Iranian of the Day

to Arezu and her comrades

It is sad to see that what could have been a civilised dialogue is degraded to the level of a childish mudslinging, thanks to the puerile, argumentative and self promoting comments by Arezu and few other like-minded people of her rank. She shows such degree of morbid hatred and jealousy towards Benazir Bhutto simply because Benazir had not only received the best education one could earn in the world (Harvard, Radcliff and Oxford) but she was a brave and beautiful leader. Arezu has shown her true colours by coming up with such outrageously incongruous and uneducated remarks as denying that there has ever been a genocide committed by the Islamic regime and yet an honest, though misguided, and reformed member of the same regime on this site, x-pasdar, confirmed that the IRI has indeed committed the act of genocide against the members of Mujahedin Khalgh, not to forget their massacre of the Kurdish population and other tribal ethnicities. Perhaps MS Arezu doesn't regard Mujahedin as worthy of being spared with their lives. Or It doesn't suit Ms Arezu's flimsy and revisionist knowledge of Iran's history to review that history, not using TV documentaries, and see what has happened in her so-called mother land. Why? Because, in the least, she has to face her American friends and admit that she comes from one of the most barbaric countries in the world in which women are publicly stoned to death and hanged from the gallows. Perhaps she considers this record as one of Shirin Ebadis proud achievements in her work for women's right in Iran? At least we in Pakistan do not have to suffer from such colourful "activists" as Ms Ebadi. She is so bad in giving a meaningful and Wikipdedia-free answer to my charges that she summons the help of her comrades by asking them to repeat the same nonsense that she utters under their made up names. Too bad that the truth speaks louder than all the braying by Arezu and her kinds. Islamic regime apologists should use different guises. Their current masks are too transparent!

Oh yes, one last thing. One must be so petty in character to describe one's own writings as sophisticated!! Let me reassure you Arezu that unlike you, my command of English is not so pitiful that would compel me to describe my writings as sophisticated and consider others as first graders. Only those who have no confidence in their writing abilities would resort to such pathetic and again infantile remarks. By the way, we in Pakistan, learned English from the British teacher and as you may know the Brits always scoff at American, Australian and Newzealander's English. Now imagine, a bunch of Eye-ranins who have learned English under their American teachers!! This is worthy of double scoffing as Americans are bad enough in their use (or misuse) of English let alone their Eye-ranian protégés. No wonder the only people who compliment Eye-ranians like Arezu are from the same gang of Eye-ranians who by the way have no other place to publish their work other than on Iranian.com. Sorry Arezu, I am not used to garbled style of writing as yours is. The English that I write and speak is the King's.

In support of Ms. Arezu

As an Iranian man, I must agree w/ Arezu's statement that Iranian women do have power ... more so than Iranian men.

To: Mr. Siddiqui

..."Never in the history of Iran has there been any effective uprising against your conquerors. You have ALL succumbed to the rule of the dictators and made friends with them. From Alexander to Arabs through to Turks and now to this Islamic regime."...

Sarfarz, I don't know what your problem is; whether you'r an uninformed "moron" commenting on a subject you don't know much about, or a bigot trying to put down other people. But anyone with a slight knowledge of history of the region would know your statements are far from the truth. You obviously don't know much about history of Iran, about Iranian people, their struggles and accomplishments. You are just generalizing to paint a negative image of Iran to prove your biased view. It is true, however, that Iranians have always succeded in their struggle by overwhelming the inavadors with their supperior civilization and obsorving them into their own. This is one of the high points of their culture and the reason they have flourished under different dynesties, whether Arab, Mongolian, or Turk. I seriously suggest you do further study of this subject if it's of an interest to you before opening a discussion.

Sarafraz Siddiqui you are a moron

There was absolutely no reason for me to respond to your comments as it is obvious that your command of the English language is not sophisticated enough to understand what I have been saying. Sorry, I can't make it any more black and white. Unfortunately, I can't speak like a first grader, so I shall let it be.

One final point before I leave this thread;
you speak about Shirin Ebadi, she has done a hell of lot more for Iranian women than your Benazir Bhutto. She has been living in Iran under the Islamic Republic; while your countrywoman has spent most of her life abroad, living a posh life, partying with the rich and famous. She couldn't even speak urdu for God's sake!!

Bhutto was much to blame for the tinderbox that Pakistan became during her exile in Dubai and London – the toxic military entanglement with the Taliban – having helped to create a monster that not even the sponsoring ISI can control any longer.

For years, during her second tenure as PM, she lied brazenly to Washington about the extent to which Pakistan, with her approval, was covertly arming and funding the Taliban. As she admitted in a 2002 interview: "Once I gave the go-ahead that they should get the money, I don't know how much money they were ultimately given ... I know it was a lot. It was just carte blanche."

She was a woman who lied and connived with brio, bewitching even the most garrumphing skeptics with her intelligence and charm; while both she and her husband were being investigated for money-laundering and corruption cases pending in three European courts – in Valencia, Geneva and London.

