Pictory

Ye mosht ashghal kalehe kodan

Bazarganha, Rajaviha, banisadrha, toudeiha va baghieyeh ashghal kaleha mesle een sanjabi bodand ke een Khomeiniyeh aldang ra bozorg kardand.

Democracy Good; Dictatorship Bad

Vanaki,

I. Today there exists a massive pro-democracy movement in Iran without parallel in the Middle East. Why? Because of the preexistence of democratic ideas among our population. Who introduced, promoted, and defended democratic ideals in Iran?

1. The constitutional movement 1906-1911.

2. The Jebhe Melli Iran 1949-Present.

3. The Jebhe Melli Iran struggles against the dictatorships of Shah and Khomeini between 1977 and 1981.  And the continued struggles of JM against Khomeini and his genocidal fascists since 1981. 

Democratic ideals have to be introduced, promoted, defended, and fought for. We owe the existence of this ideals to Jebhe Melli Iran.

II. Democracy has ENEMIES.

Who have been the main enemies of democracy in Iran?  The Shah and Khomeini and their ilk. 

On December 7, 16 Azar, we will hopefully see massive demonstrations for Iran Student Day. Will you see the photos of Mohammad Reza Shah on the Student Day? No. Will you see the photos of Khomeini? No.

When we will overthrow the fundamentalist terrorist regime and establish democracy in Iran, the guiding principles will be those democratic ideals from the 1906 constitutional revolution and the Jebhe Melli struggles for democracy since 1949 that will have prevailed.

Kazemzadeh: JM or NA take your pick

You get too worked up but look at your own lame argument:

"3. Once Dr. Bakhtiar accepted to become prime minister without the prior permission of JM, JM leadership met, discussed the issue, and expelled Dr. Bakhtiar from JM. Dr. Bakhtiar accepted this. After that Dr. Bakhtiar did not claim that he was a member of JM. Later on he created the organization NAMIR. Therefore, only an ignorant person would say JM was in power in January 1979."

There is my point since Bakhtiar was the leadership of JM and once he accepted the position of prime ministership, the whole party deserted him.  What a bunch of patriots!  Just when the man needed support and approval, your heros in JM left him out in the cold of Bahman 1357.  Who did they side with?  Khomeini of course.  They did not have the hindsight that their counrty was in danger and blindly led sheep to the greener pastures.

Your claim that JM is an assembley of patriots even after Karim Sanjaghi failed to attach to the new political order is ridiculously tragic.  So he did not even stay in the game long enough to help out his old buddy Bazargan!  What a chump!

JM or NA all have their roots in Mossadegh's movement.  And who had the upper hand or who did what is irrelevant now since most are dead or too old for the political games they were never really geared up for.  All had their occupations and instead wanted to be politicians.  So what they condemned the regimes brutalities and protested against it? so did the rest of the population.  For that they don't deserve a hero status in my world.

Only a fool would try to portray them as political heros, just listen to Sanjaghi talk about how he was so lost and he discovered Khomeini and he is even apologizing for discovering Khomeini so late!

A true innovator and original in 'political ass' kissing.  That is the legacy of Karim Sanjaghi.

Find yourself another party to plug and leave these old farts to the wind.

Democracy Good; Dictatorship Bad

AO,

You are 100% wrong. Iranian democrats have been attacked viciously by dictatorial groups (monarchists and fundamentalists) precisely because we have principles and do not sell them for power. Precisely due to our principles of independence, freedom, democracy, and human rights, that the dictatorial repressive groups attack us.

It is our HONOR to be attacked and insulted by Shaban Bi-mokh and his ilk.  It is our HONOR to be attacked by Khomeini and his ilk. 

JM has a long distinguished record of upholding its democratic principles. That is why dictatorial groups insult us. We wear as badges of honor to be attacked and insulted by vicious dictatorial groups. It shows the differences between democrats and tyrants.

Masoud Jaan, this is what happens when you don't stick to your

principles:

The likes of Shaban bi-Mokh monarchists and fundamentalist psychopaths like Khomeini have been insulting our leaders since 1949. JM’s brave leaders and members have been tortured, knifed, set on fire alive to agonizing death, murdered, executed by the monarchists. 

That's a natural consequence of not sticking to your principles.  you become a "choob-e har do sar beh tala." 

