Secular Democracy for Iran

آیت الله کاشانی گفت: « برین نذارین شاه بره

آیت الله کاشانی که گفت برین نذارین, من اومدم رفتم سر بازار سخنرانی کردم و اینا رو گفتم:« ایهاالناس! مغازه هاتونو ببندین, دکوناتونو ببندین, اعلیحضرت شاه داره از مملکت خارج میشه. اگه شاه بره شما زندگیتون از بین میره و اینا ...» دیدم هیشکی محل نذاشت. رفتیم دومرتبه سخنرانی کردیم. دیدیم نه, بازاریا... هر چی کردیم گوش نکردن. یه محمود جواهری بود سربازار , که اینا بعد کشتنش, اونم خیلی با مصدق جور بود.

//iranian.com/main/blog/tapesh-166

Khar jan is this one of your jokes?!!

Because it is so funny:

"Now, Mossadegh was no fan of involving religion with State "

 Mosaddegh was "elected" to his premiership (another joke) only with the full weight of the Mullah Kashani and all the 'ommaties' (Samsam's only useful contribution) behind him. He released all the relgious terrorist back into the society as a gift to his electorate and did not pass a single law to upset the clergy.

Now, what is your next joke Khar jan, I can't wait :)) 

FR

خر ما از کرّه‌گی دم نداشت

My tone and my choice of words are usually relative to well intentioned or bad intentioned context of discussion. And I'm usually right about what I sense. I'm sorry Khar but a propaganda in the guise of historic fact, doesn't make it a historic fact. Even in your last comment, you suggest that a four year term or so government of Mossadegh, regardless of whatever Mossadegh had in mind regarding the role of akhoonds in body politics, could effectively take akhoonds head-gears off!

This could never happen without a massive support of all secular and modern intelligentsia of the country, and those secular and modern thinking intelligentsia had a completely different agenda. They wanted to use Mossedegh as a stepping stone toward communism that's all. You are looking at turn of events backward. It wasn't the Shah who chose akhoond. It was the akhoond -the power broker- who chose the Shah, because he could offer a better option, he could protect Iran -and them- from communism. If Mossadegh could give the same assurance to akhoonds, they would have supported him, as they did before the coup. In which government cabinet of the Shah after dismissal of Mossadegh, any akhoond was setting the policy? They were out there, supporting the Shah and managing the populous. If Mossadegh priority was protecting the integrity of Iran and not toppling the Shah, he could work with him, isolate pro-soviet intelligentsia, and give a free space for the rest of secular intelligentsia to participate in political process and grow so that gradually the civil society management shift from akhoond controlled mosques to modern political processes. That's my view, and as a speculation about a historic development that never happened, it is as good as any hypothesis... and a very sound one.

If you want to look at this historic event, read some books. No time? RadioFarda has a collection of interviews about the event. If you want to insinuate that all this misery was caused by the monarchy, the same monarchy that created modern Iran as we know it, and that you had nothing to do with Islamic revolution, therefore your imaginary 'republic' is a better option, I will no longer name you names. I simply won't read you anymore. That should do it. BTW for your 'Republic', David had worked so hard, He had prepared a constitution. Why don't you join him, helping him, instead of continuous Pahlavi bashing. I assure you, it won't calm your guilt ridden conscious.

Mr. Benross

To begin with I would like to congratulate you on refraining from calling me the other "things" you did in the past and just limited your name calling just to "genius", thanks I really appreciate that ;-)

Now, Mossadegh was no fan of involving religion with State. He had made that point clear to Kashani that there will be no place for Akhaounds in the government. This played in Shah's favor to attract Kashani's support and Kashani knew the religious establishment would thrive under Shah, which we all know that is exactly what happened. Due to lack of democratic and secular alternatives (which were sucked out by shah's estebdaad off the political scene) at the end only Masjids & Akhounds were tolerated, and the Masjids that Shah built became a tool to rally the population by the Akhouds whom he supported for long time, brought his regime down. Again we can stick our heads in the sand and not see the realties of the history, but won’t do us any good. 

“Those who cannot remember the past condemned to repeat it” -George Santayana

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0l7g1HwEuk&feature=related

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ze5l_zryJOY&feature=related

He meant communist

He meant communist revolution genius.

