This morning I received an email from a gentleman of the contributor whose name [Ostaad] and his avatar [a Khar] we have come to associate with conviction, truthfulness and even at times aggressive, blunt and to the point comments and news articles.
What saddened me and few others whom I shared the news with, was that he was not going to be part of this community, which we all have come to respect and spent many hours of our lives within. My purpose of this piece is not to second guess the editorial decision that Mr. Javid has to make on daily and hourly basis. Nor it is to pretend to be anything other than [still wet behind ears], [new kid in the blog] and a mere lukewarm contributor.
Value and readership of any online news organization depends on the truthfulness, quality and conviction of its contributors. Whether we share the same conviction with any certain contributor or not, the fact remains that the diversity of a forum like iranian.com and any other online publication is in direct relationship to the quality of people participating in these forums.
Do any of us claim to be at the same caliber and level of professionalism as the gentleman of the publisher? Do we claim to be anywhere near him as far as expertise is concerned in the field of publishing? Answer to these questions is a solid NO. What we may lack in those areas, are compensated by the virtue of our conviction to A CAUSE, and clarity of our minds. Minds that seek to learn the TRUTH. Minds that seek to enlighten themselves, to be heard, and to be respected.
When one of us leaves the site, whether we agree with his/her opinions or not, should be seen as a loss. A loss of a mind and a person which inspired us, angered us, made us laugh, made us cry and most importantly made us THINK.
Perhaps what is desperately needed is a clearly defined and judiciously enforced abuse policy. A policy that is adhered to by all at all times. A policy that is fairly and not selectively applied to every and all members. After all the infraction that is cited against Mr. Ostaad is in fact this ambiguous and at time discriminatory policy of ABUSIVE language.
