Monday
January 10, 2000
Frightening remarks
I was astonished to read the comments given about Khomeini being the
most influential Iranian ["Runner
up: Iranian of the century"]. Some people went as far as saying
that the late Ayatollah gave Iran freedom, dignity, and independance. The
absurdness of this statement is indicative of what a legacy Khomeini has
actually left behind for the Iranian people. It is the apathetic complacency
of these remarks that are so frightening.
The reality is that Ruhollah Khomeini was a maniacal patriarch who politicized
women and religion. As an emigre Iranian woman who left Iran more than
twenty years ago, I can honestly say that these remarks saddened me beyond
belief. The only thing that Khomeini did to and for the Iranian people,
was to break them mentally, spiritually, physically, and economically.
I distinctly remember the day that he died. My mother and father threw
a huge dinner party that evening; we had a party in his honor. I was only
about eleven years old than, just young and naive enough to believe that
once he died, so would his policies with him. But the legacy continues.
The government of Iran is run by a bunch of free loading mollas, who
never worked a day in their life. The same bastards who criticized Mohammed
Reza Pahlavi for his excesses, are now living in and building new villas
for themselves. Rafsanjani himself lives in one of the wealthiest areas
of Tehran. Who the hell are these people and what is it going to take for
another revolution to happen? How many more people have to die? How much
more oppressed do the Iranian people have to become?
This man, whom many believed saw his image on the moon, hated Iran and
the Iranian people. His gross pictures and billboards are all over the
streets of Tehran. Instead of advertisements they have Khomeini as the
product waiting to be consumed. Khomeini the poster boy. Everywhere you
go in Tehran, Big Daddy Ruhollah is always watching. He was a cute guy
wasn't he? Always smiling and in good spirits. I am so proud to have had
such a leader for the Iranian people.
Our problem is that we did not appreciate what he did for US. We did
not appreciate that the gap between the rich and poor grew ten fold; we
did not appreciate that women were, once again, marginalized from society;
we did not appreciate that we have no economy; we did not appreciate that
hundreds of thousands of people died in a ridiculous war. We just were
not worthy.
Salmar
Links
