Plea against execution

EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE

MUMBAI, Oct 3: The Baha'i community in India has asked the Central government to immediately urge Iran to stop the impending execution of two followers of the Baha'i faith.

In a press release here they claimed that the Iranian government has a systematic plan called the `Baha'i Question' to eradicate the followers of the religion. Iran has a nearly 400,000 strong Baha'i community residing in the country.

The release claimed that Iran, ignoring pleas from the international community, had verbally conveyed to two Baha'i – Sirus Zabhi-Moghaddam and Hedayat Kashefi-Najabadi -- that they would be executed shortly.

It said that in July this year one Ruhullah Rohani was executed in Iran on the grounds that he converted a woman to the Baha'i faith, even though the woman had declared that she had been born of Baha'i parents and had been raised as a Baha'i. Two women and 12 children had been arrested in May this year for taking part in a moral education class, it alleged.