sentenced to spend more than three years in imprisonment for his activism against the shah regime. Lastly, after the failure of SAVAK to provide any evidence regarding Mohtadi's political actions being, he released from prison and now, his party should cope with its most important era of the pre-Islamic Revolution Iran. After his finale release from the prison, Mohtadi and his friends was gathering around every week to discuss the progress of their agenda. They contacted so many people and characters but they never directly asked anyone to engage in active fields. As for the newcomers, they were making sure of their commitment just before their engagement to the party. After a while, they decided that their activity among the students should split into two separate groups, one active in Tabriz and the other one active in Tehran. A group with Abdullah Mohtadi, including Foad Mustafa Sultani,
Mohammad Husein Karimi and Mosleh Sheikkhol-islami expanded their activities in Tehran. Through this process, Abdullah and his friends were able to attract many people for their own gain without absorbing the SAVAK's attention. Soon after, with the arrival of member's like Jafar Shafiee, Khane Moini,
Ibrahim Alizadeh, Faroq Babamiri, Omar Ilkhanizadeh, Abobakr Modaresi etc. the period of Mohtadi and his friends' activity enters a new phase. Now they were able to expand the field of their sets of duty in other cities of Kurdistan and attract more people to themselves and their collective idea. Soon most of the elites across cities of Kurdistan were coming alongside the slogans of the new agenda. Most of the people they brought with them were students, teachers, engineers, physicians and nurses in Kurdistan. Now there were active people in almost all cities of Kurdistan. Nevertheless, the challenge for Abdullah and his friends was how to position themselves among all classes of Kurdish society, especially the labor and peasants. In order to accomplish this goal, they had to understand the reality of life of this very class of Kurdish society; so they set the simple idea of "we must be like them; to work like them, to dress and to behave just like them in daily life." With this simple idea in place their comprehension of the labor class came to a more comprehensive recognition, and furthermore, they could gain their trust for the upcoming endeavor against the Shah's regime. Mohtadi and his friends were now pursuing exactly the same policy, with each one of them involved in construction, agriculture and even baking working in different villages and cities of Kurdistan. The implication of all the efforts, enabled them to create a large brotherhood throughout Kurdistan. Interestingly enough, as Abdullah Mohtadi was arrested by SAVAK for the third time in 1974 with Foad Mostafa Soltani and Khane Moini, the undergoing network of resistance was still functional and they continued to maintain contact with organizations outside the prison. At this time, important events were to take place in Iraqi Kurdistan, affecting the stir of Mohtadi and his friends. In 1975, the
Algerian treaty was signed between the Shah and
Saddam Hussein, resulting in The Shah's support regarding Barzani to stop. Barzani was forced to come to Tehran and settle in Karaj and a year later, in 1976, this time
Mam Jalal led another uprising against Saddam Hussein and started a guerrilla war against Saddam. The chains of action were causing a desperate need of help for him, but the Shah did not support them. On the other side, Saddam also had complete control over Iraqi Kurdistan, and in practice, Mam Jalal could not have hoped for much help from the people of Iraqi Kurdistan. Mam Jalal and his friends were drowning in disparity after a while, because the Peshmerga had lost several fights against Saddam. Ways to help the Peshmergas of the
patriotic Union of Kurdistan were getting narrower and narrower. Through Salahedin Mohtadi, Abdullah's older brother, Abdullah realized the situation of Mam Jalal and his friends in Iraqi Kurdistan and immediately shares the emergency to Kak Foad, whom was unofficially considered as the leader of the organization at the time. At the end they all agreed upon a call of an emergency help for Jalal Talabani and his Peshmerga forces which finally led to a campaign to raise a lot of donations for Mam Jalal and his Peshmergas throughout the people of the cities and villages. These donations were sent to Mam Jalal by Jafar Shafi'i and Sa'ad vatandoust. With the amount of receiving helps, a catastrophic defeat was prevented and the Iraqi Kurdish movement moved on. As for Abdullah and his companions, now they were closely acquainted with the experience of the Iraqi Kurdish movement which further on helped them a lot on their journey in Iranian Kurdistan. Between the years of 1977 and 1978 Komala was officially founded. In the autumn of 1978, when Kak Foad was released from prison, Mohtadi and his friends decided to reorganize their organization to the world. Therefore, they met in the fall in
Sanandaj. This was not the end of their discussion about their organization. For their own security, they were forced to continue their gathering to the city of
Naqadah. When their discussions were over, three members were introduced as the leaders of the organization; Foad Mustafa Soltani, Abdulla Mohtadi and Sa'ed vatandoust. Later on, this gathering will be recognized as the first congress of Komala.
