 Azeri nationalism is Iranian nationalism
Just because some speak in a different dialect,
does not make them "ethnic"
By Baraitna Irani
August 7, 2003
The Iranian
I know you have a policy of opening your pages to each and every
point of view, but sometimes this is taken to extreme.
The diatribe written by this misguided Salman Borhani of Seton
School of Diplomacy is a point in mind, "Are
there any questions?" You bet! The first; has the school
taught him anything in diplomacy? Apparently not! His young mind
has been filled with stereotypes
many of which serves the political designs of centers not too friendly
to the Iranian aspirations. Second; what are his sources for this
simple analysis?
He is confused between Iranian and Persian. A confusion initiated
by the "West" and then encouraged by the invading Arabs
and their doctrine. Iranian includes Persians, Azeris, Baluchis
Lurs Kords etc. However not all those residing in Iran are necessarily
Iranians. For example most people from Qum are remnants of Arab
Shia' who fled the Caliphs.
For his information Azeris, are one
of the purest Iranians there is. What he calls Azeri Nationalism
that President Truman and then Shah put an end to, was nothing
but a Soviet (Communist) plot to absorb the Iranian Azeris into
the part which the previous Russian dictators had truncated. Azeri
Nationalism is Iranian Nationalism.
Our best and brightest have
been Azeris. Has he heard of Sataar Khaan and Baagher Khaan? Did
they fight so heroically for Azeri Nationalism or the Iranian one?
Does this young student, Salman, know that the most nationalistic
Iranian individuals and movements have been from Azerbaijan,
not in the name of Azeri people, as he so ignorantly refers to
them, but in the name of the entire Iranian people? He should research
and do the rest of his graduate work, not from the suspect sources
of the "West", but the more authentic Iranian sources.
But I suspect that his Farsi is so bad that he can only read English.
The reason most Iranian insist on Persian is because that is the
ancient language of the Iranian people. It was not from Fars that
Farsi (Persian) was saved but the equally significant part of Iran,
Greater Khorasan, that did it (heard of Ferdosi?) Most renowned
Iranian (many of whom are Azeris) writers, philosophers, mathematicians,
poets, astronomers and savants in general, not to forget medical
scientists wrote their work in Farsi (Persian).
During the Arab
dominance, in their efforts to annihilate Iranian and Iranian thoughts,
Farsi and Iranians were ridiculed and scholars were forced to write
in Arabic. Attempts, then as now, were made to separate what our
young scholar mistakenly call "ethnic" groups to divide
the ever present Iranian Unity.
Just because some speak in a different
dialect, does not make them "ethnic". He is obviously
under the influence of the concept of "ethnic" groups
as exist and apply to many of us here in the United States (Even
here we are all American with no ethnic inspirations - but proud
of our ethnicity, as they are in all of Iran).
Our young friend is so much under the Euro-Centrism
world that he forgets that all that he says about Persians apply
equally to
say the French, or Britons. Until quite recently (Blair
time) "Devolution" was not encouraged even in the "modern" Britain.
English
was promoted in favor of Gaelic Welsh or Irish. In Iran until
recently also, we discouraged other languages ignorantly fearing
it may
encourage separation. Now that the idea is discarded as nonsense,
different languages are permitted to the benefit of the Greater
Iran.
In short Salman seems a little overexcited young
Iranian of perhaps Azeri province and should read more Farsi sources,
or past Azeris
(not the recent ones that have been influenced by those who
have designs against the greater Iran. At one time they were Russians
then Soviets, British and loosely Arabs under the disguise
of
Arab solidarity - read Abdol Nasser, Saddam Hossein etc.)
I say to
Salman Borhani look at Iran from an Iranian lens and not
that of Euro-Centrists who think everything has happened in Europe
and now has afflicted America too. [See reply: We
deserve better]
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Azeri nationalism is Iranian nationalism