Fortunately, Ms. Ebadi does not have such a dismal and corrupt reputation.

to: kia, x-pasdar and Arezu

kai:

Shrirn Ebadi is no threat to the Islamic Republic. If she were a threat, she would have been assassinated by now, like Benazir Bhutto, or been put in prison, like that great lioness of Myanmar, Aung San Suu Kyi . The IRI needs Ebadi as much Ebadi needs the IRI. She is there only to travel around the globe freely and describe the IRI as a thriving democracy and try to defend their right to an atomic bomb. Please don't ruin the memory of Benazir by even mentioning such sold out characters like Ebadi

x-pasdar:

My business is expose the fake people who think they are doing anything great for their country or the world. I am under no illusion about the hand of Pakistan's fundamentalists in supporting terroristic activities but Bhutto, whom I support, was an antithesis to their doctrine. Thank you for your independent testimony to the genocide of the Islamic republic. Something that younger generations, like Arezu, out of fear of losing face are afraid to acknowledge.

Arezu:

You have built a new and imaginary world around yourself and in this small world of yours you have redefined everything. What you call "truth" is only your "truth" because you are fearful of facing the realities. You live in America and defend the Islamic Republic record of abuse of human rights by coming up with such childlike statements as "nor do I think that everything that has happened under IRI is 100% bad or 100% good"!! What percentage of badness would satisfy you to change your mind? And who do you think you are to dare appointing yourself as the judge of what is good and what is bad while you are hypocritically living in freedom and comfort while 70 million Iranians are clamouring for the same privileges under the regime that you defend to cure your identity crisis? You have consistently failed to come up with a single relevant answer to any of the issues I raised with you and now talk about the truth. You have a poor understanding of the culture and history of your country to the degree that you cannot see the gaping hole of discontinuity that happened in your history 1400 years ago when the Iranian themselves invited their Arab conquerors to save them from the fundamentalist Zoroastrian priests and the dictatorship of the Sassanid rulers. Never in the history of Iran has there been any effective uprising against your conquerors. You have ALL succumbed to the rule of the dictators and made friends with them. From Alexander to Arabs through to Turks and now to this Islamic regime. There is no point in continuing this dialogue with you as you live in your own fantasy world and fear to step out of it.
Enjoy it while it lasts.

To: Mr. Siddiqui

In response to you, I only like to quote a comment from Shirin Ebadi, the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize winner, a relentless lawyer, and a staunch defender of women's rights in Iran (the same type of Iranian woman you seem not to know exist): "Actually, the events, (the Islamic revolution and its aftermath) are simply an accident of history. This is not what Iran is about. Iran's history spans over 1,000 years. There won't be another revolution. Iranians have
already experienced one and for them enough is enough. But one day, this country will become again what it has always been, a country of tolerance and of cheerful life."

to Mr Siddiqi of pakistan

And as for you sir, I only can sympathize for your deead Ms Bhutto but you too have a wrong idea about the Islamic regime of Iran. I am a Khatami supporter and I am not ashamed of it. but at the time I left Iran Khatami was not in power yet. Khatami did not steal the money of the people but Rafsanjani and his sons are the biggests thieves in the histroy of Iran. He also was responsible for the genocide of 1367. MKO later killed Lajevardi but Nayyeri is still powerfull. Your country is not blameless for fundamentalist growth in Afghanestan and Iran. So mind your own business.

Hey! is this a private chat room or a public blog?

You two seem to be dominating all the debate on this blog. From what I have read so far, it is clear the Arezu is a novice regime apologist who thinks by flatly denying everything and repeating the same lie over and over again everthing she says will be accepted. Sorry sweet but from your writings you must be around the age of 30 or lower which means you haven't suffered a dot under the IRI. As a former Pasdar I know what has taken place in their prisons and what it means to kill more than three thousand people in a week (in some prisons the estimates go up to 5000) I am talking about the mass killing of mainly MKO supporters in 1367. Have you heard of such names as Lajevardi or Nayyeri? These two sent more than 20,000 people to their deaths and thousands of them were burried in unnamed mass graves. I left Iran when I realized what was happening but I was an eye witness to their crimes as I have reported my evidence to the Amnesty International. Well, if one day there is a court of justice they will have to bring all those bastards who commited this genocide to account.
You Arezu have no idea what you are talking about. Stop re-writing the history from your blind spot.

To: Mr. Siddiqui - You obviouisly could not connect the dots

Dear Mr. Siddiqui:

You obviously don't know much about the Iranian history, the Iranian people, nor their sentiments. I really don’t care if you have traveled to Iran 5 times or your sister in law is Iranian. Iranians are very complex people. You cannot feel what we feel unless you are an Iranian.

This is why you cannot possibly understand the Iranian mentality and their feelings about their roots. And I don't expect that you do.

With respect to your comment about the fact that on the one hand I want to be modern and on the other hand traditionalist; I have no confusion, about who I am. Just because one speaks about religion does not mean one is a traditionalist, and just because I say individuals have a right to wear what they like, veil or not has nothing to do with your comment. You maybe such a “traditionalist” as you put it that you find my words contradictory according to your interpretation of what is modern and traditional.