Jamiyats in Kurdistan In the years leading to the 1979 revolution, the Shah's regime arrested large groups of political activists. Social and political movements had become difficult to run, but still in universities, students occasionally demonstrated and protested against the Shah's policies. Upon their release from the prison, Abdullah Mohtadi, Kak Foad and Khane Moini decided to expand their organization under the name of "Jamiyat" which its literal translation to English is "union". For this reason, they set up "Jamiyat"s in all cities of Kurdistan. Sometimes several "Jamiyat"s were set up in a city. The first camp in Sanandaj started under the name of "Jamyat-e- Defa az Azadi va Enqlab". In English, it means: "The union for the Defense of Freedom and Revolution". They were able to organize the "Jamiyat"s well and provide a platform for them. The "Jamiyat" had a coordination council which its members consisted of representatives of each "Jamiyat". The council also elected an executive group. This board had three members: Abdullah Mohtadi, Farouq Babamiri and Saddiq Kamangar. Saddiq Kamangar also wrote an
autonomy plan for Kurdistan when he represented the "Jamiyat".
Iranian Revolution of 1979 In the absence of the Democratic Party among the people of Kurdistan, Abdullah Mohtadi and his friends were able to expand their organization. Most of the demonstrations against the Shah's regime were organized by Komala. Those who were able to communicate with the people in all cities, villages and neighborhoods of Kurdistan under the name of the "Jamiyat" could easily organize demonstrations. In one of the anti-regime demonstrations in
Saqqez, a prominent member of the organization named
Mohammad Husein Karimi, in which he took an active part, was wounded by the forces of the Shah's regime. A few days after the incident, on February 17, 1979, he died in hospital due to the depth of his wounds. Abdullah Mohtadi and his friends decided that they should no longer be in hideout. Thereby they revealed their organization to the eyes of the public. From this date on, they officially continued their political activities under the name of Komala Party of Iranian Kurdistan.
Mohammad or Hama Husein Karimi was from a famous family in Saqqez. He had a bachelor's degree in electronics from the
University of Tabriz and he was in charge of the Saqez "Jamiyat". Hama Husein Karimi was working as a builder in Sardasht under the pseudonym of "Wasta Saleh". He was one of the most active political figures in Kurdistan. Immediately after the revolution, the Komala found much support among young, educated urban people attracted by its radicalism. It was at this time that
Khomeini had returned from exile in central Iran, Tehran. The Shah's regime had fallen, and most of the Shah's men had either been imprisoned or had escaped. Many political parties and groups were formed, most of which was supporting Khomeini and rallied around Khomeini. The revolution had won and the king had fled. Almost all the provinces of Iran were associated with Khomeini. Among them were only Kurdish cities that viewed Khomeini and his policies with
skepticism. Kurdish parties and political activists in Kurdistan have decided to demand autonomy for Kurdistan from the newly established Khomeini-led government in Iran. Khomeini did not accept this request for pain and strongly rejected it. Khomeini called on Kurds and Kurdish parties to accept his leadership and renounce autonomy for Kurdistan. Now Abdullah and his friends, who worked under the name of
Komala, had to make a decision. Komala and other Kurdish political parties did not accept Khomeini's request and did not participate in the constitutional referendum. Khomeini ordered
jihad against the Kurdish people in Kurdistan. The Khomeini regime poured into Kurdistan with all its armed forces. Komala and other Kurdish parties were deeply upset by Khomeini's move. They decided to resist the armed forces of the Khomeini regime. In the first stage, the armed forces of the Khomeini regime were defeated. The Khomeini regime, under the pretext that we want to negotiate, delayed for several months so that they could reorganize their forces. When they were able to organize their armed forces, they attacked Kurdistan again. On September 30, 1979, Kak Foad was killed in a war with the Khomeini regime. He was killed by the Islamic regime's armed forces between Saqqez and Marivan. The killing of Kak Foad has a very bad effect on Abdullah. Abdullah had lost his best friend. Kak Foad, who had been with Abdullah Mohtadi since the founding of the Komala in 1969, had now been assassinated. The killing of Kak Foad had a bad effect on all the Komala organizations. Komala had lost one of his best leaders. During 1979–1980, Komala fought alongside another principal Iranian Kurdish armed group, the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI). The uprising was a response to the wave of
