Basij movement hopes to catch children at early age and train them up for "army of 20 million".
payvand via IWPR Institute for War & Peace Reporting / Ali Reza Eshraghi
09-Jul-2010 (4 comments)

On a cold February morning, primary-age schoolchildren are lined up for a ceremony in which they will shout "Death to America" and hurl old shoes at effigies of Uncle Sam, the Great Satan.

The event, part of annual celebrations of the anniversary of the 1979 Islamic Revolution, is the work of the Student Basij, a subdivision of Iran's powerful paramilitary movement which is seen as a bulwark of the regime.

The Basij force made its name in the Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s, as an army of fearless volunteers who acted as auxiliaries to the regular troops, marching across minefields and through concerted Iraqi fire to clear a way through.

The movement fielded at least 550,000 under-18s in the course of the eight-year war. Thirty-six thousand were killed or were reported missing in action.

More recently, the Basij has acquired a reputation as a domestic security force loyal to the Iranian regime, and was deployed on the streets of Tehran to counter the widespread protests that followed last year's disputed presidential election.

The Basij is the largest organisation in Iran and has a presence in schools, universities, factories, government offices and the private sector. Structurally, it sits under the powerful Islamic Revolution Guards Corps, and its leader is appointed directly by Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

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Abarmard

Islamic Cultural policies

by Abarmard on

They lack innovative ways to get people in their mind set and it's understandable. They want to have forces that instead of being "gherti", be "shahidi"! It won't work and it's horrible way to try to form a lively society.

There are not many options open for the hardliners as what to do next. They are after women with their clothing, young boys and their haircuts, and kids to re-educate them into early 20th century Sunni-Islamic militant forces. 

You can't turn the clock backwards, hint to M. Khatami and Jannati group.You are now obsolete and so are your style and rules. Question is, is this the way it's going to be? Either way the answer will be "no"!


Sargord Pirouz

This was previously

by Sargord Pirouz on

This was previously published somewhere else.

The pre-teen Basiji movement has had false starts in the past. We'll see how it plays out this time around. 


Fatollah

DK

by Fatollah on

I think, he's having his beauty sleep ...


Darius Kadivar

IRI's Hitler Youth ? SPink They Need Your Training Skills ...

by Darius Kadivar on

SPink Kojayee ? ... They Need Your Training Skills ...

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQmyDK0vxb4&feature=fvsr