The beauty and innocence in Iran facing the fire of injustice and violations of human rights

When the sad news hit the media all over the world that the seven Former Baha’i administrators, despite their absolute innocence, were sentenced to 20 years of prison in a place that puts the worst prisons in the world to shame, people of conscience and humanity cried out and wept.

Roxana Saberi the reporter who spent time in Evin prison on charges of espionage, shouts her anguish through a moving article dated August 28, 2010 in Washington Post in defense of her innocent cell-mates hoping her plea for justice is accompanied by many others. The Washington Post article is titled In Iran, shackling the Bahai torchbearers By Roxana Saberi

Yaran sentenced to 140 years in prison despite innocence

The STATEMENT BY SECRETARY CLINTON is posted on the US Department of States site. Please visit it and share it with others.

Our hope is that statements like this will continue to keep the loving hearts of the supporters and advocates of the basic human rights in Iran beating and pumping more energy and life to the tired body of the lovers of humanity in Iran. May the words and prayers of Baha’i Writings soon be realized and God’s Will and Truth be realized for all humanity that we are all cells of one body, flowers of one garden, waves of one sea, brothers and sisters under one sun.

Keyvan

Persecution of Religious Minorities in Iran

The United States is deeply concerned with the Iranian government’s continued persecution of Baha’is and other religious minority communities in Iran.

This week, seven Baha’i leaders, who were incarcerated and held for nearly two years without due process, were each sentenced to 20 years imprisonment. The United States strongly condemns this sentencing as a violation of Iran’s obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

Freedom of religion is the birthright of people of all faiths and beliefs in all places.  The United States is committed to defending religious freedom around the world, and we have not forgotten the Baha’i community in Iran.  We will continue to speak out against injustice and call on the Iranian government to respect the fundamental rights of all its citizens in accordance with its international obligations.

BBC TV in Farsi

is raising the question of how and why the judicial system of Iranian Islamic Republic Regime has sentenced the Seven former Baha’i administrators to 20 years of imprisonment? BBC asks Shirin Ebadi residing now in Paris about her opinion.  Mrs. Ebadi asserts the absolute innocence of the seven former Baha’i administrators having studied their files page by page and found no trace of any evidence of any wrong doings.

Mrs. Ebadi adds that unfortunately this is not unprecedented in today’s Iranian judicial system.

Another attorney friend who has been following the case closely writes: Deeply saddened by this outrageous miscarriage of justice.  There is consolation in the fact that their fate rests not in the hands of their brutal captors but in the loving hands of Baha’u'llah.  Please give the Kamalabadi family living near you our deepest love.

The eye of justice is weeping and waiting. The voices of people of fairness is raised in agony asking how long will this dark night continue to claim the days of the lives of the people of light.

A friend of mine sent me the poem of Hafiz to console all of us with bleeding hearts hoping for fairness, respect for human rights and justice from the horizon of Iran.

Dear Keyvan,
I, too, share your sentiments. I, too, am greatly saddened. But, I know at the end justice will shine and humanity will prevail.
May you be comforted by these wise and inspiring words of Hafez:
Don’t Despair…
Joseph to his father in Canaan shall return, don’t despair walk on;
and Jacob’s hut will brighten with flowers, don’t despair walk on.

Aching hearts heal in time, vanished hopes reappear,
the disparate mind will be pacified, don’t despair walk on.

As the spring of life grows the newly green meadow,
roses will crown the sweet nightingale’s song, don’t despair walk on

If the world does not turn to your whims these few days,
cosmic cycles are preparing to change, don’t despair walk on.

If desperation whispers you’ll never know God,
it’s the talk of hidden games in the veil, don’t despair walk on.

O heart, when the vast flood slashes life to its roots,
Captain Noah waits to steer you ashore, don’t despair  walk on.

If you trek as a pilgrim through sands to Kaabeh
with thorns lodged deep in your soul shouting why, don’t despair walk on

Though oases hide dangers and your destiny’s far,
there’s no pathway that goes on forever, don’t despair walk on.

My trials and enemies face me on their own,
but mystery always backs up my stand, don’t despair walk on.

Hafez, weakened by poverty, alone in the dark,
this night is your pathway into the light, don’t despair walk on.