برین شاه داره از مملکت بیرون میره, برین نذارین شاه بره

روز 9 اسفند خدمت شما عرض کنم که ما اول صبح رفتیم خونه کاشانی, درست یادمه. اون حاجی(محسن) محرر بود, امیر موبور بود, احمد عشقی بود و حاجی حسین عالم بود و یه عده ای دیگه. آیت الله کاشانی گفت: « برین شاه داره از مملکت بیرون میره, برین نذارین شاه بره» گفت:: « اگه شاه بره عمامه ی مام رفته!»...

بخشی از خاطرات شعبان جعفری مشهور به شعبان بی مخ, در گفتگو با هما سرشار( نشر ثالث- تهران-1381) صص123-159

(From Tapesh Blog)

قهر اهورایی - نسخه بدل بی‌ بی‌ سی‌

اینطور که شما می‌‌نویسی بی‌ بی‌ سی‌ شرمنده می‌‌شود. درست کپی مطالبی‌ است که در بی‌ بی‌ سی‌ می‌‌بینیم و می‌‌شنویم. اعتراض به جشن‌های ۲۵۰۰ ساله، ژنرال ها، هویدا، و حتی حذف واژه شاه!! کاش قهر اهورایی قدری اصالت داشت و تقلیدی نمی‌‌بود.

FR

A Delusionary Autocrat and an Incompetent Ruler

Mohammad Reza Pahlavi proved to be a failure by losing Iran to regressive clerics. He fled to save his own neck but left his devoted and patriotic army generals in limbo who later were arrested and executed by the psychopath hanging judge Sadegh Khalkhali.  The same fate awaited his servile but honest prime minister Amir Abbas Hoveyda whom he imprisoned as an escape goat to his corrupt and despotic rule.

In his book “Answer to History” he blames the Oil Companies for his demise and his son-in-law Ardeshir Zahedi faults the sycophants, the peas around the Peacock Throne, who kept him uninformed from the deteriorating state of the country. Those who lived that era knew the real words of people such as “dom dareh som dare khar…” and “chapid shah.”  

The 100-million dollar 1971 fiasco of “2500-year celebration of Iran’s Monarchy”, tents in the desert farce, showed the extent of his isolation from existing realities facing common Iranians.  His address to Cyrus that “…Cyrus sleep comfortably that we are awake”, and his forecast that “Iran is reaching the gates of great civilization” demonstrated the megalomania of a little man out of touch with reality. Incidentally, expressed differently, this last point was echoed in a sermon by theocrat Ali Khamenie that enemies of Iran do not want to see an Islamic Japan in Middle East (a kamikaze Islamic civilization, perhaps!)

Mohammad Reza Pahlavi had his 38-year rule with all the resources of the country and failed at it. He chose to rule as a despot in violation of the 1906 Persian Constitution and solely bears the responsibility for generating conditions that resulted in 1979 people’s uprising and overthrow of his regime.  

Faramarz jaan King Hossein son (now King) is learning from Shah!

//www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/08/19/AR2010081902955.html?sub=AR

Lavish vacations in the south of France and motorcycle trips through California have made the 48-year-old king appear out of touch with poor, average Jordanians, political observers said. But in a June speech marking the 11th anniversary of his ascendance to the throne, Abdullah addressed people's concerns.

"Ample talk about corruption, nepotism and favoritism" is "overblown," Abdullah said. He asked for patience as his newly appointed government works to fix the economy.  

Sounds familiar! 

Everything is sacred

Beginning Each Word With A Capital Letter

R2D2 

Can You Please Switch Off This Function. It Is Giving Me Fits.

FR

ر۲ -د ۲ 

The So-Called ...

Islamic Revolution Of 1979 Was Nothing But The Changing Of The Guards To Secure And Perpetuate Western Interests Vis-A-Vis Soviet Communist Expansionism In That Part Of The World ...

As I Indicated In My Comment Below, The Western Powers  Had Already Decided On The Person Of Khomeini To Replace The Shah, And Groomed Him For Months In France, Primarily Through The Western Media, To Make Him Presentable To The People Of Iranian And The World ...

It's Most Unfortunate To Say This, But Our Beloved Brothers And Sisters In Iran Played Nothing But The Role Of Misguided And Inadvertent Pawns In The Hands Of The Western Powers ...

Nothing More, And Indeed, Nothing Less :) - !

