The
slogan of the people
The time has come for change
By Niloofar Nafici February 10, 2004
iranian.com
I am stunned and in disbelief of what I see before
my eyes. It's amazing to see what has happened to my people, the
Iranian people.
We have so much pride, love, and respect for our amazing "Iranian" background.
Yet every day we continue to quarrel amongst ourselves. Why do
we fight amongst ourselves?
Ignorance is the reason my friend;
that profound dirty eight letter word that so many of us love to
hold on to. Unfortunately our ignorance hinders us and like our
favorite side-dish, maast-toh-kheyar (yogurt & cucumber), too
many of us continue to observe, sitting on the sideline, watching
our ancient and noble Iran be raped daily.
How is it that we, as Iranians, are now able to negotiate our moral
responsibility to our countrymen, brave Iranian men and women that
suffer at the hands of so-called "religious" men
daily? These are the very clerics that enjoy lavish lifestyles, while the very
souls that they claim to "save" (by force), deteriorate and struggle
or endure unimaginable agonies in their notorious prisons.
While abroad,
we sit and discuss Iran's future; should there be reform? Should there
be this or that? Should I have a latte? Why don't we focus our energies
on supporting the very capable albeit extremely repressed Iranians inside Iran
itself. They are the ones who feel the bitterness and brutality of this regime,
and they alone are capable of toppling it. But they need our support, morally,
if not more, at the very least.
If one person dies in the cause of freedom, in my eyes it is clear enough and
merits our support and attention; if over 30,000 Iranians are imprisoned that
DEMANDS our attention. Sorry, but that's very clear to me, when we hear about
heroine being cheaper than milk and eggs, when we hear that Iran is number
two in the world for prostitution, this is the country where some of the smartest
and most educated people in the world are left jobless and have no choice but
to struggle to make ends meet alone. All this occurs while the 47th
richest man (Rafsanjani) in the world is a "humble" mullah from Iran.
Well,
I'll be damned. Once again, you would think that's reason enough to
stand up for those brave freedom-loving Iranians. Our countrymen stand in
the face
of oppression and tyranny on a daily basis; unfortunately some of us indirectly
support this regime through our own ignorance or preoccupation with our lives.
Others of us attempt to fight the oppression in ways
that are feasible abroad but end up giving up because our struggle
is not manifested in tangible means.
The end result is too many strong voices each with an exact idea that
is the "only" possible solution to our oppression. Well guess what,
this isn't
burger
king, and you
can't have it your way, all day.
Democracy is a process of individuals
arguing and expressing DIFFERENCES in opinions and beliefs. When
will we learn to
LISTEN to each other instead of demanding to be listened to all the
time? I hope that
we can learn to accomplish this important step to cooperate together;
so that we can build the strong national unity that we so dearly
need.
Let us remember the passion we have inherited from our forefathers?
The same drive, the same enlightened thinking, the same amazing spirit
of
our ancestors
that are rooted as far back as 2500 years ago. Let us not forget our
own great ancestor, Cyrus the Great, declared the first declaration
of Human rights in
the history of the world in 538 BC. Isn't that a shame?
This is
such a profound fact, from an even more profound culture, but
we are now suffering immensely at the hands of a self-righteous group
of terrorists that continue
to terrorize our land. All in their scheme to make a profit, to fill
their pockets as much as possible, they take money (qoms) from the
people who struggle
daily,
in the place of scholars and holy men.
These people are leaches, they
live only to suck our noble land dry until its dead and then they
can move on
to their
next pray. Such parasitic organisms must be cut out like cancer
and shall be through the will of the people. But again, they need
our
help, and our
support.
Our dear women in Iran wish only to progress their
lives and pursue their dreams, but end up pursuing men in the streets
of Arab countries
instead.
They sell their
bodies, like common a common commodity, what a shame that our noble
Iran has fallen so.
Ignorance and inaction are the greatest weapons of our oppressors.
Mr. Albert Einstein said it well "The world is a dangerous place,
not because
of those
who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing".
We need to truly educate ourselves, and manifest those core beliefs
of humanity,
love and life that are so strongly part of our ancient heritage.
We must make it
a priority to fight and to constantly challenge the ignorance we
come across daily
within our own community. From religious centers, to organizations
that say they help "progress" and "spread" Iranian
culture; we have to carefully analyze and pay attention to where
our help and financial support really
goes. Ironic isn't it? They supposedly try to preserve our history,
but what's the point when there's no future for the Iranian people?
I'd rather salute the
students, the true scholars from past to present, from Ferdowsi
to Amir Taheri and many others. They are truly the heroes of
our land, the soldiers of truth,
fighting a terrorist totalitarian regime that defines what brutal
oppression is. We must support our countrymen that go out in
the streets, risking their
own lives, crying out for a referendum, for change, for freedom,
for a TRUE democracy in Iran.
The time has come for change. Change
brought forth by those who have
suffered long enough. This is where the cycles of oppression and
the history of terror ends. This is where we realize what being
an Iranian is about: our
people, our future, our true Iran.
I end with the clear,
powerful and simple words of those brave Iranians in the streets,
risking their lives: "Referendum,
Referendum, Een ast shoaare mardom" (Referendum, Referendum,
This is the slogan of the people).
Author
Niloofar Nafici is a member
of the National Union for Democracy in Iran.
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