From: ‘The Spiritual Wisdom of Hafez’
Haleh Pourafzal and Roger Montgomery

140 years sentence for the Baha'i YARAN of Iran

20 years prison term for each of the members of Yaran according to the
Committee of Human Rights.

http://www.chrr.biz/spip.php?article10591
The sentenced the seven former Iranian Baha’i administrators to a
total 140 years in prison!

Please do continue to keep them and all who face injustice in your
prayers. We will have upcoming prayer gathering soon.

I hope one day the light of justice shines its glory on the whole
planet in such way that all the inhabitants of our little blue marble
can see that nothing short of holding each others hands in unity
around our big blue marble brings all of us happiness and salvation.

Let us learn together to live together in harmony and peace. To me the
ultimate of justice is the day when we all circle around the earth
with our beautiful Iran in its midst and celebrate our friendship and
love for all the children of humanity. Isn’t this the whole purpose of
the medicine of religion?
Keyvan

I watched the BBC documentary about who are the Baha’is and why are this largest religious minority in Iran is treated with violence and the persecution? BBC, with this 30 minutes documentary, attempts to shed light on a bright spot in the history of Iran that has been deliberately kept in the dark and associated with lies perpetuated by those who have feared it! For those who keep asking why the Baha’is have been such prime targets of persecution in Iran, the documentary provides a glance over the unique nature of the violations of the human rights of the Baha’is of Iran. The documentary is in Persian and is produced for the Persian speaking to get an objective and factual idea about who the Baha’is are.

Seven former Baha'i administrators in Iran in Evin prison for over two years!!

Amazingly, the documentary presents a very palatable glance over a horrifying history of violence and violations of human rights against the most peaceful and progressive community born in Iran in the mid 1800 to spread all over the world as the most diverse and progressive religious community working diligently for a unified, peaceful and progressive human civilization while honoring and embracing the worth and truth of all divine teachers of humanity.

Part of me was happy to see the information out there to educate Iranians about their own history. Part of me felt sad that BBC has to come to rescue and educate Iranians about a most beautiful flower that has bloomed in the blessed soil of Iran and its fragrance is spread to the far ends of our plant.  Ignorance, I thought, is one of the most insidious consequences of oppressive regimes. When a society is manipulated and controlled in darkness of ignorance so the ruling group group can be in bliss for a time, the rest will  pay by being content and the real doors of knowledge and progress will remain unattended. Then the only hope left is for the outsiders walk in, and with the rays of truth force the eyes open and then the creepy crawlies are seen for what they really are and flee to where they really belong.

The powerful expression of courage and love in the words and face of  a Baha’i prisoner  prior to his execution has etched a permanent mark on my mind and heart as an evidence of who we as human beings really are. It reminded me once again as Rumi puts it, I am the bird of the Kingdom not of earth and clay, living only for a few days in the cage of my body.

One of the goals of religion of God is to make us aware of our real Self, the potential god-Self entrusted in each one of us to lift us up and away from the reach of the animal self who plays the Dart-Wader in all of us.  May all humanity learn of their real identity, the nobility and beauty of the human spirit that is destined to make this netherworld the kingdom of God on earth.

The beleaguered Baha’is of Iran have been an inspiration for the rest of humanity for holding tight to the force of good, the force that must never be defeated and is the birth right of the Luke-Skywalker in all of us.

May God bless

Keyvan

“We call them the years of horror,” one Baha’i woman told the BBC. She did not want to be identified.

All over the world people understand how children are the future and how humanity is obligated to safeguard this precious future. The Baha’i children in Iran, however, live in constant fear by what could happen to them and their parents at the hand of their government, the Islamic Republic Regime government of Iran.

children are our future

Iran’s Bahai community fear rise in

persecution

The above is the title of a recent article written by By Kasra Naji BBC News

The article points to the horrific situation of the violations of human rights of the Baha’is of Iran being attacked, harassed, and systematically violated by their government in the name of Islam, is our present day genocide in process.

The state of terror and horror has the been the aim of the originators of the Islamic Republic Regime of Iran for the Baha’i community of Iran by design from its inception. The children, I am afraid, have been the most vulnerable victims of this religious barbarism and oppression.