Khasan va Khossein har 3 dokhtaran Muavieh Boodand, part 2

Vanaki,

I rest my case. You are utterly ignorant of the basics of Iranian history and simple logic.

1. Bazargan in Feb 1979 was NOT a member of JM. Bazargan split from JM in 1961 and established Nehzat Azadi Iran. Heloooooooo. Therefore, only an utterly ignorant person would say Bazargan was a member of JM in 1979. NA is an Islamic organization (they transform Islam into political ideology). JM is a secular organization.

2. Same with Yazdi. Ebrahim Yazdi was a member of Nehzat Azadi. You keep confusing different things. Duuuuuuuuh. Only an utterly ignorant person would say Yazdi was in JM. As a matter of fact, there were huge fights between Yazdi and Dr. Sanjabi in 1978-1979.

3. Once Dr. Bakhtiar accepted to become prime minister without the prior permission of JM, JM leadership met, discussed the issue, and expelled Dr. Bakhtiar from JM. Dr. Bakhtiar accepted this. After that Dr. Bakhtiar did not claim that he was a member of JM. Later on he created the organization NAMIR. Therefore, only an ignorant person would say JM was in power in January 1979.

4. YOU simply are utterly ignorant. If a former member of an organization leaves or is expelled from an organization, and he or she accepts to work with another regime, the former party is NOT in the government. If this is over your ability to understand, let me help explain with an example. If a member of the Tudeh Party leaves the Tudeh Party and accepts to join the Hezb Rastakhiz, it is utterly ignorant to say that Tudeh Party was in power in 1975.

Second Time Was

when Bakhtiar came into power and likes of Bazargan and Sanjabi did not have the balls to back him up.  Third was when Bazargan formed his post revolutionary cabinet which lasted 275 days!  So there you have it and now all that is remaining of Jebheh Melli is Yazdi sittiing in a prison cell somewhere.  To me they are only a notch or two above Tudeh in political charts.

Khasan o Khossein har 3 dokhtaran Muavieh boodand

Vanaki,

You are a weird combination of ignorance and vulgarity. There are sooooooooooo many factual errors in your few sentences it is amazing. You write that Jebhe Melli THREE times had governmental power!!!!!!!

Uuuuuum, once was in 1951-53. We had the cabinet. Not the whole power, but just the cabinet and part of the Majles.

The second time was about 1/3 of the cabinet in the provisional government in Feb 1979.

When was the third time?????????????

Your writing is like the saying Khasan o Khossein har 3 dokhtaran Muavieh boodand.

May I suggest, instead of insulting those brave democrats who put their lives on the line, spent many many years in prisons, and many of our leader were tortured and killed, at LEAST read one or two scholarly books on the subject. I am not saying that you be grateful to the wonderful Iranian democrats who risked so much for the betterment of the Iranian people. But at least have decency to not insult the BEST the Iranian nation has offered.

آقای کاظم زاده

Please don't lump all Jebhe Mellis together

Guys! ... Shapour Bakhtiar was also part of Jebhe Melli! and he saw right through Khomeini. Some people in Jebhe Melli might have made mistakes supporting Khomeini but that's partly Shah's fault as well.

Secondly, try not to confuse "nehzat azadi" with "jebhe melli". Nezhat Azadi has islamist leanings while jebhe melli is secular.

Democracy Good; Dictatorship Bad

AO,

The likes of Shaban bi-Mokh monarchists and fundamentalist psychopaths like Khomeini have been insulting our leaders since 1949. JM’s brave leaders and members have been tortured, knifed, set on fire alive to agonizing death, murdered, executed by the monarchists.

SAVAK and the terrorist regime’s Ministry of Intelligence have been attacking us for many many decades. And still JM remains in the hearts of the most decent Iranians who want independence, freedom, democracy, and human rights.

And due to these ideals, the supporters of dictatorial groups have been insulting our democrats and attacking us.

MK

responses

Vanaki,

There are several errors of fact in your 2 sentences.

1. Dr. Sanjabi was asked by Khomeini to be a member of Shoray Enghelab. Dr. Sanjabi refused because he opposed the creation of parallel governmental structure after the establishment of the provisional government. If your false and insulting allegation was true, Dr. Sanjabi would have accepted the position.

2. Dr. Sanjabi and the JM members RESIGNED from the provisional government on Farvardin 26, 1358, which is April 15, 1979. From Feb 11, 1979 when the monarchy was overthrown and April 15 is about 63 or so days. How in the hell did you come up with 275 days of vezarat???????????

