Banality of evil

Balatarin
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Jahanshah Javid
by Jahanshah Javid
22-Jan-2010
 

Did you hear the news? Four thousand people have been arrested in the aftermath of the June elections. I repeat: Four THOUSAND. Two THOUSAND are still in prison. Eight hundred in Tehran alone. These are just based on official numbers announced by the prosecutor general, god knows what the actual figures are.

I wonder if many of us are shocked. We would be if it happened in the U.S. Or India. Or Korea. Or Turkey. Or Russia. Or any other country. But not in the Islamic Republic of Iran. This is how the frequency and scale of brutality has made us numb.

We're approaching the 31st anniversary of the revolution. We've seen thousands executed for their political and religious beliefs. Thousands of others have spent their best years in prison because they stood up to the Islamic Republic. Many of them have endured unspeakable torture.

Hundreds of thousands were killed or maimed in a war that could have ended six years sooner, when Iraqis were pushed out of almost every inch of Iranian territory. Equal numbers perished on the Iraqi side.

Meanwhile women were instantly stripped of their humanity. They were forced to cover themselves in public, whether they liked it or not. Stop and think about it for a second. Half the population suddenly lose many of the rights men, and women in most other countries, take for granted. Your mother, your sister, your wife, your friend reduced to objects.

Be honest guys: how many times have you thought about the status and treatment of women in Iran and said, wow, that's fucked up? Most of us, myself included, simply forget what it is to be a woman in that god-forsaken country. Oh well. Ghesmat een bood. Some are born men, some are born less than men.

How about being born a Bahai? Kiss all your rights goodbye. Or a Jew... nagoo!

Those are just some of the devastating human costs. But what about the media, a subject that is particularly close to my heart? I wish there was a list of all the newspapers and magazines shut down in the past 31 years. I bet they add up to a couple of thousand, if not more. Each represented the voice of a segment of society, all silenced. Never mind all those journalists who lost their jobs or landed in prison. But praise be to god, we have Seda and Seema and a few newspapers to assure our dear Rahbar that everything is beautiful.

That's all I wanted to say. I just thought that it was odd that the arrest of 4,000 people did not shock anyone. I forgot it happened in the Islamic Republic. I didn't realize this is just another day. Have a good one. I will. I'm going to the movies tonight. Life is good.

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more from Jahanshah Javid
 
i am a bahai too

no one can take away our right to believe

by i am a bahai too on Mon Jan 25, 2010 02:39 PM PST

i am thinking about the woman i know whose husband was taken away in the dead of Tehran's night, who was never found again, alive or dead.

she is full of love for Iran and for the Baha'i community, but there is always an unexpressed sadness about her, the kind that never leaves her eyes.

her husband was a member of a Baha'i Spiritual Assembly, he was young, highly educated and she was carrying his child. i mention her because even after her husband failed to return and was lost forever, she did not leave Iran.

later she had to leave Iran because she was actively teaching  Baha'i youth who had no access to any other form of higher education. she received death threats, real ones. to this day she agonizes over Iran and its condition.

rights? 

no one can take away our right to believe. maybe someone can take away our right to draw breath, but no one can remove belief.   


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Azarin Sadegh

Senselessness

by Azarin Sadegh on Fri Jan 22, 2010 08:40 PM PST

Dear JJ,

Excellent points! Thank you so much for never losing the fire - this sense of fury and outrage - in you!

You reminded me of the first time I saw burnt bodies of Cinema Rex victims...I was devastated for days, and had nightmare for months.

But a few years later: during the second or third year of war, as we all listened to the news of 10,000, or 15,000 being killed, I just kept on going with my "life", or my "senselessness" as you might call it.

Thanks again, Azarin


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Red Wine

...

by Red Wine on Fri Jan 22, 2010 04:07 PM PST

اینکه دولت منحوس آخوند السلامیه این چنین رفتار می‌کند ،به این معناست که ایشان فهمیدند که در واپسین روزهای موجودیت خود هستند و مردم با شرف ایران بیدار شده اند !

این رژیم سالم نیست و مذهب دیگر در ایران کاره یی نیست ! خلق ایرانی تغییر دولت و حکومت می‌خواهد،آزادی،استقلال فکری و مذهبی‌ می‌خواهد،مردم خواستار مجازات آخوند ها،سپاهیها و طرفداران جمهوری اسلامی هستند،وعده‌های دجال الصفت (خمینی) عملی‌ نشد،ایران در فقر ،فحشا،وابستگی‌ به نفت،دزدی،شکست‌های پیدر پی ورزشی و غیره غوطه می‌‌خورد.

اين حکومت استبدادی است و اين حکومت ولايتی حتما بايد از بين برود.مردم ايران خواهان حکومت سکورلار مانند کشور های آزاد هستند. نه حکومت مذهبي.