محمدرضا پهلوی: سرگشته میان مذهب و فرنگی مآبی

محمدرضا پهلوی: سرگشته میان مذهب و فرنگی مآبی

داریوش همایون

وزیر اطلاعات و جهانگردی در اواخر دوران سلطنت

رویکرد شاه به مذهب مانند بیشتر ایرانیان بود ــ تناقض آمیز و روانپاره

او پرورش اروپائی داشت و از نظر شیوه زندگی و سلیقه ها از هیچ اروپائی معمولی باز شناختنی نبود. برای ملت خود نیز مقامی در میان پیشرفته ترین ملت های جهان می خواست. ولی مانند عموم هم میهنان نه تا پایان هر راه می رفت و نه از هیچ ناهمخوانی میان مقصد ها و راه ها و میان مقصدها باهم در شگفت می شد.
اطمینان داشت که به هر ترتیب به آنچه آرزو می کرد می رسد. در رویکرد به مذهب نیز می پنداشت می توان بیشترینه آخوند بازی را با بیشترینه فرنگی مآبی در آمیخت.
مهم تر از حضور علمای مذهبی در مراسم سوگند او در مجلس، بازگرداندن آیت الله قمی تبعید شده رضا شاه از نجف با سر و صدای بسیار بود که نخستین اقدام مهم او در پادشاهی به شمار می رفت و پیام اشتباه ناپذیری به روحانیت واپس رانده و در وضع دفاعی بود که می تواند حمله

به نوآوری های رضا شاه و بازگشت به موقعیت برتر خود را آغاز کند

از آن پس عناصر مذهبی از میانه رو های قم تا افراطیان فدائی اسلام تا بیست سالی بعد تا جائی که جامعه تکان خورده و متفاوت ایرانی اجازه می داد در مسیر ارتجاع تاخت و تاز کردند. مدارا با مذهب چنان بود که کشندگان کسروی بی پیگرد رها می شدند.
در آغاز دهه چهل خورشیدی/ شصت میلادی شاه به تنگ آمده از زنگ زدگی سراسر نظام سیاسی، گوش های خود را به نغمه های اصلاحات که از درون و بیرون بالا گرفته بود سپرد.
یک گروه تازه تکنوکرات ها دستگاه اداری را از اداری های پیشین گرفتند و برنامه اتحاد برای ترقی کندی در روایت ایرانی خود، اصلاحات شش گانه انقلاب سفید (بعدا شاه و ملت) پس از همه پرسی به اجرا درآمد و با مخالفت سخت روحانیتی که تا آن زمان همراهی و مدارا دیده بود روبرو شد.
قیام خرداد ۱۳۴۲ [آیت الله] خمینی که اگر زود سرکوب نشده بود همان گاه انقلاب اسلامی را به نتیجه می رساند تنها چهار ماه پس از همه پرسی شش بهمن روی داد.
شاه چالش خطرناک آخوند ها را دید و به همت اسدالله علم، نخست وزیر، بر آن پیروز شد ولی روش دودلانه خود را تغییر نداد. باز امتیاز دادن ها و دلجوئی ها ادامه یافت.
نفوذ اسلامی ها در ۱۵ ساله بعدی روزافزون بود. شمار مسجدها بنا به پژوهش عباس میلانی از ۲۰۰ در ۱۳۲۰ به ۵۰هزار در ۱۳۵۷ رسید که به یاری هزاران صندوق قرض الحسنه و هیئت مذهبی و مدارس اسلامی بزرگ ترین شبکه تشکیلاتی را در اختیار تند رو ترین عناصر مذهبی قرار دادند ــ همه با کمک حکومت.
اسلامی ها، کسانی که رهبری انقلاب را در دست گرفتند، از دربار شاهنشاهی تا وزارت آموزش و پرورش همه جا رخنه کردند

تا هفته های آخر رژیم در هیئت وزیران و ساواک، آخوندها را به چشم متحدان بالقوه در برابر خطر کمونیست ها و چریک ها می دیدند و عملا در اختیار فعالیت های انقلابی آنان بودند.
شاه که از آغاز می پنداشت به کمک ارتجاع مذهبی می تواند به جنگ کمونیسم برود سرانجام بیداری تلخ خود را در یکی شدن کمونیست ها با اسلامیان به رهبری [آیت الله] خمینی ـ اتحاد سرخ و سیاه و مارکسیسم اسلامی ــ که اصطلاحات خودش بود دید.
اما تنها ملاحظات سیاسی نبود. کسی که از آغاز خود را نظر کرده مقدسان می پنداشت و هنگام سفر همه آئین های خرافی واپس مانده ترین افراد ملت خود را به جا می آورد و دستی که به ضریح می گرفت از سر عوامفریبی نمی بود، در ژرفای روان خود سرگشته بود.
مانند هر زمینه دیگر هرگز نتوانست مسیر مشخصی را تا پایان برود و به جای محبوبیت عمومی، خود را هدف حملات عناصر مترقی و مذهبی هر دو یافت..

farah khanoom, thanks for

farah khanoom, thanks for certifying my comment.  you don't know how much that means to me.  no, i'm not related to npalestine.  she belongs to the black group.  i belong to the majority, the invisible grey group. :)

Dariush

It was these very interviews, and others (w/ Oriana Fallaci, etc.) that ultimately did him in ...