Iran's past lives with all Iranians, it is in our blood. I don’t need to romanticize anything about Iran... We have a rich culture and history which lives within us and which will never be forgotten.

Yes, there is definitely a connection between Iran’s past and its present. 2500 years ago Cyrus the great remained independent and ruled over a vast empire and was not a servant to any master. Under the IRI, Iran had to look inward for its own needs, in order to maintain its independence and not be subject to foreign intervention and dictates. Of course I can’t go through a history lesson with you to describe every aspect of how Iran’s past can be linked to its presence and its future. However, one thing for sure Iranians have always fought to remain independent and have abhorred foreign intervention in their affairs. There is a strong sense of nationalism which keeps this feeling alive.

Not everything Mr. Siddiqui is black and white. Just because I admire what our leaders under the Achemedian and other dynasties have contributed to the world, does not mean that I have to speak ill about everything that has taken place under the IRI; nor do I think that everything that has happened under IRI is 100% bad or 100% good. There is no such thing. Yes, Iranians do strive like every country, to emulate the form of government that is most suitable for the Iranian people. The American people talk about the glory of their forefathers, Abraham Lincoln, Jefferson, and the American Constitution. Are they romanticizing? No, this was the foundation upon which America was built on, the same that I say about Iran.

It is your lack of understanding that when I say that the accusations brought against Iran are all false pretext and propaganda; the same that was done to wage an illegal war against Iraq; you seem to believe that I am confused about Iran’s past and presence.

Obviously I am going to defend the truth, as opposed to accept false allegations simply because the current regime in Iran is the Islamic Republic. Where is the confusion in this?

Furthermore, as I have repeated all of the accusations against the IRI are the same b.s. propaganda tactics without any proof whatsoever. The same was used against Iraq which all turned to be lies. FYI Iran is not tied to Muqtada Al-Sadr, an Iraqi rooted Shiite group. You may be mistaking SCIRI. But regardless all of your allegations about Iran and its activities in Iraq are baseless. I am not even going to bother going down the laundry list of false accusations when so much has already been written proving their falsity. You should do your own homework before speaking nonsense.

You seem to be watching too much Fox News, CNN and the rest of the biased media propaganda. How interesting when the same documentary about Pakistan being the "Central Terrorist Nation" is mentioned you refer to it as a documentary; while your comments about Iran are considered valid from the same news media! As I said hypocritical and double standards do prevail.

And by the way how do you know how many people have been tortured and imprisoned in Iran. Where is your set of information coming from? Not that this has not occurred but where is your source of information?

I would like to know how many people are being killed, imprisoned, tortured and assassinated in your country; past and present.

Look at all the demonstrations, the killings the suicide bombings that are taking place in your country on a daily basis this doesn’t make Pakistan an exemplary country. How many mosques have been blown to pieces with innocent people killed? What happened to your heritage and Pakistanis believing they are Pakistani Muslims first? Does Islam preach the destruction of holy sites?

While your country is a fundamentalist, extremist Islamic country, Iran even under the IRI is quite moderate in comparison and the Iranian people are definitely moderate.

With regards to human rights violation: So long as your country is a puppet of the U.S. all of the atrocities committed by your government and leaders will not be placed under a microscope; same as Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, etc.. However, since Iran is a prize for the U.S., and is unwilling to give up its sovereign rights to any foreign entity, everything which happens in Iran is published in the U.S. media on a daily basis. If a pin drops in Iran you will see it in the cover of news papers the next day and on your television screen around the clock. This by no means makes Iran innocent of human rights violation nor does it make Pakistan innocent. Iran is placed under the microscope and Pakistan is forgiven so long as it is a subject of the U.S. and is considered a “friendly ally”. By the way this by no means, means that I am supporting what IRI is doing, however, you obviously have a very biased view about Pakistan.

In fact I am sure we are going to hear more and more about the corruption in your country, your country's support of fundamentalists, militias and terrorists, your human rights violation, the squandering of the U.S. $10 billion aid which has gone into the pockets of many including the military, and other corrupt officials as the U.S. is beginning to undermine Musharraf. It seems like his days are over, he has not performed his duties as was dictated to him. But then again, regardless of all of his corruption, his dictatorial regime, your country's ties with militants and terrorist organizations, and Musharraf's strong hold on the military, the U.S. may just need him at this time, as they state there is no one else! Interesting that in a country with 160 million population one can't find a democratic, progressive leader and the only candidates were Musharraf, Ms.Bhutto, and Mr. Sharif (who was also sent to exile because of corruption charges).

It also seems that your elections are rigged; so how can you call your political system democratic? Chosen by the people?

With respect to my innovative statements in the Qur’an; I would highly recommend that you go back and read the Qur’an and understand exactly when and under what circumstances the word “hijab” was revealed to the Prophet. Yes, it was only meant for the wives of the Prophet. Now if countries created their own version and translation of what this means, that is their innovative creation which obviously serves the men and imposed on women.

