Imagine
The celebration of an Iran
October 9, 2003
The Iranian
For one moment set aside your pain, your suffering, your anguish,
your loss, your vengeance, your anger, your despair, your alienation,
your injustices
and crimes, your disbeliefs, set aside your cynicism and take this walk with
me for one moment only down this path; shut your eyes and imagine this Iran:
Imagine an Iran with no material poverty or poverty of spirit
or thought, imagine an Iran where every family has its baagh with
its reflecting hose to remind us
of heaven even when we are looking downward and that this earth can be a mirror
of it...
Imagine this Iran if you dare:
where the main emphasis of Islam is upon "God the kind,
God the merciful... "
with equality between men and women
in the eyes of the law and religion
where women have equal protection
under the law in all matters including in marriage and divorce
and in division of property and
freedom to travel abroad
and in child
custody
with freedom to practice your religious beliefs of choice without
fear of persecution
where modesty and humility and reverence prevail
by choice not imposition
where public morality is a popular value,
a personal preference not something forced upon you under penalty
of law and punishment
where sexuality can be celebrated too without
fear
where fashion, song and dance are celebrated
where femininity is
respected and celebrated
where homosexuality is tolerated and free
from persecution
with mystics and Sufis and Darvish under every
tree
where poets and philosophers flourish and the arts abound and
prosper an Iran which is become the cultural Mecca of Central Asia; once
more the greatness of Persepolis, Susa, Madain or Herat
where the
main character of the society is one of tolerance of differences
once more in fact an Iran become famous for offering political asylum once
more like Darius liberating the Jews from Babylonian captivity
an
Iran famous for taking in refugees and the homeless of Afghanistan
and Iraq and giving them decent wages and work
an Iran with no more
torture and no more execution and no more political prisoners, no more unmarked graves, no more missing persons and disappearing
persons, no more arrests in the middle of the night for "moral"
infractions, no more secret police, no more morality police, no
more fashion police, no
more vigilantes, no more violations of human rights, no more state
sanctioned rapes,
muggings, beatings and coerced confessions, no more state sanctioned flogging
with
a plurality of political parties where the religious far right
would only be one party
among many instead of in charge
with a labor party, a socialist
party, a communist party, a democratic party, a republican party, a monarchy party, a place for every political persuasion
where a prime minister would govern only by a vote of confidence
by a coalition like in Italy
or France...
where people are free to assemble and to express their political
opinions free from fear of reprisal with a parliament where each religious or ethnic minority
would have representatives, similar to what once existed in Lebanon, to include:
Shias, Sunnis, Assyrian
Christians, Armenian Christians, Jews, Bahais, Zoroastrians, Azeris, Kurds,
Bakhtiaris, Baluchis, Qashqais and anyone else I have left out...? like
Afghan immigrants
with freedom of the press and no more censorship of the
media or music
with no more economic or cultural domination by any foreign
power
where the bulk of the profits from petroleum benefit all the
people of Iran
with a return to agricultural self sufficiency
with state subsidized
and maintained irrigation systems
with tariff protection for every
fledgling industry and subsidy for every export
with 100% literacy
and a huge reading public and thriving literature and publishing
where
public debate on every issue is tolerated and encouraged
with government
scholarships available to every college student at home or abroad
with nationalized health care and a social security system
and unemployment compensation and workmen's compensation, with labor unions
with
a thriving cinema industry, handicrafts industry and carpet industryaided
by government subsidy
with a cultural renaissance celebrating everything
Persian from poets to architecture to archeology and history to
cuisine which
the entire world
will recognize
and appreciate
where there is enough military strength to defend its own
borders free of reliance on any
treaty with an outside power
imagine an Iran where progress and
tradition are given equal consideration
where environment and development
have equal importance
imagine an Iran which would give a heroes
welcome to the Diaspora, welcoming home all its children
from every corner of the earth with land grants and financial compensation and rewards for coming back and a justice system tempered
by amnesty and pardons given generously to the deserving... .no more
characterized by excessive harshness and cruelty
where once more the spirit
of the law is more important than the letter
of the law...
Is this not the Iran you want, is this not the future
Iran?
Do not forget that in the end Persians are far better poets than
warriors and that too is cause for celebration... for poets
have the vision the rest of us may lack to help us find our way
through the dark valley of death out into
a dawn's new light and promise...
Yours,
Rasool Aryadust
Aka Brian Appleton
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