After the last presidential election in Iran, two of the candidates who lost the election, started a green movement to protest the result of the election. Many of the young Iranians, who did not like the Islamic Regime, supported the green movement in the hope of change. However, the green movement has failed for the following reasons:
1.Choice of Green color for their movement. As a child learning various colors for the first time, green represented the color of grass or leaves in spring/summer. Blue represented the color of sky, and red represented red roses. My favorite color was Rainbow (ghoso-ghazah or rangarang); a shade of all colors in an arch, I could see sometimes in the sky, in a sunny day after a thundershower.
Several years later, when we got to see Tazieh (a theatrical religious ceremony); we noticed that Imam Hussein and family always wore green robe or turban, but Shemr and Yazid dressed in red. We also noticed in history books and maps, that era of Islamic dominance like the Safavid era, were colored in Green.
In 1979, the Islamic Revolution happened in a few short months. Starting with the transfer of A. Khomeini from Iraq to Neuf Le Chateau in France. Majority of the Iranians got to know him through his speeches and interviews, broadcasted by the foreign media. Later, a fire in the Rex Theatre in Abadan, some religious ceremonies during Tassua Ashura on the streets of Tehran, breaking shop windows and putting banks on fire, clash with the police, street demonstrations, martial law, civil disobediance, departure of Shah, arrival of A. Khomeini and his entourage to Iran by the Air France, a referendom for Jomhoori-e Islami, not a word less or a word more, in a couple of months.
While majority of the Iranians, were still confused and puzzled by the speed of the revolution, I remember that a few elderly men would tell the people, this revolution is part of a Green Islamic Movement in the region. However, nobody believed them. The events of the last three decades proved that they were right. Therefore, most Iranians are now allergic to the color Green!
2. The leaders of the Green Movement have been part of the Islamic Revolution, and have held high positions for a long time, moussavi as the first prime minister and Karroubi as the speaker of the parliament, in the Islamic Regime of Iran. In their own words after the recent election, they still support the Islamic Regime and Velayat-e Faghih, but oppose Ahmadi Nejad as the president.
3. Some of the young supporters and sympathizers of the green movement were identified, arrested, jailed, tortured or killed, while the green leaders were, at most, under the house arrest, waiting for their term to return to power. Of course, people can change, but if this is the case with the green leaders, they have to join the other opposition groups and the silent majority of Iranians, and announce their commitment to a secular democracy, human rights, and the rule of law in Iran.
A Rainbow Movement for Secular Democracy in Iran, can unite and reflect Iranians of all ethnic, language, and religious groups. Using the new technologies, Iranians within the country and those in Diaspora should start communication with each other and the world, promoting their great culture and history, and their goal and desire to have a secular democratic regime in Iran. Show the world that they are against the war, and want a free and fair election, under the supervision of Trusted International Representatives, to choose their leaders, and to join the civilized nations once again.
