The mayor who was martyred: A look at the life of Martyr Mahdi Bakeri

The Bakeri family had four sons: Ali, Reza, Mahdi and Hamid. Each of them was the hero of many stories. Ali Bakeri, the eldest son of the family, started his struggle against oppression and injustice during the Pahlavi regime in Iran. He was executed by the regime for his revolutionary activities and sacrificed his life for the sake of human goals. The second son followed in the footsteps of his older brother and was sentenced to life imprisonment in the prisons of the Pahlavi regime.

Now it was the turn of the next two sons: Mahdi and Hamid. Greatly affected by the martyrdom of his older brother, Mahdi was accepted into the University of Tabriz in Mechanical Engineering. While studying at the university, he began his revolutionary activities against the Pahlavi regime. He brought his younger brother to accompany him in these activities. His roommate in the university dormitory described Mahdi’s life in those days, “He had a very disciplined, strict schedule for his everyday life. He ate very little, studied a lot, fasted much of the time and would usually go to the mountains on those days when he was fasting.” Another friend said, “I did not know Mahdi at that time. I had just been accepted into the university. The weather (which I was not used to) in Tabriz had made me sick, but there was no one to take care of me. One of the other students cooked soup for me and looked after me. I asked his name from some of the other students and I was told his name was Mahdi Bakeri.”

A few years later, the Islamic Revolution of 1979 took place in Iran and the system of the Islamic Republic was established. Mahdi was given various administrative responsibilities one after another. For a short time, he was the prosecutor in Urumieh. In this position, he was careful to make sure that only the law was enforced and at the same time good moral behavior was observed so that no one would be harmed by mistake. “Once he sent us to arrest a criminal,” said one of the agents who was under his command in those days. He continued, “His elderly father opened the door and said that his son was not home. When we returned and reported this to Mahdi Bakeri, he asked about the old man several times. He wanted to make sure that the old man had not been frightened (by our presence).” After serving as the prosecutor in Urumieh, he became the mayor of Urumieh for about nine months. During that time, there was a flood in Urumieh. Mr. Mayor, like a simple municipal worker and without introducing himself, went to the aid of the people to save their property from the flood. He even donated a portion of his own salary to the salaries of the workers from his office without letting them find out about it.

It was in those days that he married a girl who shared his thoughts and beliefs. He and his wife didn’t usually spend extravagantly on their personal expenses. Instead, they spent their income, even their wedding gifts, for solving society’s problems and helping the needy. His wife said, “When he was the mayor of Urumieh, one day he asked me to list our monthly expenses. He said if there was extra, we should give it to the needy. So I listed all of our expenses, from shoe polish to meat, bread and eggs. With the extra money he bought school supplies and gave it to those he knew were in need.”

When Saddam’s Imposed War on Iran began, Mahdi was given new responsibilities in managing the war, the last of which was commanding the Ashura Division. As a commander, Mahdi adhered to his former morals. He did not consider himself to be superior to his subordinates, and alongside them he would work on whatever tasks there were. During this time he was careful that the facilities he was given were not more than the other soldiers and that they were completely at their level – even less. One night when there was not enough space for everyone in the tents in which they were stationed, he brought several of the soldiers into his own tent. He himself slept out in the rain and caught a cold. Another time, someone brought fruit for him that was not available to all the soldiers. Mahdi refused to eat the fruit and said that he only ate what all the soldiers ate.

It was such things that made him so popular among the forces under him. One of his comrades in the war narrated, “In the middle of a meeting of the commanders, the head of his office came and told him, ‘Two soldiers are waiting to see you. No matter how much I tell them that you are in the middle of a meeting, they will not leave. They just want to take a picture with you.’ Mahdi apologized and went to take a photo with them. When he returned to the room, he said, ‘It just took less than two minutes. I felt it wasn’t good to let them down.'”

His words greatly influenced others. In addition to having new ideas and being victorious in physical combat against the enemy, he was also highly influential in verbal and media warfare. Many times, people who had decided to leave the war due to difficult circumstances were persuaded to stay by his words. One of the soldiers under him narrated, “I went home with a broken leg, two broken hands and shrapnel in my jaw. My father was upset that I had gone to fight in the war. Mahdi came to visit me and he talked with my father. After he left, my father said, ‘Get well soon and go back to Mahdi Agha. You are needed on the front.'”

As a commander in the war, Mahdi was strongly committed to moral principles as before. He treated Iraqi prisoners of war very humanely and would not allow anyone to harm the prisoners, even when it was difficult to protect the lives of the Iranian soldiers. His friend said, “When we were deployed on a military operation, we were all getting on a boat. One of the soldiers had been held prisoner by the enemy for several months and he still had some injuries on his body from the enemy’s torturing him. When he got on the boat, he shouted, ‘We will take revenge!’ Upon hearing this, Mahdi said, ‘You don’t need to come with us. We are not going anywhere for revenge.'”

Mahdi was very fond of his little brother, Hamid. From the start of his revolutionary activities and later during the years of the Iraq-Iran war, Mahdi was accompanied by his brother wherever he went. In February of 1984, Hamid was martyred and his body stayed behind on the battlefield with many other of the soldiers. As Mahdi was the commander, the soldiers insisted on bringing back Hamid’s body, but Mahdi did not accept. He said, “If you can bring back the bodies of all the martyrs, bring back the body of my Hamid as well. If you can’t, everyone expects me – as your commander – not to discriminate between my brother and others.” And Hamid’s body was never found later on.

One year later, on March 16, 1985, Mahdi was martyred at the age of 30 as a result of the direct fire of Saddam’s forces. His body was never found.

Imam Khamenei, the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, said the following about Mahdi Bakeri, “Martyr Bakeri was a young student who had just graduated at the beginning of the war. He was spending a few months, or a time, in military service. Then at the order of the Imam who asked the soldiers to leave the military camps, he left… Later on, see how this young man became a competent military commander directing military operations. He could move a military division, and at times an entire military base, guide them and lead them in an operation. Isn’t this amazing? Isn’t this a miracle? These are the miracles of the Revolution.”