3. And why did Dr. Sanjabi and JM members resign? Dr. Sanjabi explicitly said in his press conference on Farvardin 28, 1358 that he strongly opposed the work of revolutionary courts, and other parallel structures and lack of due process and other interferences....

Therefore, his resignation was on PRINCIPLE. You have to apologize for making false insults.

4. Dr. Sanjabi remained in Iran and fought bravely against Khomeini’s fascistic and reactionary policies. He was the main person responsible for all the strong and brave public oppositions to Khomeini from opposition to dismissing of all female judges, to closing of Ayandegan paper, to hostage taking, to dictatorial and reactionary vf constitution, to rallies in opposition to vf constitution, to Qanon Qesas (in summer 1981).

After Khomeini declared JM "mortad" meaning that it would be good for the fascist fundamentalist to murder our members, Dr. Sanjabi left Iran.

Making false insults is disgusting. Shame on you.

MK

====================================

Ali jaan,

1. I know large numbers of members of JM who are in their 18-20s.

Photos and materials on some of JM’s younger members:

//www.jebhemelli.net/htdocs/events/2010/November/KhadanH_Court.html

//www.jebhemelli.net/htdocs/Historical&Social/MossayebianHR_Qavam.html

photos of JM’s young members on Facebook:

//www.facebook.com/?tid=1737026071607&sk=messages#!/photo.php?pid=727265&o=all&op=1&view=all&subj=173187649741&id=1484316009

As a matter of fact, we have a large and vibrant youth membership inside Iran.

2.

DTV is gradually leaving velayat faghih and slowing becoming democratic. It still has not become democratic yet. Still it is part of nezam velyat faghih. I call it radical reformist.

Greens:

Reformist Greens: Mousavi and Karrubi are NOT democrats. They are reformists. Reformists want to make reforms to preserve and prolong the rule of the vezam velayat faghih. Democrats want to replace the ruling tyranny with democracy. BOTH Mousavi and Karrubi explicitly support the fascistic genocidal Khomeini and the anti-democratic vf constitution.  Mousavi and Karrubi are part of the nezam (fundamentalist regime).

Secular Greens: Secular Greens are democratic. They are not yet a political party and organization. They are those who shouted "esteghlal, azadi, Jumhuri Irani." I consider them our social base. Their views are similar (and perhaps identical) to JM.

Communists: If a communist supports Lenin, Stalin, Mao, then he or she is not democratic. The USSR and China were not democratic. There was no freedom of the press, political parties, free elections. If a communist supports the likes of Rosa Luxemburg, or the Frankfort School, then he or she is a genuine democrat. Unfortunately, we have not had many pro-democracy communists groups in Iran.

I do not think any communist group today can get more votes than JM in Iran.

The PMOI is not democratic.

The monarchists of Iran have a loooooong history of brutal dictatorship. I do not regard the Iranian monarchists to be democratic. A country with a monarchy (e.g. Sweden, U.K.) can be democratic to the extent that the monarch does not have real power. If the monarch has any real power -- by definition the monarch is NOT periodically and freely democratic -- then that system becomes non-democratic. The U.K. and Sweden and Spain are democracies not because of monarchic system but despite it. By its very definition, a person becomes monarch by inheritance and not by periodic elections monarchy is not a democratic institution. To the extent that a majority accepts this non-democratic feature to that extent the system is legitimate.

Best,

Masoud

=================　

Karoon,

Please read my responses. The answer is already there.

You're right Masoud Jaan - I shouldn't have insulted olaghs

They are  loyal animals.  Sanjabi and others, on the other hand, were unprincipled opportunists who sold themselves, their ideals and their people just so that they could join Khmeini's mafia and be a part of the ruling mob that came into power after the 1979 devolution.  

The fact of the matter is that these characters knew exactly what Khomeini stood for.  If my high school educated, non-political father could figure it out at the time, so could have Sanjabi.  It was just that they realized at some point that Khomeini was going to be the top dog and the "boss" in the IR Cosa Nostra, and for them to be a Capo in that organization, they needed to  play ball and kiss his ring...which they did--some literally.      