I was living in UK back in the 1970's .. The news media was fascinated and focused on the fact that he was making unusually high megalomaniacal statements - Essentially forgetting who had brought him back to Power ...

I believe in mid 1978, the western leaders, Carter, Callahan, Giscard, and Helmut Schmidt of Germany, while gathered in Guadalupe (?), sealed his fate ...

They needed someone totally reliable to stand against Soviet Communism - Shortly thereafter, Khomeini, Ghotbzadeh, etc. were brought to France, with daily news conferences from Neauphle-le-Château on BBC ...

Just A Huge Charade ... :) - !

I can't fault your comment Hamsade jan, except ...

for your use of lower case. Otherwise, it is an entirely realisteek account. Are you by any chance related to Niloufar Parsi? 

FR

DK Jaan

As always, I am grateful for your constant supply of video clips. However, I see the late Shah’s relationship with other heads of states in a completely different light. In my opinion, the relationship was purely transactional. Shah got his ego boosted by spreading the wealth.

After the 1973 oil price hike, Iran was flooded with cash which the late Shah generously distributed to all kinds of people and causes; billions to Anwar Sadat, millions to King Husain of Jordan, millions to Haile Selassie of Ethiopia, Bhutto of Pakistan and even the human-flesh-eater, Idi Amin of Uganda. He gave free jet fuel to Israel during the 1973 Arab- Israeli war, cargo planes to Pakistan in the70’s war with India, a squadron of F-4’s to King Husain (pilot training included!), millions to design a barrier to save Venice from the tides (that would be Venice, Italy!) and millions to Aspen Institute. Also, on the payroll were the daughter of Zahir Shah of Afghanistan, the son of Haile Selassie and scores of others.

And when push came to shove, only Anwar Sadat offered him and his family a place to stay.

However, the biggest crook of them all was King Husain. God knows how many millions he received from the late Shah. He even got a piece of land in Noshahr, next to Shah’s palace to build his own. The rumor had it that Shah even introduced him to his last wife, Lisa Halaby (Queen Noor) who was in Tehran working for a British architectural firm, redesigning the city of Tehran!

تنها شاه حاجی در تاریخ پادشاهی ایران

How Did his Mysticism/Spirituality Affect his Domestic Policies?

I see None ... definitively not in a Religious Sense. Spirituality is something that any man is entitled too. After all none of us know whether or not there is a Life after Death. Not even Atheists. That has NOTHING To do with Being or Not Being a Secular Statesman which the Shah and his regime Definitively Were. 

David Frost Interview of Shah At the Height of Power:

You can blame him for being a Dictator but definitively Not for being a Religious Statesman and even less a Religious Inquisitor all the more that all Faiths were respected in Iran from Christians to Jews to Zoroastrians and the even Baha'is were not bothered as they had been in the past centuries or as they are today ! ... If any Baha'i was hurt  under the Pahlavis it was at worst due to a social phenomena of Prejudice and definitively not a State Sponsored policy endorsed by the Shah.

At worst it allowed him to use the fact that he did the Hajj and was a pious muslim to secure his frontiers given that we were and still are surrounded by Muslim Nations. His gesture was an Act Friendship and Peace towards the Muslim community. His first Wife was Egyptian after all. Also On an international front it allowed Iran to play a neutral role in the Israeli Arab Conflict since it had good relations equally with Israel and the Arab States. Also it allowed him to bring moderate Arab States like Egypt in the Western Alliance to which he was commited. As Such the Shah was the unsung Architect of the Camp David Accords. Yet on one hand you criticize him for his Pro Muslim Policy and for being an Israeli and American Puppet which he clearly was not:

Persian Gulf and the Jewish Lobby:

And  his Spirituality Definitively did Not Set back Women Rights ... which is primarily the case in most Muslim countries to date !

Not Only did he give women the Right to get a divorce ...

