A week into the arrest of six Bahai leaders in Iran, an interview published by hardliner Fars news agency called for the “creation of a popular movement” to “confront and fight Bahaism” so that the “government is not left alone in its confrontation against the Bahai community.” The interview was held with Seyed Kazem Mousavi who is introduced as an analyst and expert in contemporary Iranian history, in which he is quoted as saying “Bahais in Iran are attempting to gain independence and legitimacy by being present in cultural and economic fields and to infiltrate the power structure and other political spheres." Denouncing the “Bahai community's attempt to infiltrate the power structure in order to gain access to regime’s secrets, reduce regime’s sensitivity to Bahai cult and downplay dangers associated with this cult,” Mousavi added, “Currently, the Bahai community is trying to hide its true face and pretend to be an ordinary and normal part of society. The Bahai community is planning to attract the support of international organizations such as Amnesty International to fulfill its mission.” Noting that Bahai followers “claim not to get involved in politics,” Mousavi claimed, “This very non-interference in politics is itself a political move, designed to gain immunity to freely and seriously participate in cultural and economic activities. Prior to last winter’s Majlis elections, the leaders of the Bahai movement ordered their followers to participate in elections. Some Bahai groups protested that decision, to which the Beit al-Adl of Bahais responded by clarifying that it was not forbidden to participate in elections and vote for independent candidates, just to support political parties.” This Fars news analyst finally declared, “The Bahai community is manipulated by the Zionist regime and enjoys the support of Israel.” Fars news agency published this interview while several conservative websites attempted to blame Bahai followers for last month’s explosion in a Shiraz mosque. According to the reasoning of these websites, because the mosque where the explosion took place was a meeting ground for some “anti-Bahai” activists, the Bahai followers were “seeking revenge.” At that time, human rights activists warned against the consequences of these baseless charges and predicted an intensified crackdown on the Bahai community in Iran.
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PS. a friend send for me this photo :
1 comment:
Arash, what a great piece!!! thanks for the update and insight, take a look at this http://censeo.cc/2008/05/story-time/
maybe you can use it.
love your stuff, keep writing!!
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