{"id":159197,"date":"2025-09-16T19:54:30","date_gmt":"2025-09-16T16:24:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.amordadnews.com\/?p=159197"},"modified":"2025-09-16T19:55:31","modified_gmt":"2025-09-16T16:25:31","slug":"my-memories-of-amordad-part-two","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/en.amordadnews.com\/?p=159197","title":{"rendered":"My Memories of Amordad (Part Two)"},"content":{"rendered":"

After the release of 30 issues, a shocking and difficult-to-believe event took place: an unsuccessful attempt to set fire to the Amordad office. Thanks to the discretion of the managing editor at the time, the legal case was ultimately closed.<\/strong><\/p>\n

This unfortunate incident occurred around the same time as unsettling rumors of the collective resignation of several members of the Tehran Zoroastrian Association.<\/p>\n

I recall that during one of Amordad\u2019s most challenging periods, when many of its collaborators were weary and disheartened, it coincided with the memorial ceremony for the late Rostam Giv. At that ceremony, the late Khosrow Dabestani, then representative of the Zoroastrians, delivered a speech that, without directly mentioning the Amordad weekly, expressed this sentiment: \u201cThrough pen and writing, one can serve the community.\u201d That speech brought us great encouragement and hope.<\/p>\n

Whenever I reflect on the early years of Amordad, the name of Dr. Dabestani inevitably comes to mind. He was one of the few Zoroastrian representatives who did not have a publication or website affiliated with his office. In other words, during his tenure, no print or digital publication was connected to the representative\u2019s authority in the community.<\/p>\n

The late Aflatun Ziafat held the license for Vahuman, while the late Kourosh Niknam managed Payam-e Kankash, reporting his work to the public and defending it when needed. Esfandiar Ekhtiari was the license holder of the monthly Pars Nameh, and Behshid Barkhordar now oversees the Ahura website.<\/p>\n

I have always considered Dr. Dabestani the \u201cunderappreciated representative.\u201d He had no publication of his own, yet his tenure coincided with the rise of an independent, professional journal that closely monitored his work and informed the Zoroastrian community.<\/p>\n

A highlight of Amordad\u2019s early years was participating in the 9th Press Exhibition in Ordibehesht 1381 (April\u2013May 2002), where it was recognized as the best booth among religious minority publications. Visitors included President Mohammad Khatami, Ataollah Mohajerani, and Ahmad Masjed-Jamei, the Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance.<\/p>\n

Several other Zoroastrian journals also emerged in those years, though most eventually ceased publication. I consider 1381 (2002) a golden era for Zoroastrian media in Iran.<\/p>\n

That year, the quarterly Parsian launched in Yazd, licensed by the Zoroastrian Youth Organization and produced by its dedicated youth. In Bahman (February 2003), its booth at the Second Local Press Festival of Yazd was one of the most visited. Simultaneously, the monthly Esfand began in Kerman under the late Mehran Gheibi, and the high school newsletter Payam-e Firouzbahram started under Khodadad Rasakhi Kharami.<\/p>\n

The internal newsletter Vachak, published by the Karaj Zoroastrian Association in the early 2000s, was one of my favorite Zoroastrian publications. I often discussed its policy with the then managing editor of Amordad, noting that Amordad could benefit from following Vachak\u2019s balanced and moderate editorial line.<\/p>\n

The managing editor of Amordad, however, had his own style, occasionally using phrases such as: \u201cSometimes reality differs from the facts; publications should present the events and leave interpretation to the reader.\u201d<\/p>\n

That said, in my view, Vachak performed surprisingly poorly and unprofessionally when covering the legal events in Yazd in late 1381 (2002).<\/p>\n

Around the same period, the newsletter Arshtad, published by the Association of Young Manthrians, also began circulation. In Amordad issue 99, published in 1383 (2004), after the new Zoroastrian representative assumed office in the seventh parliament and following the 40th election cycle of Tehran Zoroastrian associations, I wrote an article titled \u201cThe Second Front\u201d, which referenced the activities of the Yazd Zoroastrian youth association. Some friends in the Arshtad editorial team did not appreciate this and responded with humorous criticism in the next issue.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After the release of 30 issues, a shocking and difficult-to-believe event took place: an unsuccessful attempt to set fire to the Amordad office. Thanks to the discretion of the managing editor at the time, the legal case was ultimately closed. This unfortunate incident occurred around the same time as unsettling rumors of the collective resignation […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":159200,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[436],"class_list":["post-159197","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-zoroastrians","tag-amordad"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.amordadnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159197","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.amordadnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.amordadnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.amordadnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.amordadnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=159197"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/en.amordadnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159197\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.amordadnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/159200"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.amordadnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=159197"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.amordadnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=159197"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.amordadnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=159197"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}