With feelings of deep sorrow we relate to the Bahá'í world
the distressing circumstances surrounding the murder of three Iranian Bahá'í
students, pioneers to the Philippine Islands.
Parviz Sadiqi, Faramarz Vujdani and Parviz Furughi were
among a number of Iranian Bahá'í youth who answered the call for pioneers. With
eleven others they registered at the Universities in Mindanao with the
intention of completing their studies and proclaiming the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh.
These three had conceived the plan of making teaching trips to a rural area
inhabited by Muslims. When on 31 July the authorities of Mindanao State
University were notified that they had left the campus the previous day and had
not yet returned, search parties were immediately formed and the assistance of
the police and local authorities obtained. After inquiries and search, led
entirely by President Tamano of Mindanao State University, the bodies of the
three young men were found in a shallow grave. They had been shot, grievously
mutilated and two had been decapitated. The bodies were removed and given
Bahá'í burial in a beautiful plot donated for the purpose.