I never degraded your countrywomen for what they wear, I made a general statement about all Muslim women. Wearing the veil has nothing to do with one's devotion and commitment, and being a true believer. God, knows what is going on underneath those veils!!

I think the word "HYPOCRIT" in the Qur'an says it all. Those who confess they are Muslims but do otherwise. This is also apparent in the rules of all Islamic countries none of them follow the Qur'an or the Hadith; Shariah is also each country's own interpretation to serve their own interest by handful of people, and not necessarily what is said in the Qur'an or what the Prophet meant. No wonder there needs to be a reform. You obviously must think that everything that is taught in your maddressas is what is dictated in the Qur'an or the Hadith. I am sure if the Prophet knew what was happening under his name and the name of Islam he would be ashamed of Muslims and these so called Islamic countries.

In reference to Iranian men subjugating their women, I have to say it seems like your countrymen are a hell of lot more extremist in subjugating their women. Just by listening to you I can see what your mentality is about women. In our country women have alot of power, ask any Iranian man. Even the IRI can't stop the women from moving forward!

In reference that my countrywomen are not doing anything about their rights. You are so absolutely wrong, you have absolutely no clue what the Iranian women have been doing past and present for their rights. Your comments demonstrate total lack of knowledge about the accomplishments of Iranian women.

I acknowledged that the veil has been imposed on Iranian women, as such I am not shying away from this subject as you wrongfully profess. However, the Iranian women will do everything to demonstrate their distaste for having the government impose such a rule upon them.. And who are you to judge Iranian women?? The Pakistani women may have a desire to wear the veil, this has nothing to do with Iranian women. On to each their own! Again you did not understand my point, can't dot the "Is" and cross the "Ts".

By the way, Mr. Siddiqui one's dress code, or hair style, or makeup has nothing to do with one's strength of character and their beliefs. You seem to be one of those fundamentalists who are an advocate of women hiding behind the veil! This is another superficial assessment on your part.

On the point of Iran's leaders squandering the wealth of their country; If the leaders of Iran squandered the wealth of their country, it was not by funds received from foreign aid from the U.S. as opposed to your leaders; it was from the Iranian nations' own wealth and resources. They were not begging for donations. The same goes for Ms.Bhutto who under the guise of democracy promotion squandered the Pakistan treasury, money which should have gone for the poor that she purported to support. The same thing that Mr.Musharaff is doing. So, if I were you I wouldn't talk about squandering. Though both are definitely unacceptable and considered corruption, whether it is the country's own resources or foreign aid and assistance. At least in Iran the leaders have to respond back to the Iranian people, unlike your government which has to respond back to the U.S.

Your country having good relationships with the U.S. and U.K. vs. Iran is based on the following reason: Your government is a puppet of both countries, without their financial support and their backing they would be out of office. As President Musharaff stated, the U.S. dictated to him, you either help us with the Talibans and Al-Qaeda on this War On Terror or we shall take you back to the STONE AGE!! And of course he complied what else those one expect from a puppet! He didn't even do it right. He played both sides of the fence. From one hand he was accomodating the militias and from the other he was telling the U.S. otherwise in order to obtain financial and military aid.

The same goes for Ms. Bhutto may she rest in peace. It was only because of U.S. backing and dictates to President Musharraf that she was able to come back to Pakistan from exile. It was also because of the U.S. pressure on Pres. Musharraf that all of the charges of corruption about her had to be dropped. While in Switzerland Mr. Zardari is still being investigated, and of course the charges against Ms. Bhutto where dropped due to her untimely death.

By the way I would like to know how your staunch Muslim fundamentalists citizens would feel if they knew that Ms. Bhutto asked the State of Israel for their security assistance; and how they would feel when YNET, Israeli newspaper states, "Israel has lost a good friend?" And how prior to coming to Pakistan she had been conversing with Israel to build a relationship between Pakistan and Israel when she came to power. Would such a staunchly Muslim country of 160 million people accept such overtures?

Iran would obviously like to have good relations with all countries, including the U.S., U.K. and any other, the condition however is only if there is respect for the national sovereignty of Iran, and non interference in its affairs.

In response to your confusing issue about my hatred with the U.S. what ever gave you that impression. I have been living in this country and have absolutely no hatred towards it, else obviously I wouldn't be living here. However, just like many people, including American born citizens I abhor the U.S. foreign and interventionist policies and its gunboat diplomacy. Again, Mr. Siddiqui not everything is black and white. There are many great things about America and many bad. The same with all countries.

I don't understand what savage genocide you are speaking about! You are surely confused with your reading of history! Hitler was German not Iranian, and obviously whatever is happening to the Palestinians is being committed by the State of Israel, the Armenian genocide was accomplished by Turkey etc! No one has yet charged Iran of having committed genocide this is the first!.

Happy New Year and may peace, and prosperity prevail for all people.