The ignorance of the public in Iran about the gentle and progressive Teachings of the Baha’i Faith and its long history of suffering and never harming any soul, adds to the pain of the wounds inflicted by the malicious planners of the eradication and destruction of the Baha’i community.

Baha’i children begin to feel the brunt of the hostile environment as they get to know their own neighborhood and it increases in its intensity as they start attending kindergarten. Their classmates, their teachers, the principle of the school and the parents of their classmates are all potential or actual perpetrators of the violence committed against them because of their faith.

The Dart-Wader of religious ignorance and superstition has no mercy on the human rights of the innocent Baha’i children of Iran and their loving hearts. The Baha’is of Iran have been the model Luke-sky-walkers of the age and have endured patiently and lovingly for over a century the lashes of oppression in the name of Islam, perchance the force of religious violence stops once and for all and the face of our planet is cleansed of the dark forces of religious fanaticism and destruction.

It is about time that real Muslims defend the human rights of their Baha’i brothers and sisters so religion becomes a servant of the well-being of humanity and not humanity be crucified in the name of religion, no matter what type of religion! Religion is supposed to be a divine gift of love to man so humanity is edified and free from the lower nature and animal like behaviors. If religion is the cause of humanities destruction and degradation, if the medicine prescribed is making the patient sicker and more cynical and destructive, then that religion is not of God and we should have nothing to do with it!

Baha’u'llah has Written profusely about the ways religion is meant to help elevate and uplift humanity out of its ignorance and arrogance. true religion leads humanity to true happiness and propels human civilization forward with its healing and edifying properties. Baha’u'llah says, “Religion bestoweth upon man the most precious of all gifts”.

“The fundamental principle enunciated by Bahá’u'lláh, the followers of His Faith firmly believe, is that religious truth is not absolute but relative, that Divine Revelation is a continuous and progressive process, that all the great religions of the world are divine in origin, that their basic principles are in complete harmony, that their aims and purposes are one and the same, that their teachings are but facets of one truth, that their functions are complementary, that they differ only in the nonessential aspects of their doctrines, and that their missions represent successive stages in the spiritual evolution of human society. Baha’i Writings.”

May God bless.

Keyvan

HRANA HRA the Human Rights News Agency gives a summary report of the on going violations of the human rights of the Baha’i citizens of Iran both in Farsi and HRA in English We did say “Never Again” we cannot say, “O’ my God, I didn’t know”!!

watchful and alarmed

Empathy is not unique to real human beings. Animals get distressed when one of them is in danger!

This morning, I was feeding the chickens and all of a sudden I heard a shriek for help of a bird coming from the neighbor’s yard next to ours!!. All of a sudden all the birds stopped feeding and the white proud rooster raised his head in a state of alert looking at the direction of the distress call.   I listened. Could it be that one of my hens flew over the wall and is calling for help from the other side?

My neighbors do not have any chickens or birds, but they have two loose dogs in their yard. I ran towards the wall  and climbed the bench by the wall and low and behold, I saw the two dogs hovering over the poor and helpless hen lying on the ground a few yards from the wall. The hen was lying flat on the ground not knowing if someone will come to rescue her and the two dogs were showing no mercy at all.

The site of a helpless half life lying on the ground still but hopeful sent a shock wave through my system!! My heart sank in my chest. My mind was racing with all its force to figure out a rescue plan and it had to be fast or it would be too late.

I could tell the owners were not home and the beasts had the reign of the whole territory. How can I defend the defenseless bird from afar? My hands were tied and I was on the other side of the wall. The dogs were continuously pulling on the poor hens tail and the ground was  covered with her black and white feathers. O’ God, how can I stand by and watch this life be taken at the hand of the ignorant and arrogant? I came down, ran and got the water hose aiming it at full force at the dogs hoping they would let go of the hen which they did. The moment the two dogs left the hen alone, she ran for safety of a bush and the dogs had to face the rush of the water I was aiming at them before they would grab hold of the hen.

Finally, I called my husband for help and while he kept the water hose aimed at the dogs, I fetched a small ladder lowered it in the neighbors yard, climbed the wall climbed down the ladder, grabbed the hen hiding in the prickly bushes and sent her to safety back in our yard. While under the protection of the water hose I then climbed the wall again and brought back the ladder and climbed back to our yard. My hands and legs scratched and my knees shaking but both my husband and I were proud excited and happy. We did rescue an innocent life!! The right to life must be hard wired in all of us. The respect for life must be part of being human.

