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June 28, 2004Top * Inviting dogs While I fully support the view on Shirin Ebadi that her "mission" is to prolong the reign of the Islamic state, albeit in her own way, I wished to make an observation on Ms Sayeh Saeedi Sirjani [Khaanom-e Ebadi bass ast!]. Less than a year ago, in an interview
with Fariba Amini on this website, Sayeh Sirjani made the following
statement: "There were some serious mistakes made during the reign of the Shah, especially in the last 15 years. Who knows, if right decisions were made, the course of history might have been different. And today, we would not have the catastrophe of what is called the Islamic Republic. Thus, we fell from one hole into a deeper one. Az chaah be chaaleh oftaadim." She then continues: "There is no question that the crimes of this regime are not comparable to that of the Pahlavi period... All the same, any type of one-man dictatorship will eventually lead to tyranny. Therefore, I do not see my national identity as having a king." And later in an attempt to justify her sense of identity Ms Sirjani says: "It isn't enough that I am opposed to such and such, but I do not give credibility to Monarchy. When the rule of law and justice was to develop in our country, both monarchy and religion destroyed it. Fortunately we live during the time that these concepts, justice and rule of law are highly regarded by all people around the world. We have said no to both types of tyranny." Ms Sirjani leaves the reader in no doubt of her viewing the Islamic revolution as a legitimate movement and wastes no time in holding the former regime responsible for bringing the fundamentalist calamity upon us. Yet, she makes no mention of the hand that her father's generation, particularly the so-called intellectuals and activists had in inviting and expediting the emergence of the infamy of Velayat-e Faqih. It gives me no joy to remind Sayeh Sirjani of the words of one of her father's old friends and colleagues, but in the face of such collective amnesia that the offspring of our former dissidents seem to suffer from, such reminders may serve as useful lessons. The late Dr Muhammad Jafar Mahjub was a colleague and close friend of Saeedi Sirjani. Speaking in a memorial service held for Saeedi, Dr Mahjub recalled a conversation he had with Saeedi shortly before the fall of the Shah. While Mahjub was increasingly concerned for the uncertain future that would have faced the country in the aftermath of the Shah's fall, Saeedi showing a reckless and hostile attitude, remarked: "Let him [Shah] go and if a dog sits in his place - we are still better off" (bezaar bereh, jaash sag benshineh - baazam behtareh). Sadly, the dog, or should I say the jackal, came and claimed its victims, among them the late Saeedi Sirjani. Whenever I hear or read such lamentations as Ms Sirjani's, I am reminded of the powerful words of our great poet Nasser Khosrow Ghobadiani in his epic, The Eagle: "chon nik nazar kard par-e khish dar An deed" I too feel Ms Sirjani's pain but with a big difference: I didn't invite the dog. |
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