To: Ms Arezu

Dear sister Arezu, it is clear to me that you are caught between two opposing sentiments and are struggling to liberate yourself by resorting to vacuous rhetoric. On the one hand you want to be modern and on the other you want to be traditional. More than 90 per cent of your so-called reasoning in your last post was based on your personal and mind boggling interpretation of history and religion. For your information I am more informed about the past and present of your country than you appear to be about mine. My sister-in-law (of over 30 years) is Iranian and I have travelled to Iran on five occasions in the last 30 odd years (both before and after the Islamic revolution). The sad story of Iranian women's subjugation by their men and their resulting confusion are evidenced by your writings. Through your lines I can see that you have a highly romantic view of your country's past and a very biased view of its present. For example, you are at pains to establish a socio-political connection between the Iran of the 21st century and the Persia of 2500 years ago!!! At the same time you are desperate to defend the dismal record of a regime that stands against ALL the principles of what used the be the Persia of two and half millennia before! Your innovative, and inaccurate, interpretation of the Holy Quran is another example of your desperation to hammer a point home. If you had a modicum of Islamic knowledge you should have known that Quran is not the sole source of guidance in Islamic jurisprudence but Shariah is based on the conduct and instructions of the Prophet (pbuh) and his sahabah. You may reject these as they don't suit your personal agenda but I am afraid the facts remain as they are being practised all over the Muslim world.

The tragedy of Iranian women's deprivation of their rights is another issue that you evaded to respond to. As I said before, with the same ease that Reza Shah pulled the veil (chador) off the heads of the women of Iran, fifty years later, Khomeini put it back on their heads — again with the same relative ease. Why? Because the women of Iran did NOTHING to earn their own liberation. It was put on a plate and imposed on them, first by Reza Shah and later by his son Mohammad Reza Shah. Therefore, easy come, easy go. You may ridicule the women of Pakistan for their traditional dress code, but at least their status is organic and self-earned. Even in the last three decades of the Islamic regime, the women of Iran's protests, were mostly cosmetic — take it as a pun if you like! Their freedom is measured by the intensity of their make up or the number of millimetres that they can pull back their scarf.

On the question of terrorism and its connection to Iran of the Islamic Republic, your denial of their hands in training and funding of terrorist groups (the Army of Mahdi under Muqtada Sadr being an example) is akin to the denial of the Holocaust by your current leader. Not to forget the funding of the Lebanese Hizbollah! Now, you ask for evidence. This is a thinly shielded evasive technique by those who refuse to accept the glaring truth. Let me ask you what evidence would you accept as satisfactory? I presume nothing short of a live televised broadcast by president Ahmadinejad, confessing to the killing and maiming of hundreds of civilian and military personnel in southern Iraq by the Iranian made road-sde bombs, would satisfy you. Even then, you may suggest that this is part of a deal between Iran and the EU in connection with the former's nuclear programme. Perhaps, I should credit the Iranian authorities that they have never denied having a hand in Iraq's turmoil. Does Arbil 5 mean anything to you? Your hatred of the US, whatever its roots may be I don't care, has blinded you to the truth that the Islamic regime has committed atrocities against your own countrymen and women that have paled, by a factor of 100, all the breaches of human rights that have occurred under the preceding regimes in Iran over the last century. Yet you are happy with all these lives so tragically lost and the country's wealth so viciously plundered by the likes of Rafsanjani and Khatami and Ahmadinejad, only because, in your skewed interpretation, the regime is not a client state to the West!! Is this what you have learned from your ancestors of 2500 years ago? If they were the writers of the first bill of right, then perhaps you would care to explain as to what has gone wrong that 2500 years later their sons and daughters are ripping each other apart in their own glorious motherland?

We in Pakistan do not have a 2500 years history as our country was created on the basis of religious divide. We are on friendly terms with the US and the UK and any other democratic state. We also funded and aided Talibans during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan and yes there are a significant sympathisers of the Islamic fundamentalists in our army and intelligence. BUT, we have killed 30, 000 of Mujahedin in our prisons in less than a month and yet boast about our tradition of respecting human rights. Perhaps you would care to explain what went wrong that the sons and daughters of Cyrus presided over the most savage genocide of their own brethren since the days of Pol Pot? here was the connection lost?

Regards,

Sarfaraz

To: Mr. Siddiqui

Dear Mr. Siddiqui:

The intent of my remarks are not made as a point of argument but to clarify your false perception with regards to my countrywomen/men and my mother land, Iran.

I. You state: “The point that is being lost on all of you is that we in Pakistan are not infatuated with the superficiality of the Western advances. Ms Bhutto was not flawless but made no pretensions of pseudo-cultural progression by wearing or behaving like a European woman. She remained faithful to her cultural heritage and faith to the last. No offence to your women or your Queen but women in Pakistan are first Pakistani muslims and then anything else. They don't need to remove their Islamic veil to be accepted as Western educated women. They were not forcibly pulled out of the veil only to be focibly placed under the veil some fifty years later.”