برگزاری انتخابات آزاد با امکان کاندیداتوری برای همه تفکرات و گروه‌های سیاسی.

باید جنگید و نبخشید انانیکه به وطن خیانت کردند و با خارجی‌ بر علیه ایران هم ساز شدند.

 


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Monda

What shocks Me more than the IRI's atrocities...

by Monda on Fri Jan 22, 2010 02:55 PM PST

is exactly how desensitized I have become these past couple of months.  For months after the June uprising I could not sleep at night.  But you know I have found ways to catch up on my sleep knowing that the next day I will read or hear more terrifying news coming out of Iran.  I seem to be operating just fine, I presume.

My choice of numbing today was seeing the matinee of "Daybreakers". I'm a big Dufoe and Hawk fan.  The movie is Ok if you don't mind the superficial gore and horror. As good Iranians we've only adjusted to the Real ones on youtube and other media. 


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میرزاقشمشم

Have a good time at the movies, JJ.

by میرزاقشمشم on Fri Jan 22, 2010 02:53 PM PST

I think the hottest news is the invention( it's not kosher to call it creation) of "halal dogs" by IRI's scientists. Isn't it?


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Fouzul Bashi

jj - another shocking news

by Fouzul Bashi on Fri Jan 22, 2010 02:44 PM PST

has been the announcement last month by the education minister that from the age of 9 school books will be gender specific, books for boys and books for girls, and its obvious impact on women's quality of education and the "specialisations" made available to them.

 If that was the arrest of 4000, this is the arrest of a generation of women ...


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divaneh

It's not shocking when it's expected

by divaneh on Fri Jan 22, 2010 12:46 PM PST

You are right JJ, we would have been shocked if it was in a democratic country but find it normal in IRI. I think it’s because we see the governments in the democratic societies as stable administrations who are in line with the people wishes. This is not a view that we have about IRI. On the contrary we see them on their last leg and prone to desperate moves. We even cherish a larger number of detainees as it demonstrates the size of the opposition whilst making it difficult for them to resort to violence in such great scale.

Enjoy the movie and don’t you ever believe that Sargord has a dog. Not because he is a devout Muslim, just because dogs are sensitive creatures and don't put up with everything that we do.

 


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Anonymouse

BTW JJJ why don't your blogs have pictures? Blog pix r good!

by Anonymouse on Fri Jan 22, 2010 12:12 PM PST

Everything is sacred.


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MOOSIRvaPIAZ

this is why the regime is winning

by MOOSIRvaPIAZ on Fri Jan 22, 2010 12:07 PM PST

atleast in the short to midterm. they can effectively clamp down on protests with many of us just watching/reading the news. I give the reformist leadership in Iran credit for being part of the reason the movement survived this long. they could have killed it in its infancy with reactionary comments.


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Jahanshah Javid

Chashm

by Jahanshah Javid on Fri Jan 22, 2010 12:00 PM PST

Thanks Sargord. You can be sure I will enjoy the film and forget about those in prison in Iran who won't be getting as much love as your dogs.


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Sargord Pirouz

Have a good time at the movies, JJ.

by Sargord Pirouz on Fri Jan 22, 2010 11:44 AM PST

I'm gonna go out and walk the dogs.

And reflect upon the independence of a nation, free to make mistakes, but also to make advances for its own needs and causes.

 


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Faramarz_Fateh

Its much higher than 4,000

by Faramarz_Fateh on Fri Jan 22, 2010 11:34 AM PST

The number of arrested but freed after 48-96 hours is significantly higher. 

The way the arrested get freed is as follows:

1) They identify all of their immediate family members; addresses, telephone #s etc We all know what this is for.

2) They pledge in writing that they will never again participate in protests against the government and the leader or else they will be jailed for long periods

3) They are placed under surveillance and followed by Basijis.

4) Their entire family enjoys getting harassed weekly so the young man or woman arrested is frequently reminded they are being watched and their family members are in jeopardy.


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Anonymouse

Forget us. How many do you think is regime's limit? Not 4000

by Anonymouse on Fri Jan 22, 2010 11:19 AM PST

Everything is sacred.


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masoudA

Welcome to the matrix JJ

by masoudA on Fri Jan 22, 2010 11:12 AM PST

This has been going on for 30 years - one way or another.    Some of the things that have been happening to people are worst than jail.   4 years ago the internet was full of scenes of IR masked police enetering people's houses and beating them up in front of their children.......or shoving aftabeh in their mouths...  Or when they stab husband and wife 80 times each, or when they assassinate 30 writers and reporters in a few days....

can you imagine police wearing mask??!   The good news this time we got them - they won't escape this one.   This time the whole nation has risen.    This time even God is Green  


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