But the Same Namak Nashnas Women Demonstrated in Masses against him to Put on the Veil and then complained why they lost all their rights:

Khob all I have to say to the likes of Shirine Ebadi who sees Role Models in the likes of Ali Shariati ... : Khak Too Saret ! :

ROYAL CURTSY: Shirin Ebadi Greeted by Monaco's Prince Albert II at Geneva UN Panel (2008)

And I can go on but I will Stop There ...

Related Blogs:

Mahnaz Afkhami: A Women For All Seasons (VOA/BBC Interviews) 

HISTORY FORUM: Women Right's a 100 Years Struggle

pictory: Promotional Film on Women during Pahlavi Era (1970's)

Women's Day: Mahnaz Afkhami Pioneer Feminist (1975)

Female Ministers in Pahlavi Era (1970's)

WOMEN RIGHTS: Princess Ashraf Chairman of Women Status Commission (1965)

Women's Day: Mahnaz Afkhami Pioneer Feminist (1975)

Women's Day: Farah, Jihan, Mahnaz Tehran (1970's)

Women's Day: Reza Shah and Son visit School Girls (1930's)

Women's Day: First Women to Attend Tehran University (1940's/1950's)

Female Ministers in Pahlavi Era (1970's)

Eminent Persians: Mahnaz Afkhami International Women's Conference in Mexico City (1975)

yes farah, i did imply mosadegh was tyrannical

farah jan, trust me, i'm trying to make sense of it.  i'm just piecing together from the wealth information provided by my dear compatriots.  it's like the group story writing that someone started on this site.  the "ghiam meli" of 28 mordad was not instigated by shaban because he was in jail in the morning.  but by noon (or maybe early afternoon? i appreciate if you give me exact time), he was released and joined the melat of iran to fight the tyrannical mosadegh and bring our benevolent dictator (is that a correct term?) back to iran.  therefore, shaban story that circulates (organizer of protests to bring down mosadegh) is bogus.  mosadegh was already fallen in the morning and shaban was in jail and didn't have his suit on his back and chomagh in hand.  check.

savak was in cahoots with toudeh.  corruption was ... well, we know whose fault that was.  it was that snake hoveyda who was the biggest rat of them all in shah's darbar, was rightfully identified and jailed by the shah, and met his fate at the hands of khomeini's goons.  can't have much empathy there, right?  there are many other juicy parts i'm leaving out, but in short, the secular vali faghih i mean his majesty m.r.p. (peace be upon him) is not getting a fair shake in the annals of history.  all the blame of the hot mess in iran basically lies on the shoulder of a) ghajar (and supporters), b) mosadegh (and supporters), c) his majesty's corrupt cronies, and d) the rest of olagh/namaknashnas people of iran not covered under a, b or c.  but to be fair, shah had his "imperfections."  it all makes sense.  and now iranians are at history's crossroads: they're either with crown prince r.p. or one of those dirty pashmaloo hezis.  no other choice exists.

sorry, i got carried away.  back to my previous comment.  which part do you think i got wrong in my previous comment? 

You don't make sense Hamsade jan

Which tyranny are you talking about? Are you suggesting Mossadegh (zaboonam laal) was a tyrant? Surely between 1941 to 1953 (according to our democracy "experts") we didn't have a tyranny!

Don't forget that until only a year before the date of your pictures the same Shaban Jafari was flexing his muscles against the anti-Mossadegh protesters (Ghavam supporters and the ever-opportunist Tudehis). And on whose orders? Mossadegh's former brother-in-arms, yes you guessed it: Ayatollah Kashani.

FR

Alternatively MM jan

We may fall into the same trap as we did between 1951-1953 i.e. Total Demagogy.

FR

Peter Boyle?

Is that peter Boyle playing the role of Frankenstein?

Dear Mrs. Rusta

You need to cut on the amount of condescension.  It is thick.

However, you are correct to say that if we are not careful the history may repeat itself. --> Like going back to a totalitarian Monarchy? 

or perhaps two ways

.

Here is One Way to Deal with the Problem

Here is One Way to Deal with the Problem

If there was never anyMossadegh what'd've Shah done differently?

Everything is sacred

تنها شاه حاجی در تاریخ پادشاهی ایران

حاج محمد رضا شاه پهلوی  

thanks for the reply

thanks for the reply farah. he was late for the party (must've been afternoon!), but he did show up. such endearing pictures of people's uprising against tyranny. :)