Response:

Iranian history and heritage does not require that we learn how to dress, or act like any other. We have our own tradition, history and roots which does not require us to emulate anyone. We also don’t need to learn what the meaning of “democracy” is by being western educated, we had a king who 2500 years ago was the architect of the first “Bill of Human Rights” which the Western world copied. As such, we only long to emulate one of our own and no one else.

Wearing the veil or not is not a demonstration of one’s commitment to one’s religious beliefs. There are many Muslim women who are quite hypocritical by wearing the veil and many who are true believers and don’t wear it. Furthermore, we always fall back on our own cultural heritage which never required that we wear the veil. People should be free to wear whatever they wish. This is one of our objections with respect to the Islamic Republic.

II. Second with respect to “women in Pakistan are first Pakistani Muslims”,

Response:

Women in Iran are first Iranian. In our country we have women from different religious and ethnic backgrounds. We have Jewish, Christian, Zoroastrian, Baha’i, Muslim and women from different faiths and beliefs. As such you can’t make the same direct analogy of Iran vis a vis Pakistan.

Second, the reference to Hijab in the Qur’an was not toward all Muslim women but only to the wives of the Prophet to avoid harassment. It was three generations after the death of the Prophet that some used this verse to justify the veiling of all women. But they must be seen in context. They occur in Surah 33, which also deals with the siege, and must be considered against the frightening backdrop. These directives did not apply to all Muslim women, but only to Muhammad’s wives.

III. You state: “Women in Pakistan are true to their origin and faith and yet against all that fundamentalsit prejudice managed to elect a most educated member of their nation to the highest office of land. Something that NO muslim country has achieved before or since.”

Response:

We do respect that against all the fundamentalism in Pakistan your country was able to choose an educated women to the highest office in the country. There is no disagreement here. However, let me also remind you that way before Islam, in Iran we had Persian/Iranian Kings who were women ruling over a vast empire, we had women who were commander of the navy and women in the armed forces. This is the ancient culture and root that Iranian women look to as their source of inspiration and where they come from. As Iranian women we have never been allowed to forget this and towards that aim we shall always continue our fight.

IV. Finally you state: “I am sorry that I have to disappoint you but while Pakistan has had its fairshare of involevemt with terrorism, it us your country, Iran, that is nominated as the number one exporter of terrorism in the region by America, France, Germany and Britain. I do not place my judgement on the basis of a TV documentary. You obviously do not see any hand of your regime in the killing of Allies in Iraq. With respect, the democratic governments of the world beg to differ.”

Response:

Pakistan has had more than its fair share of involvement with terrorism. It has been under your various dictatorial regimes, as well as the PPP under Ms. Bhutto, were the Talibans were reinforced and strengthened. It has been Pakistan which provided safe harbor to OBL and Al-Qaeda, it is Pakistan who has the Jundallah Terrorist groups who have attacked Iran. Even your own military the ISI is infiltrated with fundamentalists who side with terrorists.

Actions are harsher than words. My mother land has been falsely accused by the U.S. as mere pretext to bring down the only country in the Middle East which is not a client state of the U.S. and demands that her sovereign rights must be protected. Its leaders are not stooges of the U.S. and will not kowtow to U.S. demands. I don’t think we can make the same statement with respect to Pakistan and its leaders.

And no there is absolutely not one single iota of proof that my country has been involved in the killing of allies in Iraq. Todate no one has seen any evidence, have you? Merely making such statements without facts doesn’t mean anything.

With respect to democracy, I beg to differ you have a military dictatorship, and your country is run by armed forces. The PPP was not even democratic, which political party assigns an heir to their party? This is a real joke! The PPP is nothing but a dynasty for the Bhutto family and their heirs to the throne.

To Ms Arezu

First, it seems that my Iranian brethren and sisters are confused about my gender as they keep referring to me as Ms. For your inormation, Sarfaraz is the name of a man. Second, once again you are missing the whole point. The Photo link and the quotation that I posted in my last comment were ALL from the sources that your Iranian countrymen and women had posted on Iranian.com. These are Iranian hacking at each other. It is not me who is having a go at our Iranian neighbours. They are doing a better job of it on their own!
Third, this is not a contest to see which of these two countries is doing better in terms of women's freedom and education or which one is worse in terms of Islamic fundamentalism. The point that is being lost on all of you is that we in Pakistan are not infatuated with the superficiality of the Western advances. Ms Bhutto was not flawless but made no pretensions of pseudo-cultural progression by wearing or behaving like a European woman. She remained faithful to her cultural heritage and faith to the last. No offence to your women or your Queen but women in Pakistan are first Pakistani muslims and then anything else. They don't need to remove their Islamic veil to be accepted as Western educated women. They were not forcibly pulled out of the veil only to be focibly placed under the veil some fifty years later. Women in Pakistan are true to their origin and faith and yet against all that fundamentalsit prejudice managed to elect a most educated member of their nation to the highest office of land. Something that NO muslim country has achieved before or since.
I am sorry that I have to disappoint you but while Pakistan has had its fairshare of involevemt with terrorism, it us your country, Iran, that is nominated as the number one exporter of terrorism in the region by America, France, Germany and Britain. I do not place my judgement on the basis of a TV documentary. You obviously do not see any hand of your regime in the killing of Allies in Iraq. With respect, the democratic governments of the world beg to differ.

to: Ms. Siddiqui with all due respect

Dear Ms. Siddiqui:

I can surely understand your sadness of the tragic and unfortunate death of Ms.Benzir Bhutto, but you are totally wrong about your assessment of Iranians. We are a people more than any other who criticizes ourselves, our governments and form of regimes.

