Monday
May 10, 2000
Wouldn't the Shah ban 16 newspapers?
After reading Ms.
Farah Pahlavi's letter about the 1953 coup I would like to urge her
to explain to me one thing: She speaks of freedom -- I would like to know
what does she exactly mean by this word.
I really don't mean any disrespect to anyone, but my father was an officer
in the military who was jailed during the Shah's reign. We believe in freedom
of the press, freedom to express our opinion even if our government doesn't
like what we say. My father went to jail on the charge of insulting his
imperial majesty Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi. So I apologize if I don't
jump at the notion of his majesty's nobility.
And yes Iran will rise from the ashes, but lets not forget how the fire
got started in the first place. Don't get me wrong. I am opposed to the
current government of mollas as is every person with a free mind. But let's
not choose bad over worse.
Yes it was better when the Shah was around. But still, one wonders,
would the Shah not have closed down 16 opposition publications? Were the
courts in that time any better than they are now? Would fewer student demonstrators
have died if the Shah was the one giving the orders? Let's ask questions
without any taarof. Let's find answers.
Ms. Pahlavi, I do hope that impartial historians write the truth about
your husband's good works, but I think you will agree with me that by being
impartial these historians will also need to report on my father's days
in Evin prison and on those like him who maybe did not like the way your
late husband dressed, or even questioned his judgment.
What the present government is doing is wrong. But that doesn't make
what the last government did right!
Sahar Nahrvar
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