One of the important events related to constitution revolution periods of time was the secret and continuous assassinations centered by “the punishment committee”. For instance, the abortive assassination of Sheikh Fadhlullah Nouri by one of the leaders of the punishment committee called Karim Dawatgar. After that the assassination of Seyyed Abdullah Behbahani. It is better to be said that the plan of rioting and assassinating of this group started when it was on the onset of Constitution and people and revolutionists were optimistic about it. These people weren’t of the revolutionists. However, they are trying to pretend to have religious and revolutionary motives intentionally.
The important issue was the secret role and the remarkable one of the Baha’is to fulfill the Colonial policies and the members of punishment committee phase of being Baha’is.
The terroristic operations and continuous murders during the constitution period of time are of the important factors to create a great and deep crisis possessed mental and proselytizing and cultural influences. During four years, indifference dominated the community and made the country political structure neutral and unclean to such an extant that eventually Reza Khan Mir Panj attacked the capital city and faked possession of it along with several hundred Cossacks.
The issue that the members of punishment committee were from the followers of Baha’ism cult and had been called out planning by the Colonialism wasn’t a claim. There are many document to prove it.
The founders and the main members of this committee were Asadullah Khan Abul Fath Zadeh, Ibrahim Khan Monshi Zadeh, Muhammad Nazar Khan Meshkatul Mamalek, Ehsanullah Khan Doustdar, Mirza Muhammad Khan Nejat Khorasani, Mohyee (Mirza Karim Khan Rashti’s brother), Karim Dawatgar and Mirza Ali Akbar Ardaqi. Most of them were from the deviant cult of Baha’ism. The central core of the punishment committee were Abul Fath Zadeh (as the chairman of the committee) and Monshi Zadeh and Meshkatul Mamalek. Mehdi Bamdad introduces Asadullah Khan Abul Fath Zadeh and Monshi Zadeh as the followers of the deviant cult of Baha’ism in the book “the biography of the Iranian men[1]”. This issue has been confirmed by Abdullah Motewalli, the author of the book “the punishment committee”. He considers Meshkatul Mamalek as the follower of the deviant cult of Baha’ism.[2]
After assassinating Ismaeel Khan, the head of Tehran store-pit, a secret letter was published by the punishment committee which took over the responsibility of the assassination.
One of the other members of the punishment committee was Mirza Ali Akbar Ardaqi writes about this secret letter: “Publishing the secret letter was so horrible that the murder of Ismaeel Kahn. Emadul Kottab and I were unknown people and three other people were Baha’is. So, it cause others not to suspect us…[۳]”
After a while, the members of the punishment committee were arrested. Abul Fath Khan and Monshi Zadeh were murdered secretly in Semnan city on Zolqa’deh 26/ 1336 A.H. Ehsanullah Khan Doustdar escaped to Caucasus. Mashkatul Mamalek was freed after a while, too.
[۱] The biography of the Iranian men, Vol. 1, p. 112.
[۲] The Iranian contemporary history periodical, No. 27.
[۳] Ali Akbar Ardaqi’s memoirs, p. 51.
