Aafarin to the Iranian students
I have nothing but admiration for the students in Iran ["The spark"].
They stood up to the authorities and showed that whatever the regime does,
it can not violate the sanctity of university facilities. Students are
a very powerful sector of any society, specially in countries where campuses
are not the place for big drinking parties and scenes of sexual escapades.
Universities in such countries are places for fervors of intellect and
political idealism to bloom. Students are generally hot headed, emotional
and idealist. They are at an age that because of their proven intellects,
they feel they have the power to do anything and stop any violation of
their beliefs.
Most of us in this forum have been students at some point in the past.
I was a student here in the U.S. during the revolution and remember being
constantly warned by my parents in Iran that I should stay away from political
gatherings here to avoid jeopardizing my father's life and position in
the Shah's army. I, however, with no consideration for what effect my
actions would have on my family, and because of my strong believes against
the Shah and his regime, always was an anxious and vocal participant in
all types of political gatherings.
The point here is that students often don't think about the consequences
of their actions. The fact that the university students in Iran had the
audacity to act the way they did certainly shows that they have had it
with the bullies and the thugs and those who try to muffle voices of freedom.
And the Islamic regime and its constituency shakes from this because they
figure that yes they can push the ordinary people to the max and they have
to put up with their crap and their propaganda and scare campaign because
they have families to feed.
Ordinary people can't afford to go to jail, they just want to live a
life and do their daily duties as they did under the Shah and as they have
been under this regime. Students however generally don't have such family
restrictions. They are a very volatile part of our society. The are not
scared of anything or anybody and they will do what they think is right.
So I am sure this new movement has caused many of the conservative and
even semi-conservative leaders of Iran to have cold sweaty backs and foreheads.
They are thinking for the first time that hey we can't mess with these
guys (students). They are not afraid of our jails and clubs and bullets.
Now, all this is actually going to be great for Iran. As parliamentary
elections are nearing, we need a movement like this so maybe the Guardian
Council relinquishes some of its power. The vetting of candidates is absolutely
ridiculous and the fact that our president virtually has no power over
the security forces is equally unacceptable to most of us.
In conclusion, these are great signs as our country goes through reforms
to ultimately become an independent and democratic state. Aafarin to the
Iranian students.
Mehrdad