The hen hurt but now safe

The merciful and just God of all His religions is counting on the humanity of all of us God loving, God fearing people to reach out to our neighbors when they are violated and help. The Baha’is of Iran as well as many other innocent groups are the target of the merciless violations of the human rights at the hand of the Islamic Republic Regime of Iran. If it was not for real human beings with hearts of Gold and their God given conscience, the innocent would find no refuge and no peace.

I keep reading, hearing, watching the news of the on going violations of human rights in Iran by the Islamic Republic Regime of Iran who is supposed to be looking after the human rights of its citizens no mater what belief and what background. Many people of good conscience, must be pausing and feeling alarmed, sad and helpless. One cannot help but to think that the level of stress for the poor citizens of Iran must of at a record high.

For the moment, the world seems helpless and only have a very humble hose of the media to shoot in the direction of the wild dogs hoping to keep them away from tearing the innocent and the meek in their mist apart.

I thank HRANA for their share of help and support to shed some light on the violations of human rights in Iran.

Keyvan

The latest news from Iran by PeikeIran gives the tragic account of setting on fire fifty houses of the Bahais in one village in northern Iran; Mazandaran. Where are the brave souls who Shahnameh celebrated as the people of Gilan and Mazandaran. Where did they go?

Participants in the UNICEF Global Education Workshop Tehran, January 2000.

Chinese educators standing side by side in learning collaboration with their Baha'i colleagues

I received an article written on June 9, 2010 in Akhbar-i-Rooz in Farsi by Haman Seyeddi. Marhaba! Obviously Mr. Seyyedi is not a Baha’i and that makes it even more important to applaud him for his integrity and humanity. May God bless his fair mind and others read and take his lead and raise their voices about the beleaguered Baha’is of Iran. You can check it on www.akhbar-rooz.com

The headline says: “The End of Mashrootiat” and then he proceeds explaining his bewilderment about the strange case of the Bahai community in Iran and the ungodly manner the Islamic Republic Regime wants to decapitate or suffocate this peaceful community who insists on education of the youth and children as a matter of principle for the progress of human civilization, oneness of all humanity, global prosperity and peace, despite the Islamic Republic Regime’s  orchestrated plan to block every attempt of the Baha’i community to educate its children and youth. The following is my rough translation of his article.

“The Problems of Baha’is of Iran is a strange sort of a problem. On top of all the problems that all other minorities have, it has been over 30 years that the Baha’is of Iran have been deprived of and officially bared by the Islamic government from attending university in Iran. I am not going to address the nature and consequences of this “law”. One reason is because there is nothing to say but feel sorrow and sadness about such an inhuman act. But what is worth contemplating is the manner Islamic Regime of Iran plans, and with all its force and power, continuously tries to block the social, cultural and intellectual progress of the Baha’i community and uses all its force to stop the Baha’i community from accessing higher education not just in Iran but also outside of Iran through internet and online universities.

On Monday June 7, 2010 I read an article in TABNAK site that said: “Recently the leaders of the Iran’s Islamic Republic Regime have made the ban of the education of “the corrupt Baha’i sect, ferqe zalleh”  a matter of priority. According to the latest news the followers of the Baha’i sect seek higher education through internet after high school and want to continue their education.

According to most recent reliable sources, the children of this sect, because they are barred from attending university in Iran, try to continue their education on line.

Globalization for the Common Good conference 2010

It is said that blocking higher education  and barring this corrupt group from social and economic progress is (and has been) one of the priorities of the leaders of Islamic republic Regime and everyone is ordered to do their best to prevent the Baha’is from having access to higher education.”