Hypocrisy

I was on my teens during the 1978 uprising of the Iranian people, and was watching the daily news from

abroad, about Khomeini and his opposition to the Shah and his regime, I never supported the Monocracy, but I could read between the lines from Khomeini’s speeches in France, that he has one purpose, and one purpose only, to create an Islamic Dictatorship in Iran that would take the Country backward to stone ages ( Mohammad’s era). If Dr. Sanjabi, Bazargan and the rest of JM were so smart, and care about the future of Iran and Iranians, why couldn’t they see this in Khomeini, and left Dr. Shahpour Bakhtiar and his camp alone? Just like majority of Iranians, our personal benefits comes first!!! They are part of the equation, and need to be blamed.

The West seized the opportunity to use Khomeini and Islam ( The Best Weapon) to prevent the spread of Communism in Iran and they succeeded (Just like Taliban in Afghanistan). All other alternatives were killed.

خیانت?

.

..

The actual comment from Pars tv was : those AN-telectuals sold our country for zilch ;hoping to get rid of eslamion in a week or so or that's what they taught.   Maziar

خیانت در ریشه همه ایرانیان

ما ایرانیها همیشه دنبال ازادی بودیم ولی به چه قیمتی و ایا ما درک ازادی و سیاست را داشتیم و چه کسانی ادعای ازادی را داشتند و منظور انها از ازادی چه بود. ایا با تغیر رژیم شاه و بر قرار کردن اسم جمهوری با اسلامی شدن رژیم ازادی میشد.  ایا ما دنبال قدرت نبودیم ایا ما اطلاعی از سیاستهای خارجی داشتیم . ایا ما میدونستیم که جبعه ملی و مارکسیست و جمهوری خواهان و دیگران از کجا پشتیبانی میشدند. کسانی مثل من و شما فقط از اهنگهای ازادیخشان میامد و نه درکی از سیاست داخلی و خارجی داشتیم و نه درکی از کمونیستها و نه ملی گرایان و نه جمهوری خواهان داشتیم ایا ما از فلسفه و یا قانون اساسی این حزبها خبری داشتیم . ایا انقلاب کوبا و یا شیلی و یا روسیه و یا فرانسه و کشورهای دیگر اصلأ با کدام یک از درخواستهای ایرانی قابل مقایسه و یا الگویی برای ما بود. ما ملتی هستیم که دنبال قدرت و تشنه انتقام و نوکر اقایدخارجی. بعد از ۳۲ سال بدبختی و کشتار و جنگ و چپاول مال و جان ایرانیان و ایران که پارسال مشاهده کردیم . ایا سپاه و بسیجی مگر ایرانی نیستند ، مگر انها همسایه ما نیستند، مگر انها زمانی همکلاسی ما نبودند و یا دوستان ما نیستند و خوب پس چرا  ترجیح میدهند برای یک مشت خیانت کار و دشمن, ملت را تیرباران کنند. ریشه خیانت به ملت, مملکت تازگی ندارد و ما تشنه قدرت با هر اسمی باشد.

That's a big claim!

Masoud jaan:

"For good or il, TODAY in 2010, JM remains the main, the largest, and the oldest pro-democracy organization in Iran" ?

The oldest, maybe.

The MAIN?

The LARGEST??

Every time I see a picture of "Nehzat-eh-Azadi" or "JM" supporters, there are just a dozen or so really old men , standing (not that there is anything wrong with it!)

I don't know anyone under 50, who identifies himself as JM supporter.

JM's numbers are surpassing other groups, or we just don't recognize those other groups (such as daftar-tahkeem-vahdat, Greens, Communits, MKO, Monarchists,...etc.) as pro-democracy?

سنجابی یکسال بعد از انقلاب خودش در رفت

Secularism Good; Theocracy Bad

Dear G. Rahmanian,

1. I think this interview was in December 1978. Early on our slogan was: "Esteghlal, Azadi, Edalat Ejtemae" [Independence, Freedom, Social Justice].

2. Sometimes in September as Khomeini became more and more popular and we became less and less popular, they were able to change the slogan to: "Esteghlal, Azadi, Jomhuri Islami."

3. Pakistan is officially called: "The Islamic Republic of Pakistan." Pakistan was not a theocracy. After the U.S. overthrew the Taliban, they created what is called "The Islamic Republic of Afghanistan." Khomeini had said why the Jews have a state called the Jewish State but there cannot be an Islamic State. And Israel is a democracy for the Jewish citizens.

