Lasting menace
July 8th democracy movement is alive
July 7, 2004
iranian.com
On the late evening of July 8th, and early morning
of the 9th, 1999, the forces of the Islamic Republic in a coordinated
operation attacked the dormitories of the students in Tehran and
later on in Tabriz and had their fill of broken limbs and spilling
the blood of mostly sleeping students. The survivors have given
notarized affidavits testifying to the brutality of the attack.
The late Ezzat Ebrahimnejad was the only known fatality of
what the regime likes to refer to as the "episode". A brief
synopsis itemizing his many injuries and pictures of his badly
mangled young corps taken at the morgue which are on the net, speak
of the undeniable barbarity, bordering on bestiality of the attackers.
They will be available for the future prosecution of, as of yet
free, identified government murderers who were captured on video
tape. So are the minute, blow by blow details of the combined military,
paramilitary and police operation, including the description of
the bone crushing "tunnel of horror", and throwing
students off the balconies as offering to "Lady Fatima".
They too have been preserved in enumerable articles, eyewitness
testimonies and video tapes for posterity.
True, the regime has
committed many atrocities which in balance this "episode" pales
in comparison. For instance, during
the Iraq's invasion of Iran and the ensuing eight year WWI
style trench warfare, the ideologically correct twentysomething
"generals" who were learning on the job and getting their
tactical orders over
open lines from religious leaders back in Tehran, send wave after
wave of child solders to their certain deaths running over minefields
to clear the way. Amateur field commanders in a hurry to reach
"Qods (Jerusalem) through Iraq" ignored all basic rules
of warfare or even commonsense and time and time again committed
tens of thousands
to suicidal battles based on "revelation in a dream".
Even when the regime was stalemated and had to chugalug the "chalice
of poison" accepting to end the war, it ended it with yet
another mass murder. The authenticated signed order from the Leader
at the time to "annihilate the enemies of the Islam immediately!"
is
also preserved for the future. According to available data, eyewitness
accounts and the known locations of the unmarked mass graves, thousands,
the exact figure is not available due to understandable circumstances;
political prisoners were put to death in a two week period.
What makes this albatross -- the "university episode" -- different
than countless others the regime has around its neck, is the composition
of the victims.
Until that faithful night, the regime claimed its opponents were only a handful
of "Westoxicated",
"foreign mercenaries" and few other odd balls left over
from the previous "pagan" regime. It is no accident that
the politico-religious Friday prayers have been held at Tehran
University from
the day the IRI came into existence. The symbolism of the brightest
of the nation being
behind it is too precious to pass up.
If the ones who were born and raised on this regime's
watch, namely all the university students -- who have had to endure twelve
years of stupefying relentless political and religious indoctrination
all through
elementary and high school and then have had to pass a battery
of stringent tests to ascertain
their loyalty to the regime prior to gaining admission to the university
-- can't take it any more, there must be something seriously wrong
with the regime itself. Every
year, leading up to July 8th, the regime has had
to flood the streets of the major cities to prevent memorial demonstrations,
sapping its security apparatus by overextension, and exposing its cadres to
the raw and unmitigated hatred of the populace which will have costly morale
consequences
amongst its forces. This year, the elite suppression force, the "leopard
clad" equipped with the latest Taser gun in addition to their usual side
arm and lead cored Billy Clubs with the apparent order to be heavy handed have
been deployed. In addition, end of term examinations have been moved up
and strict orders given to students to vacate the dorms for the summer recess.
The
internet and the popular weblogs have been aggressively monitored and blocked,
or in the regime's parlance, "filtered", including the untraceable
net phone cards.
 The democracy movement in Iran is alive,
learning from its mistakes, constantly adapting to the situation
and very much menacing to
the regime, hence, all
the security precautions and expenditures to counter it. What it does not
need are
cheerleaders to encourage the students to risk life and limb by holding aimless
demonstrations for momentary gratification. What this movement could use are
steady moral support from abroad and some communication / logistical help
including
small stipends especially to the families of the advocates who are targeted
by the
security services of the regime.
The best hope for a peaceful, eventually
pluralistic Middle East lies in the hands of the ever growing democracy
advocates in Iran.
Failing to come to their help with what would amount to pittance, would
require a much more substantial sacrifices in not too distant
a future. *
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