Kurdish nationalism following the Iranian Revolution, a perceived opportunity to gain increased autonomy not available under the Shah, the relative disorganization and chaos surrounding the establishment of the Islamic Republic, as well as other armed uprisings against the Mullahs. The Kurds had been effectively excluded from the new constitution with no provision for autonomy. The uprising started in March 1979 when Kurds seized police and military barracks in the towns of
Sanandaj,
Paveh,
Divandarreh,
Saqqez, and
Mahabad. It then morphed into a wide-scale uprising across northwestern Kurdish majority areas of Iran, which resulted in the brutal suppression and deaths of approximately 6,200 Kurds. In 1983, Komala decides, with the left parties and groups in Iran, the Iranian Communist Party to establish. One of the most prominent people they invited was Mansour Hikmat. After many meetings and conferences, they were able to establish the Communist Party of Iran. Abdullah Muhtadi, Komala's leader, became its secretary-general. He became the leader of the Communist Party of Iran. In this way, they wanted to find allies in Iran for Komala. In 1988, Abdullah Mohtadi and his friends came to the conclusion that the establishment of the Communist Party had failed to achieve its targets. They wanted to fundamentally reconsider the Communist Party. At this time, Abdullah was criticizing the Communist Party.
Mohtadi and the modern Komala Party Mohtadi is one of the exponents of the left movement in Iranian Kurdistan, and in the 1960s and 1970s, he and his some friends ultimately created a leftist organization in Iranian Kurdistan and took it to hiding, away from the Shah's security service. This secret organization participated in the
1979 Islamic revolution and established its political party form in March 1979. It fought alongside the
PDKI and other groups during the Kurdish rebellion in 1979 and 1980. The group went into exile in Iraq in 1983 but it still managed to suspend many attacks against Iran in the early 1990s. In September 1983, the group underwent organizational changes and formed itself as a
communist party, eventually joining
Communist Party of Iran, as its Kurdish wing. But Mohtadi had serious criticisms of the party, which brought him the conclusion that
Komala's own interpertation of communism up to that point —
Maoism — in no shape or form presents an ability to meet the demands of the Kurdish people, especially in Iranian Kurdistan. For this reason, in 2000, he and a number of his fellow party members reformed and armed the Komala Party and officially left the Communist Party of Iran. The group splintered again in 2000. One branch, the Komala
Social Democrat Party of Iran, which also calls itself Komala, is still Social Democrat. A few years ago, Mohtadi took serious criticism of the policies of the Communist Party of Iran and again criticized the policies of this party. These criticisms were not viewed positively in the
Communist Party, which led to sharp divisions within the party. After many and long talks, Mohtadi and his associates were forced to leave the Communist Party of Iran and revive Komala with the slogan of rebuilding Komala. From this date, Abdullah and his friends in the reconstruction of Komala, tried to take a realistic path by criticizing their own past. Therefore, reforms in the party began, they were able in a very short time, many people inside and outside Kurdistan with them. Komala has clashed with Iranian forces, but since the 1990s it has primarily used its Peshmerga fighters to defend training camps and Kurdish settlements in Iraq. Some of its fighters joined the fight against ISIS in Iraq in 2014. For the past few years, Mohtadi and his Party (Iranian Kurdistan's Komala Party) has taken the lead in trying to unify these different groups behind the idea of replacing Iran's clerical regime with a decentralized federal government whose constitution will safeguard the rights of the country's ethnic minorities. Komala of Iran, which also calls itself Komala, describes itself as a party closer to the ideals of the Social Democrats. == Posts ==