4. There is a difference between an Islamic Republic and the Velayat Faghih. In the case of Iran, after the revolution in the referendum, the people in genuine referendum voted for an Islamic Republic. That was in April 1979. The provisional government came up with a democratic constitution very much like the French Fifth Republic constitution. Then, the fundamentalist conspired to change that into the VF constitution (which is a terribly dictatorial and reactionary constitution). JM 100% opposed the vf constitution.

5. If you have read the 1906 Constitution, you will see that it has a loooooooot of Islamic and Shia principles. It states that the king has to be a 12 Imami Shia Muslim. There was the 2nd Article of the Amended version [Motamam] that said there should be a council composed of Shia clerics that would look at all the bills passed by Majles and declare null and void any bill that was against Shariah. The Shoray Negahban is sort of like that. The 2nd Article was never implemented. Well much of the 1906 Constitution was not implemented by the Pahlavi kings.

6. In a real democracy, there should NOT be any mention of any religion in the constitution and in the name of the country. So, having an Islamic Republic is problematic (as would a Christian Republic, or Hindo Republic, or whatever).

People and intellectuals learn from their mistakes. The Iranian people have learned a very painful lesson. The Iranian people are many decades ahead of others in the Islamic world. The Iranian people learned this painful lesson because we have lived in a true hell in the past 32 years.

Just look at Turkey, which has been more advanced than ours. Now they have the morons in the AKP that embrace the reactionary terrorist Ahmadinejad and reactionary terrorist Hamas. Now so many Shia in Lebanon support the terrorist puppet Hezbollah. Many Palestinians voted for the reactionary terrorist Hamas.

BECAUSE our people lived in the hellish nightmare of the Islamic Republic, the Iranian people have gained a most valuable lesson: it is necessary to separate religion and the state. Well, there are still many reactionary Iranians who still want to mix religion and the state (and politics).

The consciousness that exists today simply did not exist in 1978. Please simply look at what the Shah was saying in this link:

//iranian.com/main/blog/masoud-kazemzadeh/oriana-fallaci-interview-mohammad-reza-shah-religion

When you have the king of the country stating publically that he is in communication with the 12th Imam who provides him with secrets that will occur in the future, when you have so many people who say that they can see the face of Khomeini on the moon, we had a real problem.

The only redeeming value of the fundamentalist terrorist regime is that our people learned a most valuable lesson. After this fascistic regime is overthrown, the next political system will be secular and democratic.

And if you want democracy and secularism, WHAT group can one trust that will not kill, torture, imprison, assassinate? I think no party, and I repeat, no political organization in Iran, has a track record of actual deeds for democracy, freedom, human rights, and secularism. Yes, JM made mistakes, but compared to ALL the other parties there is absolutely categorically no comparison.  And the sole exception, the NAMIR (Dr. Bakhtiar's group) comprised by and large, from Mossadaghis and supporters and members of JM.  And most of the leaders of NAMIR in the past few years have re-joined INF-Abroad.

Best,

MK

An Untenable Position!

National Front's position during that period was one of the chief causes the revolution took an ugly turn we witnessed after the establishment of the IR.Mr. Sanjabi's specious and extremely hypocritical statement with regards to 98% of Iranians being Muslims therefore legitimizing Islamic governance as opposed to calling for secular democracy was a nail to the Front's coffin.To unequivocally support someone the cadre of the National Front hardly knew with a notion of an ill-defined Islamic rule was an indefensible act of political adventurism for a front with such a long history of political activism.The grand task of getting rid of the Shah was prioritized to the extent of not leaving any room for maneuver or independent policies that would allow the front to form a viable opposition and mobilize the forces which opposed Khomeini's camp. Bazargan called leftists, SAVAK agents two months prior to the take over of the US embassy when he was labeled a traitor by the students of "Imam's line.'

Has anyone asked where Khomanee was in 1953 coupe?

What was his role?   Was he for or against oil nationalization.   At that time Khomanee was a student of Broujaerdi.   Khomanee was 51 so it was not like he was a young man, with no affiliation.

From what we know, in return for Boroujerdi silience on 1953, Shah allowed a lot of free play to the clerics, including EXEMPTING all Mollahs from military service, and including allowing the only political organization in the form of Mosques to exist all the way until revolution.

What we know, is the clear stand of Dr.Mossadegh on separation of state and religion, before it became popular for Monarchists after 1979 revolution.

