“Burnt Breaths” Symphony Commemorates Chemical Bomb Victims
By Alireza Barham
TEHRAN: The unveiling ceremony of the Iranian symphony “Burnt Breaths”, composed in memory of the victims of the chemical bombing of the cities of Sardasht (Iran) and Halabja (Iraq), was held at the Iranian Artists’ Forum.
The city of Sardasht in Iran was bombed by Iraqi planes on June 28, 1987. In this attack, dozens of people were killed with chemical gas and thousands were poisoned. Children are still born in this small city with severe skin and respiratory diseases.
The city of Halabja (Helebce) was in Iraqi Kurdistan, near the Iranian border. This city was also bombed by Iraqi planes on March 16 and 17, 1988. Thousands of people were killed in this attack. The city was evacuated and a new city was later built 3 kilometers away. Even one of the three Iranian photographers who arrived there a few hours later died later due to the complications of inhaling chemical gas.
The unveiling ceremony of the symphony was held in the presence of a group of poets and artists of music, theater and visual arts.
“We artists must be the voice of the voiceless of history. 38 years ago, the people of two cities in Iran and Iraqi Kurdistan were killed by a dictator (Saddam) with chemical and microbial weapons,” Alireza Bahrami, the poet of the Vocal branch part the producer of this symphony, said at its unveiling ceremony.
“When the media brought the news of this tragedy to the world sometime later, the Chemical Weapons Convention (The Hague) was ratified. Now the world is prone to facing similar events, because totalitarian politicians never reform. So, we must use the language of art to ensure that children and families are not killed by chemical weapons again.
Abdolrahim Karimi Vahed, President of the People’s Association for the Defense of the Rights of Chemical Victims of Sardasht, who lost 11 members of his family in the 1987 chemical bombing, said that if the chemical bombing of Sardasht had been adequately covered by the world’s media, the chemical bombing of Halabja would not have happened on a larger scale.
“Now, after the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, this is the second mass destruction disaster that will have a symphony. We hope that the various performances of this symphony in different cities of Iran and other countries will prevent the repetition of such massacres,” said Vahed, a Kurdish Iranian citizen.
A video of the full performance of the symphony “Burnt Breaths” was shown to the attendees, and its singer and composer spoke about it. A number of Iranian poets also recited poems for peace.
The symphony “Burnt Breaths” is ready to be performed in different cities of Iran, countries in the region, and other countries on the stage of large halls or open spaces for ordinary citizens, it was announced at the ceremony.
