Iran putting forth effort to eradicate Baha'i faith
Daily Vidette
24-Feb-2009 (one comment)

In the past 80 years, students in Iran of the Baha'i religion were declined acceptance to universities and faced expulsion from the universities they attended simply because of their religious beliefs.

In 2007 and early 2008, many students were harassed and beaten by peers and administrators in Iran for adherence to Baha'i beliefs. Of the 78 high school attacks, 68 were against girls.

The Baha'i religion believes in progressive revelation, in other words, religion should conform to modern society. There is no need for a clergy of any kind and with aging we bring new knowledge with us.

"If you were traveling from St. Louis to Chicago in the 1930s, you would follow a different map than you would in today's time. The Baha'i faith is the latest roadmap to God," Mark Anderson, Bloomington High School teacher and Baha'i adherent, said.

Also important to the Baha'i community, which stretches across the globe and encompasses about five million people, is the importance of education of women.

"Not only are Baha'is prevented from earning a higher education, but their businesses were shut down by the government as well. To this day, the only lines of work that Baha'is are not officially excluded from are certain type of trade businesses," Naghme N., an ISU sociology graduate student, said, and who expressed that the release of her last name may cause potential harm to her family.

"The government [in Iran] continual... >>>

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Untold Facts on the Controversial Death of a Baha'i in Prison

by Iranian-too (not verified) on Wed Feb 25, 2009 11:38 PM PST

Untold Facts on the Controversial Death of a Baha'i in Prison

//www.baztab.com/news/32546.php
24th December 2005
News Code: 32546

In a report from Yazd, our reporter disclosed untold facts about the
process of imprisonment and death of Zabih'u'llah Mahrami, a Baha'i
prisoner.

According to this report Zabih'u'llah Mahrami was first detained in
1995 on the charge of spying and having links with foreign interests.
His term of imprisonment was 15 years.
At the time of death he was serving his tenth year of imprisonment.
During this time he enjoyed legal rights afforded to all prisoners
including leave from prison for several days at a time and having
regular meetings with his family.

Zabih'u'llah Mahrami died as a result of a heart attack on 13th
December on the eve of his 60th birthday.
Following his death in prison, the Coroner determined the cause of
death as heart attack. His family were notified of the event and
invited to take delivery of the body of this Baha'i prisoner for
independent examination and verification of the cause of death by a
Doctor of their choice.

However acting upon orders by the House of Justice – the highest
Baha'i administrative institution – Mahrami's family declined the
offer.

Following the refusal of Mahrami's family to independently verify the
cause of death, the body was returned to his family and a funeral was
subsequently held in Yazd. Several devotional meetings (Baha'i
mourning) were also held in his memory.

Nevertheless, Adam O'Reilly the Deputy Spokesman for the US Foreign
Secretary last Friday described the cause of Mahrami's death as
indeterminate and claimed:

"Imprisonment of the 59 y.o Mahrami was not an unusual event and the
Islamic regime systematically persecutes its citizens for religious,
political and other reasons."

This Spokesman for the US government claimed the followers of the
Baha'i cult, which was first established in the 19th century, are
systematically denied their right to hold gatherings, have
institutions and worship.

Several foreign news agencies quoting this report by the US Foreign
Affairs claimed that the number of Baha'is in Iran total 300,000.
Despite the fact that based on recent census, the number of Baha'is
resident in Iran is estimated to be in between 90,000 – 110,000. But
the US government still refers to the statistics before the
revolution.

Establishment of the Baha'i cult goes back to the reign of Mohammad
Shah Qajar when Sayyid Ali Bab and then a person by the name of Mirza
Husayn Ali Nuri first claimed to have a link with the hidden Imam, and
subsequently regarded themselves as the hidden Imam and prophet. A
number of people followed them and facilitated the formation of the
Baha'i cult.

During the Pahlavi regime the number of Baha'is grew thanks to
considerable subsidies and appointment to high offices by the regime.
But after the Islamic Revolution some adherents openly recanted and
some others migrated overseas.


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