With respect to Iranian women, our women have one of the highest rates of university attendance far surpassing that of Pakistan, Turkey, and S. Korea etc.. Despite the Islamic Republic of Iran we have thousands of Iranian women who have been at the forefront fighting for progressive socio-economic movement of our mother land. They have been the most vocal proponents of change in Iran, regardless of the hardships they have to endure and in that regard have made significant achievements.

With respect to the photo link that you provided; I am no lover of the monarchy, but the picture of Farah Pahlavi with Alain Delon has nothing to do with your comparison of Farah Pahlavi vis a vis Benazir Bhutto. I am sure we can find many similar pictures of Benazir Bhutto if this is your case of demonstrating the difference between the two women.

Out of respect for a women who did have courage to go back, I will not make any remarks about the reputation of Benazir Bhutto and democracy promotion, and fighting against the Talibans and Islamic hardliners in Pakistan. However, I can assure you Pakistan is no comparison to even the Islamic Republic of Iran in Islamic fundamentalism, and extremism. I wonder if you watched the recent documentary this week: "Pakistan Terrorist Central", or have you been attending any of the thousands of madressas in Pakistan to see how hatred and false Islamic teachings are preached to the youth of your country who may become the next militants.

Though there are many evidences of Pakistan being involved in supporting and harboring Al-Qaeda, the Talibans and other terrorist organizations, not even the U.S.A. has been able to find a single proof of Iranians being involved in terrorist activity.

We pray for peace, security, democracy and the welfare of all Pakistanis as we wish the same for the people of Iran.

Best regards and once again, my condolences to you and all the Pakistanis for the death of Ms.Bhutto.

to Massoud-B and others

Your foul language and erratic comments is surely part of your progressive culture. The point that you and the rest of this hostile group keep missing is that Benazir and all her supporters, myself being one, were the first people who condemned and confronted the Islamic fundamentalism that was promoted by the Taliban and their sympathisers. And as for the way you Iranians view the world, I only quote here the entire comment by another reader who made the following observation on another blogger thread about Benazir Bhutto written by Mr D Kadivar (Foolish Killing of Benazir Bhutto). I quote that comment in whole here as it says a lot about the Iranian way of seeing themselves and the rest of the world. I am sure this is a good enough answer to all you guys who think you know it all!!!

" Typical Example of the Great Arrogance and Cowardice of Iranians
by Anonymous for a reason (not verified) on Fri Dec 28, 2007 02:06 PM PST

Only Iranians can take a simple report and observation on a great tragedy such as Bhutto, and weave and twist it to be about them! The real tragedy here is the sad loss of rule of law, and the victory of shameless assassination and the fear it creates, over fairness, accountability, and the self corrective nature of the democratic process Pakestan was on the verge of implementing. And you bandy about childish irrelevant accusations of "monarchist" and "IRI Apologist"! Exactly who do you think you are? This moment in history is NOT about YOU! I am so sick of reading self promoting comments by you cowards at the slightest excuse! As demonstrated over the past 2 Regimes, Iranians abroad appear to be nothing more than kettles calling every other teapot except their own, black. Just because you don't have the guts to focus on your own oppression, and for once in 2500 years fix things in your own (literally) god forsaken country, please don't try to impress us with your "astute observations" that you so easily hand out on every single international issue except your own larger problems. Clean your own blood soaked laundry first! Then you can claim the right to take a peek at everyone else's underwear and comment on it. As it stands now you're all merely USELESS. But please spare us your arrogant commentaries! It's more unattractive than even a naked mullah!

NOTE: Thesaurus listing for USELESS = futile, to no avail, (in) vain, pointless, to no purpose, unavailing, hopeless, ineffectual, ineffective, to no effect, fruitless, unproductive. Antonym useful, beneficial, competent"

To The Ignorant Bunch by S.Seddiqui

Dear Mr/Ms S.Seddiqui<
The solidarity between oppresed people around the world is one of the first neccesity to make the oppresor understand that we are also united. What you said unfortunately could come out of a very sick mind, and I am very sorry for you, at the same time just remember that although we have one of the most ferocioes religios dictatorship in iran, but a wast majority of iranian people are much more progressed and advanced exactely opposite side of the pakistani people. The majority of pakistani people are still fondamentalist and supporter of neolithic group of Taliban, just remember the comments made by pakistani people residing and living even in USA in support of Taliban right after September eleven (911) in New York, so please next time before leaving or making any comment, please think twice befor opening your mouth and also please go fuck your self. Thank you.