As far as Sanjabi, he made big mistake.   But the fact is, he did not benefit from this one penny.   THere is a huge difference between HONEST (eventhough costly mistake) than selling your country.  Still, Dr Bakhtiar to the last day had a picture of Mossadegh and NOT the Shah on his desk.   So if Sanjabi is PART of JM, so is Bakhtiar.   In fact unlike undemocratic organizations, JM was famous for the variety of opinion it supported.   

That is why, JM was among first organizations that was declared illegal.

Now you can all forget 26 years of political opperession post coupe that left no one but the clerics standing on JM.   But the reality is:

Islamic Regime exists today in Iran, because no sane/moderate/melli opposition was allowed to operate in Iran during Pahlavis.   Let us also not forget all the relations between Kashani, Fadayan Islam with SHah and Savak prior, during and after 1953 coup.

You can not selectively look at history.

Democracy Good; Dictatorship Bad

Dariush jaan,

1. The Carter administration tells the Shah around Nov 1, 1978 that they think he should try first with a JM government and second with a military government. By Nov 1978, it was waaaaaay too late.

2. Until then the Shah was using much of the violence against JM (including bombing the offices of our top leaders) and beating up our members. Literally Dr. Sanjabi and Dariush Forouhar were in prison.

3. Had the Shah accepted JM’s suggestion earlier, then JM could have established a democratic system. But by November, JM’s popular base had shrunk and the social base of Khomeini had expanded dramatically. The more violence the Shah used (between July 1977 and late 1978), the more the people abandoned our moderate approach and supported Khomeini’s radical approach.

4. We NOW know that Khomeini was a genocidal fascistic psychopath.

5. We do NOT know what the monarchists would have done later on. Many monarchists were suggesting bloodbath. For example, if all of JM sided with Dr. Bakhtiar, what would have happened?????? The Shah did NOT abdicate, he merely went to vacation. So, if we succeeded (and that is a big if), and calmed the situation, then the Shah would have returned in a few months, and dismissed the JM cabinet. And if we disagreed, then he could have executed all of our leaders. And if the people went to the streets, then he would have done what Gen. Nasiri and others like him wanted to kill thousands upon thousands upon thousands.

6. And if we failed in calming the situation, then Khomeini would have done what he did.

So, in November there was NOTHING JM could have done to save the situation. November 1978 was too late for JM to solve the situation in a democratic manner.

In November 1978, perhaps, the Shah could have "saved" his throne by ordering the armed forces to kill 100,000 or so. But THAT "solution" is NOT the JM way of solution.

The Shah could not have done soooooooooooo much dictatorship which caused soooooo much anger among sooooooooooo many people and then expect at the last moment for JM to be able to save the situation. It was NOT realistic.

I hope this is helpful. Using insults and personal attacks for the BEST of our democratic forces and individuals are NOT helpful for the democratization of Iran.

Monarchists can jump up and down and use insults such as olagh, moron, clueless about the BEST democratic Iranians, but this makes the monarchists look even worse.

Be honest, the Shah leaves his own Prime Minister for 13 years in prison, (and also puts large numbers of his own regime’s high officials in prison), and it is JM and Mehdi Bazargan who actually defend their human rights, and then instead of being grateful for defending their human rights, monarchists insults JM!!!!!!!

Do YOU see how weird this is. Monarchists kill, knife, imprison, burn, torture JM members. The Shah puts some of his supporters in prison. JM opposes the executions of monarchists strongly. Do we hear from monarchists: "Thank you for supporting our human rights despite the fact that we oppressed and repressed and tortured you."

Think about it. Monarchists kill and torture us. We oppose your execution and defend your human rights. You do not thank us. You insult us. This is weird.

MK

No comment ...

Fereydoun Farrokhzad - Irani Boodan - audio

No wonder Bakhtiar was forced out of the JM ...

Unlike the clueless Sanjabi and Co, Bakhtiar clearly saw through Khomeiny and his culprits just like through a crystal glass ...

pictory: Bakhtiar Denounces Bazargan's Provisionary Government in exile (1979)

Related blog:

SPIRIT OF RESISTANCE: Iranian Intelligenstia Remembers Shapour Bakhtiar 

Pro Bakhtiar Demonstrations (video)

Ah the old time warp back

Ah the old time warp back to 1978. You self-exiles never tire of this, do you.

The world has moved on. Iran has moved on. But not for you, where your inner-clock seized back in the late 1970s.

