A bleak future for Baha'is
Newstatesman / Moojan Momen
13-May-2009 (2 comments)

Earlier this week, US-Iranian journalist Roxana Saberi was freed from prison in Iran after having her sentence for "spying" reduced. The charge, which she strongly denied, sparked international attention and calls for her release, which has now been widely welcomed. But Ms Saberi leaves behind her many other inmates in Tehran's notorious Evin prison whose “crimes” against the Iranian state are also open to question. Thursday (14 May) marks the first anniversary of the arrest and detention of seven prominent members of the Baha'i faith, Iran's largest non-Muslim religious minority

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many fair and open minded Iranian people

by Moojan Momen (not verified) on Fri May 15, 2009 08:15 AM PDT

Dear Anonymous.doost

You are quite right that there are many fair and open minded Iranian people and that they are afraid of their own lives and for their loved ones in Iran being harassed and persecuted by IRI. And of course that is what the IRI counts on. Anyone who makes any protest is immediately suppressed harshly as an example to everyone else - such that everyone becomes afraid. If an American-Iranian reporter Roxana Saberi who has worked for CNN and the BBC can be arrested and convicted, imagine what fear that strikes into the heart of all Iranian reporters who do not have the luxury of the backing of foreign governments.

But as Martin Niemöller said about Germany in the Nazi period:
"In Germany, they came first for the Communists, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Communist;
And then they came for the trade unionists, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a trade unionist;
And then they came for the Jews, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Jew;
And then... they came for me... And by that time there was no one left to speak up."

If we all speak up, there will not be enough jails in Iran to put everyone in. This is basically what happened in Eastern Europe and led to the collapse of Communism. What will it take for everyone to speak up in Iran?


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There are many fair and open

by Anonymous.doost (not verified) on Wed May 13, 2009 04:17 PM PDT

There are many fair and open minded Iranian people inside and outside Iran, but in regards to Bahais,and defending their rights to bring up the issue is a very delicate matter. We are afraid of our own lives and our loved ones in Iran to be harassed and persecuted by IRI.
It might take a few courageous Iranians to start the fight.
I can assure you that pretty soon myriads of valient, brave souls from outside as well as inside Iran will stand up and defend their bahai friends
Until that day lets pray for our dear friends, bahais or not bahais who are victims of injustice,and hatred in Iranian prisions to be steadfast until the Devine justice arrives.


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