Dear Iranian brothers and

Dear Iranian brothers and sisters

I came across your site purely by accident as I was searching the net for Benazir's pictures. I was only made to make my comments as I noted some arrogant and hostile remarks about Benazir and Pakistanis on this site and on this page. I found it hard to believe that some of you have the audacity to make such comments while your country is in the grips of the most savage and barbaric of Islamic regimes. Pakistan may have been under military rulers from time to time but contrary to what "professor usless" has commented Pakistan has seen a lot more decmocratic periods since the time of Mr Jinah. The Shah of Iran, though thousand times better than the existing regime, was still a dictator. And funny to see some of you trying to compare your ex-Queen with our Benazir. On the Pictory page on this site there is already a comment with a link that I think would speak volumes about how the two differed. Just take a look at this:
//www.payvand.com/news/07/mar/Delon-Farah.jpg

This is how she extends her time in exile and .... that was how Benazir ended her own exile. I think as we say in English, "charity begins at home". Brothers and sisters you'd do yourself and the rest of the world much favour if you paid more attention to your problems at home than those of your neighbours.

I think it is important that

I think it is important that Kurdish and Iranian people know that Binazir had some good charactreristics of Kurdish and Iranian people both in her face , figure and her maner.She will not die and there will be other Binazirs in Middle east to fight for democracy and freedom.Binazir was a nice connection between Iran Kurds and Pakistan.

TO: Mr. Saddiqi from Pakistan

Unfortunately neither your country nor ours have seen a day of freedom and emocracy.

You know what is sad? Now Benzair's 19 year old son (who just got nominated by her party according to CNN), will go for revenge and vengence in coming years.

British love that, they will support him all the way until he is martyred or till the day he will successfully kill as many freedom fighters in Pakistan and create more chaos. You think the British will leave you alone?

Mark my word brother....

to Mr Sarafarz

To Sarafraz,
Dear Sarafraz, the poster of the photo is just showing a picture of Bhutto and reminding us her back ground and not even discussing what she has done or has not not done for anyone.

You are maybe right our country fell in to a dictatorship after another but your country has had so many regime changes just by military interventions. Your country has failed to come in to a conclusion over an election. Sounds like people are so used to have the decisions beeing imposed on them by a military coupe than an election. Your counry was formed basically upon religous beliefs not nationalism.

I am not saing that we are better than you, simly saying open your eyes and see what is happening around you.

Reza

To The Ignorant Bunch

How do you know what Benazir did or did not do for Pakistan? You are not even knowldgeable about your own country let alone about another country. Bhuttos have always been the ONLY HOPE that we Pakistanis have had to replace a succession of military dictatorships with a civil democracy. At least we have realised this chance three times over the last 35 five years. We had three Bhutto administrations. The first one (Bhutto the father) gave us, among many other things, the most needed commodity of all: The Atomic Bomb. With the Atomic Bomb in our hand India would not dare touching us. You Iranians come from a background of falling from one ditatorship to the worst dictorship of all times. You'd better tidy up your own house before commenting about other nations.

The Woman King: TWK

One of the unintended consequence of Islamic Revolution in Iran has been an unprecedented involvement of Iranian women in the public life of Iranian society at all possible levels. Therefore it is not too far fetched to see an Iranian woman rise to the highest point of political apparatus standing at the apex of society regradless of its pervailing political structure... who knows maybe the name "King" once again could earn respect in society and in people's hearts in a genuine way...

To: markux

Thanks for the explanation. Point well taken.

do you remember mother

do you remember mother Teresa, I bit not, but you sure remember Princes Diana. both died in the same year but you still hear about the "princes". People have a Hollywood syndrome. You are right it should be irreverent whether someone is rich or poor and only what they did in the world. By all complete estimation not only Benezier didn't do anything for her country or people. she was corrupt to the bones and unwilling to help the people of Pakistan. My comment had nothing to do with the grudge or love of one or the other. I don't have obsession with the poor, I was pointing out the contrast.

strong women

Nusrat isphanhani has been through lot, my god, her husband's death, her son been killed, now her daughter, that is alot of grief.

Obsession with the poor

Why do we have a grudge against the rich, and love the poor, right off the back? Being rich doesn't make you a good , or a bad person, and the same applies to the poor. Seeing a picture of a person's younger years, when the whole world is talking about her, is proper and timely. The fact that she was from a rich, or poor family, I find, irrelavant. But what do I know ! :-)

Obsesion with the Rich

All those poor in spirit have been infatuated for centuries with wealth and rich people regardless of how they accumulated their wealth. This is another corrupt family who cover their ugliness with glamor.

Is was a senseless killing, like all killings, Even those done in the name of democracy in Iraq and killing by starvation in Mexico, Brazil, Central and south America and Even those done by the state of Israel. They are all killing even when it's done to not so significant poor people.

God bless her

She was strong, if you ask me, we should put our women in charge in the middle east, we men have done nothing bnut to turn the region into a global toilet.