It's no wonder you folks are no threat to the political establishment of Iran. You're so way out in the outfield. Actually, you're not even in the stadium!

Democracy Good; Dictatorship Bad

AO,

1. How old were you in 1978?

2. Under the Shah, there was extreme censorship. So, much of Khomeini’s writings were not available to people to read.

3. Most activists ignored Khomeini because they regarded his to be a very minor figure. Also the Shah and SAVAK regarded Khomeini and his supporters as minor.  That is why the Shah unleashed much of SAVAK violence against JM members in 1977-1978.

4. Most people in 1977 regarded JM as the main opposition. This was shared by many including us, the Shah, many communists, and Khomeini and his supporters.

5. Due to a variety of factors, JM’s popularity declined between early 1978 and the time of the revolution.

6. What was available were Khomeini’s messages from Iraq and then France (via BBC).

7. Dr. Sanjabi went to France and talked directly with Khomeini. Khomeini directly LIED to Dr. Sanjabi and said that he wants JM people to be the next government.

8. JM did not know that Khomeini supported Sheikh Fazlollah Noursi. In France, Khomeini supported the 1906 Constitution and condemned the Shah for violating it. JM did not know that Khomeini opposed Mossadegh and sided with the 1953 coup. We found that out after the revolution.

9. JM like all other people could not imagine that an old religious figure presumably fearful of God and wishing to go to heaven and avoid hell, would behave like Hitler after coming to power and would lie and lie and lies and lie in order to get his fascist genocidal hands on power.

10. If I remember correctly, Andrew Young, the U.S. ambassador to the UN (who was a close friend of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.) called Khomeini "Iran’s Gandhi""!!!!!! Soon, what so many assumed was Gandhi turned out to be a fascistic genocidal psychopath.

Yes, Dr. Sanjabi was one of the most educated Iranians in 1978. And he was one of the most democratic and civil libertarian Iranians alive then. When in Feb and March 1979, Dr. Sanjabi opposed and condemned the violation of due process and the executions of monarchists (and some innocents folks) what do YOU think others called him? Do you realize that JM paid a heavy price for upholding civil liberties of those who were directly responsible for those who had do sooooooooo much violence to JM {e.g., executions of JM’s Foreign Minister (Dr. Fatemi), knifing JM’s Minister of Justice (Lutfi), burning alive our journalist (Karimpour Shirazi), and in 1978 bombing the offices of Dr. Sanjabi, Matin-Daftari, Dr. Nazih, Forouhar, Lahiji, Moqadam Maraghei, and Hajji Moinian}??????

With the exception of some in Nehzat Azadi, ALL the other groups wanted JUSTICE. And our support for the due process made them to call us "jadeh saf kon imperialist," "weak," "naive" and "liberal" [in insult those days].

In conclusion, Dr. Sanjabi was among the very best our society had to offer. Insulting the very best Iranian people had to offer is not good. Among a large number of truly reactionary and dictatorial individuals, Dr. Sanjabi was faaaaaaaaaaaaaar better.

Dr. Sanjabi was at least 100 years ahead of the Shah. And about 1,400 years ahead of Khomeini.

Heck, in March 1979, Dr. Sanjabi was 32 years ahead of Mir Hussein Mousavi and Karrubi, who still in 2010 support Khomeini!!!!!!!!!!

And look around in the region and around the world. Just look that the support Khomeini’s carbon copy Osama bin Laden gets among some people in the region, or those of Nasrollah.

If there were more people like Dr. Sanjabi, then Iran would have been a true democracy in 1979. But unfortunately, there were not enough people like Dr. Sanjabi. THAT is the tragedy. And insulting the very best the Iranian people produced is not helpful if YOU want democracy, freedom, and human rights.

MK

some argue that we all needed this dose of velayate faghih

to vaccinate us forever against any future dictatorial regime with even the slightest  islamist hint.

Easy to call Mr snajabi a fool or worse,  yet ignoring the fact that he and other intellectuals of the time were after all , like the rest of Iranians in 1979, the product of centuries of shiat belief in the "just rule of imam ali", or "hossein, shahid of muslim khalgh", all within the context of brutal, corrupt, often incompetent Safavid, Qajar and Pahlavi monarchs.  

"Personal business must yield to collective interest."

