1928 Apr
192- |
As part of a general anti-religious campaign launched under Stalin, the Soviet authorities abrogated the constitution of the Spiritual Assembly of 'Ishqábád (now Ashgabat, Turkmenistan) and the Assembly was dissolved.
[BW3:37-43; BW8p88; SETPE1p154; YS2]
Bahá'í schools and libraries were closed. [BBRSM173]
Not long after, the government ordered that all religious buildings in the Soviet Union were the property of the government and the Mashriqu'l-Adhkár locked. As soon as the doors were sealed by the authorities the friends gathered in the surrounds gardens for prayers. They came in far greater numbers that had requested the Temple. Too it was expropriated and later leased back to the Bahá'ís. [BBD122; BBR473; BBRSM161; BW3:37]
The chairman of the Local Spiritual Assembly, Jináb-i Gulpáygání, as representative for the community, was chosen to go to Moscow to appeal the case where the authorities agreed to remove the seals from the gates making the grounds accessible to the friends. [YS2]
For the history of the persecution of the Bahá'ís in the Soviet Union see BBR473 and BW3:34–43.
Note: PP364–5 says it was 1929.
See The Bahá'í Community of Ashkhabad; Its Social Basis and Importance in Bahá'í History by Moojan Momen. |
Persecution, Russia; - Persecution, Other; - Persecution; Mashriqu'l-Adhkár, Ishqabad; * Mashriqu'l-Adhkár (House of Worship); Moojan Momen; Ashgabat; Turkmenistan; Soviet Union; Russia |
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