Neda’s youthful life was cut short by a sniper’s bullet; but it has certainly not perished in vain…She is now a powerful symbol and a sacrificial offering to a much higher purpose. Her name, the captured last moments of her life, and her bloody image now fuel the raging flame of freedom that had been secretly and quietly burning for the last three decades!
Like most other expatriates, I have been following the recent developments in Iran carefully and continuously with mounting concern. The images that I have seen and continue to see bear a striking resemblance to what I witnessed as a young teenager during the revolution…
Many analysts, political columnists and experts, and even many people in general-including some of the people who are participating in the demonstrations in Iran and abroad-believe that this uprising is caused by the questionable results of the recent election. To me, the election, Mousavi and his promise, and the embarrassingly botched election results are not the root causes or the underlying reasons at all (no matter what the placards and the chants say). Rather, I consider them consequential, ensuing and secondary! It is really, just an excuse as any other reason could have ignited this flame!
What is and has been occurring in the streets of Tehran and many other major cities in Iran is a natural social reaction to decades of suppression. Just as a pressure cooker that has its valve shut off has the propensity to explode, and in the same fashion as a volcano erupts as a natural and physical reaction to the building and mounting internal pressures, the phenomenon that we are witnessing today is too a natural and inevitable reaction. It doesn’t matter what causes the rupture; when there is enough pentup pressure, the explosion is an inevitable fact.
Up until now, and throughout its rein, the hard-line fundamentalist regime has been able to manage this pressure cooker called Iran quite skillfully and masterfully! Iran’s majority of population is young; and the régime used the needs of the youth to keep them distracted. The way they dress has been controlled, the way they interact has been controlled, how/whether they socialized has been controlled, even their instinctual sexual drives have been controlled; and since it is human nature to want what it cannot have, the population focused on the most apparent and superficial freedoms that were taken away! The régime loosened the tight dress code for men and women every once in a while and let them blow off some steam by violating those strict codes-only for a little while before it tightened the reins again… They let people flood the streets after a major sporting victory and tolerated boys and girls dancing in the streets for a couple of days before they came back and enforced their religion-based fundamentalist social rules with more rigor than before…
These all were measured, calculated and perfectly executed strategies to (a) defocus the population from things that really mattered, and (b) to let them blow off steam every once in a while to keep the pressure cooker under control...
So, why is it that this strategy is no longer effective? Why are hundreds of thousands of people demonstrating in the streets now? Why now?
In your writer’s humble opinion, the following are the reasons for the regime’s recent failure to maintain order and control:
· Today’s younger generation in Iran is vastly different than the first generation raised after the revolution. Children of the revolution were exposed to nothing but fanatic hard-core propaganda. They were born on the cusp of a significant culture change; and did not have any other frame of reference or perspective to compare themselves and their lives to. The generation before them, traveled abroad and lived in a culture (at least in major cities) that was highly influenced by the western culture. Thanks to the current regime, most of that generation either fled (like I did), died in the war with Iraq, or simply become complacent, withered and died! But the generation that came after them (today’s youth) was born in the open communication age. No matter how much control was placed on western or modern cultures’ seepage, the advent of modern technology (internet, social networks, etc) remained one step ahead. This generation’s eyes were much more open to what life “could be” and to the freedoms and rights they didn’t even know they “could have”!
· Just like any other political, economic, social or cultural control. The efficiency is at its peak when the controlling party first gains power. Its leaders are “united” in their goals and efforts, and they are humble and cautious. Today, after more than three decades, arrogance and greed are at their peak. The regime is fragmented and power-plays, political maneuvering and posturing are more prominent and open than they were in the past (imagine a pack of wolves that have hunted everything in sight, and now have to turn into cannibalism to survive). This is exactly what causes a weak point in the frame of the pressure cooker and makes it susceptible to fracture followed by an inevitable explosion.
· Some will strongly agree with me on this one and some will disagree with the same fervor! Up until now, this regime and its policies and actions (forget about the anti-American rhetoric and antics of the regime for a minute) have served the West’s interest. The serious threat of Iran turning into a socialist or communist country after the revolution was most effectively and almost immediately eliminated after the revolution by the fundamentalists. The regime’s obsessive characteristic to “export” their ideology and power to the neighboring countries kept the Arab world terrified and occupied, and “redirected” their energies to their backyard and what was happening between Iran and Iraq and away from their common anti-Israel sentiments. The war depleted not only military arsenals in the two most volatile countries in the region (Iran and Iraq), but also destroyed factories, refineries, roads, damns, etc, opening up astronomical economic opportunities for the west (directly and indirectly). Now that those missions are long accomplished, the major issue at hand is the stability of the region and successful exit of U.S. from Iraq (a major “must-win” for the current administration). U.S. cannot abandon Iraq with a dangerous and power-hungry neighbor like Iran’s current regime as they are already spending money and supporting the chaos in Iraq! And this threat must be quelled before U.S. can withdraw!
Whether you agree with me or not, I urge you to read on because the key message here is not my political analysis of international affairs. What I am about to share with you is what is of utmost importance. It is what we all need to be aware of and act on to ensure that the blood of Neda and others like her were not shed in vain.
I remember the revolution in Iran vividly. Before it was labeled the “Islamic Revolution”, it was an uprising of people (of all social and religious beliefs–socialists, communists, liberals, fundamentalists, Muslims, Christians, Jews, Baha’is, etc.) who wanted nothing but “equity” in a society which was highly polarized between the very small minority of “HAVEs” and a large majority of “HAVE-NOTs”, the highly educated, and those still struggling with superstitions and beliefs of dark ages.
Without going into too much history and detail, the best way I can describe it is that the “revolution was stolen” from the people of Iran. Those who would take advantage of the uneducated and poor later on, encouraged all parties and all factions to join forces and to focus on overthrowing the Shah and the success of the revolution. They skillfully united all, and reaped the benefit of blood that was shed. But at the end, when the task at hand was completed, the fundamentalists literally and overnight “disposed” of anyone with ideologies different than that of theirs.
The same threat exists today!!!
Without a doubt, there are forces in motion from numerous groups who are, or shortly will begin to lobby for the current regime’s successor!!! They will spend money, they will organize rallies, they will publish books, they may even establish underground militias. I won’t even be surprise to see a coup d'état attempt or two!!!!
This time, we may be given an opportunity to "correct" a mistake we made three decades ago (and we all have paid a dear price for that mistake). The “lesser of two evils” is not always the answer! If freedom is gained once more-and I wish for nothing more-we cannot relinquish this precious prize to another ill-intentioned faction. Doing so will be a sin far less forgivable than what this current regime has done to the people of Iran!!!
And to my readers, especially those outside of Iran, I “implore” you to talk, to demonstrate, to email, to blog, and to make your voices heard.
We have the freedom to do so without the fear of persecution or death. We have the means to support our brethren who are courageously risking their lives in the streets of Iran at this very moment.
We owe this to Neda and those like her who have sacrificed their lives for the freedom of others. Not as Iranians, American-Iranians or expatriates, but as people who value human rights!!!
Read the caption of Neda’s picture, and take it to heart. She is “dead” while we are still alive. The torch needs to be picked up and carried on. The window of opportunity is here and now. If we hesitate, if we falter, if we wait for someone else to pick up the torch, the flame will die with her!!!
Neda’s youthful life was cut short by a sniper’s bullet; but it has certainly not perished in vain. Her brothers and sisters around the world “will” finish what she ignited…
WE WILL NEVER FORGET!!!
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