This news of the TABNAK Site could signal yet another level of persecution for the Baha’i community of Iran and at the same time it is a witness to the defeat of the Islamic Republic Regime to destroy the Baha’i community once and for all. What I must correct hear is that the Baha’i community from the very beginning when the Regime expelled the Baha’i faculty from Iranian universities, the same fired faculty, set up classes in the homes of the citizens with humble means and provided education for the oppressed and peaceful Baha’i children and youth. (Baha’i community historically has been a pioneer in promotion and support of education for all in Iran from the very inception of this Faith in 1844. The first schools established in Iran for the education of girls was initiated by the Baha’is in Iran and was open to everyone. All my female teachers in primary and high school  had this privilege of attending schools that was opened by the Baha’i community in Iran. This because education of girls who will become mothers and the first educator of the future generations, is of great importance according to the teachings of Baha’u'llah.)

I also want to share a memory from 10 years ago when I was writing my thesis for engineering. I went to check the Freedom Museum for my thesis. The director of the museum was distraught. The roof of the museum was leaking and part of the electrical and mechanical system of the building was facing problems and out of function. The director said because we do not have the plans for the building, we have not been able to access the location of the pipes and electrical plans. There is only one hope and that is for Mr. Hosain Amamnat to send us a copy of the plans for the building. It is important to know that Hossain Amanat is the brilliant architect who won the competition for the best design of the Shahyad Monument which after Islamic evolution was called Freedom Square. Mr. Amanat also resided on its completion. The Islamic Republic Government burned his office and if they had found him, they would have burned him alive too. This because Mr. Amanat was a Baha’i!!

The Freedom square designed and constructed By Baha'i architect Hossain Amanat

The Museum curator said they are trying to get hold of Mr. Amanat in America. I am not sure if they have been able to reach him. But the difficulty was not only the leak in museum, I was sensing that the sense of shame was the real source of moisture dripping from all its walls!

(By the way, I was traveling back to America last year from attending a wedding in Dubai, and next to me was a young woman who was a professor of architect in Tehran and when I asked her about The Freedom Monument and its universal appeal due to the Baha’i education of its architect, she did not know who its architect was and that a Baha’i by the name of Hossain Amanat is the brilliant mind that designed the Freedom Monument!!! I was surprised of the veil of ignorance being so thick that even covers the eyes of the educated and entitled in the educational system of Iran. This is while Hossain Amanat is celebrated all over the world for his genius and Iranians should be proud of his unparalleled contribution to lifting the name, the fame and honor of Iran.)

As to the responses to the article in the TABNAK site.  People have written the following comments:

• Well what can the Baha’is do. The Iranian Islamic Republic’s  constitution has given them no human rights.
• Unfortunately the human rights of all whether they are misguided or not is the responsibility of every government and no sound and sane mind would accept that because of being a Baha’i or having any other belief any government could deprive its citizens from their basic human rights such as having a job or the right to have access to electricity, telephone, property, selling or buying goods, etc. or any other right such as right to education. Especially we cannot punish the children of these people because they are following their parent’s path and believe.!! We hope the government authorities and the religious leaders do not react in an improper way so we do not witness all this false and fabricated propaganda.
• So what! What do you expect? Either let them study inside of the country or if not do not harass them. On one side you deprive them of their basic human rights and then you complain why they take their case and complain to the international community!
• Well, don’t you think every human being has the right to education? Don’t you see that barring people from education is a violation of the human rights of every citizen.
• Everyone regardless of their belief, race and ethnicity have the right to education.
• O.K. They are considered a sect, but what do you want for them? Do you want these people to drop dead, or do you prefer their children to stand on the corner of the streets and commit lewd acts or deal drugs, or commit burglary? Well when these people do not have the right to attend university, what is wrong with occupying their time with learning and education through internet?
• Well, in your opinion they should not study? How do you like it if the Western countries do not allow the Muslim student to attend their universities?
• Tell me, what sort of “corrupt sect” is this Baha’i Faith, that encourages its young to study and seek education?!!”

I like to thank Mr. Seyeddi once again. This is a new chapter in the human rights history of Iran that Iranian citizens are awakening to the tenets of the charter of human rights and not settling for anything less than being human despite the shortsightedness of those who are ruling the country based on the mindset of a 1000 years ago when there was no human rights, no universal education, no rights to freedom of thought and freedom to choose ones belief.

These archaic and already abhorred responses by the civilized world and outlooks that are destructive to the progress of human civilization, demonstrates that the foundation of the Islamic Republic Regime is outdated and is eroding from within.

Keyvan