Actually Masoud Jaan, I think that "olagh" is an appropriate

honor for Dr. Sanjabi and the like.  This character was supposed to be one of the most --if not THE most--articulate, educated and liberal of all opposition figures of the time.  If a man of his caliber was either unable to--due to either intellectual laziness or lack of intelligence--to see what Khomeini and his decrepit ideology stood for, and made such an absurd conclusion about the compatibility of the Khomeinist ideology with democratic ideals, I cannot imagine a better word than "olagh" to describe him.  It's the most befitting title for him.    

PS-Are you telling us that Dr. Sanjabi was such a moron that he actually took Khomeini's word, and believed everything that he said just like the average, uneducated Hassan and Hussein on the streets?  He didn't do his own research?  Again, nothing better than "olagh" can describe such an un-inquisitive self proclaimed "intellectual" and "leader" of the opposition. 

Democracy Good; Dictatorship Bad

From what we know today (or since about February-April 1979), that Khomeini was a fascistic genocidal person, one should criticize and condemn what Dr. Sanjabi said. In 1978, however, Khomeini was stating publically and repeatedly that he is for freedom and democracy. In 1978, we knew for fact that Mohammad Reza Shah was terribly brutal (he had killed about 2,900 or so people on the streets), he was a total tyrant (there was no freedom of expression, of the press, of political parties, and free elections), and he was nokar of foreign powers.

One should fault Dr. Sanjabi for not being able to predict the future, or for not having studied Khomeini.

For good or ill, JM was the main, the largest, and the oldest pro-democracy organization in Iran. For good or il, TODAY in 2010, JM remains the main, the largest, and the oldest pro-democracy organization in Iran.

Name one, just one organization that has a history of struggles for freedom, human rights, and democracy for Iran that comes close to JM’s history.

It is the HONOR of us Iranians that we have produced an organization like JM that in 1949 was for freedom and democracy. JM is the sole group that when in power did not execute anyone, torture anyone, assassinate anyone. Compare our record with those who have tortured, executed, and assassinated dissidents.

JM has an actual PROOF of being 100% democratic action. We condemned the human rights violations of the Shah when he was in power. AND after the overthrow of the monarchy, when fascist Khomeini’s henchman Khalkhali was violating the due process of the law and executing monarchists (and many others, many of who were fully innocent) with total support from the criminal Khomeini, what did Dr. Sanjabi and JM do?????????????? JM and Dr. Sanjabi openly criticized and condemned the lack of due process and strongly condemned the executions. JM and some in Nehzat Azadi (Mehdi Bazargan) were the only groups that opposed the violations of due process and executions.

BOTH the Shah and terrorist Khomeini executed their opponents. JM and Dr. Sanjabi bravely criticized and condemned BOTH regimes for dictatorship and executions, and violations of human rights.

JM was among a few organizations that supported the women’s movement against compulsory veil in March 1979.

JM was the sole political organization that OPPOSED and CONDEMNED Khomeini’s order to dismiss all female judges. JM organized a mass rally against Khomeini’s order in May 1979.

JM was one of few organizations that publically condemned Khomeini’s closing of Ayandegan in August 1979.

JM and Dr. Sanjabi openly called Khomeini "like fascist" is 1979.

In August-September 1979, JM openly and courageously condemned the dictatorial VF constitution and called for rallies against this reactionary dictatorial fundamentalist constitution.

In November 1979, JM openly condemned the terrorist Khomeini’s support for the terrorist action of the Daneshjooyan Khat Imam for taking and holding American hostage.

In December 1979, JM as the main pro-democracy organization of Iran openly declared the reactionary, dictatorial vf constitution as illegitimate and the "fake vote" as fake and unacceptable and illegitimate.

In 1981, JM condemned the reactionary and backward Qanon Qesas as reactionary and backward. We called upon the people to protest it.

In conclusion, JM is our oldest, largest, and main pro-democracy organization. Since 1949, again and again, it has PROVEN in actual deeds and not mere words that it is democratic. Have our members and leaders made mistakes? Of course. We are human and ALL human beings make mistake. The words of Dr. Sanjabi in the video are an example of a leader of JM making stupid remarks as shown in history afterwards. The poor soul fought against dictatorship before that and after that.

Using vulgar words like olagh for the best of Iran’s democratic individuals is harmful if one wants freedom, democracy, human rights. But if one is for dictatorship, torture, repression, assassinations, and executions of political dissidents, go ahead.

MK