Iran: Now They Hang Women (10/18/1983)

          
          MANChESTER, N.H.
          UNION LEADER
          —0. 66091—
          MANC IEStERNASHUA METRO AREA
          001 tO
          IRAN: NOW They Hang Women
          By RAY SAIDEL fore her hanging on June 18. Her fami- 1982 with her father Yadullah; he was
          amazing and accelerating one town to another. In the fall of 1979, 12, 1983 in Shiraz. Miss Mahmudni-
          JJ ESPITE THIS century's ly of 11 was forced twice to move from one of three Baha'is hanged on March
          technoldgical prowess, so- the Sabiri home in Marvdnsht was de- zhad was beaten before being execut-
          cially most of the world stroyed by a fire set by a mob. The ed.
          slides backward, adopting Sabiris moved to Bahman. Their WHILE THE President of the
          r surrendering to socio-political sys- home there was looted and set afire. United States has appealed to Ayatol-
          ems as bad as the worst in history. Forced from town, the family settled lah Khomeini and the Congress has
          Our ships probe the solar system in Shiraz where Miss Sabiri was ar- passed a resolution condemning the
          nd beyond but who can fathom the rested for her. Baha'i activities (she persecution of Baha'is, Iran's policy
          souls of the dour bureaucrats who pre- had been active in the Baha'i educa- has not been tempered. Only a world-
          sided at September's Soviet shoot- tion of children). In March her cousin, wide wave of revulsion such, as that
          down press conference, Rahrnatullah Vafat, was also hanged resulting from the Soviet Korean
          or those of the grim in Shiraz. ‘ - plane shoot-down might prevent large
          mullahs of the Islamic . Others: Miss Shirin Dalvan, early scale genocide. This requires major
          Republic of Iran who 20s; Miss Akhtar Sabet, 19-years-old; media motivation. Unlikely. Yet here
          hang women and teen- Mrs. Tahirih Siyavushi, 32-years-oId is a cause that.is about as pure as you
          age girls for religious were• arrested in the fall of 1982 be- can get.
          reasons. I admit preju- cause of their Baha'i activities (in- To.date almost 200 Baha'is have
          dice; I distrust humor- eluding the education of children), been killed by the Islamic -regime;
          less people:. selfrighte- Mrs. Siyavushi was the,wife of Jam- hundreds have been imprisoned; thou-
          ous commissars and shid, hanged two days earlier. Miss sands denied schooling, employment
          clerics put my hair on Zarrin Muqlmi, early 20s, had moved or pensions due to their religion. Rep-
          end, with her family to Shiraz, where her resentatives of the Iranian govern-
          The Korean 007 plane ‘atrocity father was to repair and refurbish ment scoff: “ - . - nonsensical fabrica-
          brought into focus, for a time at least, Baha'i properties that had been par- tions - . . custom-made lies.” Their
          the ruthless, implacable character of tially demolished by authorities. She U.N. mission explains: “Bahaism is
          our Soviet enemy. Unfortunately was a teacher of Baha'i children's not a religion, but rather, it is a politi-
          (though amply demonstrated by a Classes, Roya Ishraqi, 22-years-old, cal entity created, and nourished by
          long,' well publicized episode involving was known as a devoted Baha'i youth, anti-Islamic and Colonial Powers.”
          the.seizing of our diplomats) the ruth- whose courageous attitude served as The IraniOn U.N. mission (using the
          less, implacable character of resur- an example to other Raha'i young pee- theocracy's special logic) states that”
          gent Islam still does not register, pie. Miss Monah Mahmudnizhad, 18- - . . the Government of the Islamië Re-
          Eventually it will. And there is ample years-old, was arrested i 9 . the fall of public of Iran never sentences or pun-
          tragic reason to fear that to be burnt. . ‘ ‘ I — -
          as fuel for this flame of enlightenment .
          will be the Baha'is of' Iran. ‘ .
          True to recent Western democrat- . . . ‘ -
          ic tradition their predicament has to
          date aroused little interest, After all —
          they control no oil; they are not revo- ‘ .
          lutionaries; ‘they have no multi-na-
          tional corporate ties, Why should the
          West be (now) more thad “deeply con- -
          cerned?” Later, we'll cry at ‘their . ‘ ‘
          graves. For this there is precedent.
          NO COMMUNITY under Islam -
          could be less deser.ving of persecution i ‘
          than the essentially non-political
          Baha'is. Their religion (unlike Islam)
          is a peace-loving one. It requires the - .
          faithful to -abstain from, partisan poli- . .
          tics, forbids subversive activity, en- -
          dorses total loyalty and ‘obedience' to.
          civil authority. Yet, the 300,000 Ira- ‘ ‘
          nian Baha'is community faces immi- -
          nent destruction. It has been told “Be-
          fore it is too late, the Baha'is should
          recant Bahaism. - . . Otherwise, the
          day will soon come when the Islamic
          nation will deal with the Baha'is in ac-
          cordance wth its religious obligations,
          as it has dealt with other ‘hypocrites
          who have appeared in more danger-
          ous garb and have religious and satan-
          ic gatherings.” This statement is to be
          taken seriously. -
          Consider the actions of its origina- ‘ ‘
          tor:Hojjatol-Islam Qazal is Religiout
          Judge and President of the Revolu-
          tionary Court of Shiraz. It was his
          court which recently sentenced 22
          Baha'is to death; in reference to
          which he said: “ . . . I must say that
          by the grace of Almighty God, the
          Muslim nation of Iran, which follows . ‘
          the policies of the Sacred Household'
          (the Inamate) will, God willing, fulfill
          the prayer of Noah (mentioned in the
          Koran): ‘And Noah said, Lord, leave
          not a single family of Infidels on the
          Earth.' “He doesn't intend to.
          AMONG THOSE hanged June
          18th (1983) in Shiraz: Miss Mahshid
          Nirumand, age 18, a college chemistry ‘ ‘ -‘
          major. She served on the Baha'i youth
          committee, the Shiraz Baha'i teaching
          committee, the Baha'i campus club.
          And there is Miss Simm Sabirl, curly
          - 20s, a viclim of persecution long be-
          lshes any individual on the charge of
          holding a particular ideology or tot-
          idwing a particularfaith . . - although
          the Constitution does not recognize
          Baha'ism as ‘a religion - . - neverthe-
          less, its followers have never been
          punished - .‘. merely and simply be-
          cause of their beliefs,” The explana-
          tion, of course, is that those “pun-
          ished” were agents of Israel (and that
          earlier Bahai were agents of the Brit-
          ish Empire). Amnesty International
          has a different opinion: “ - . - they are
          being persecuted solely for their ‘reli-
          gious beliefs.” -
          SINCE. ITS founding in 1844, the
          Baha'i religion has been considered a
          heresy by Islam (more than 20,000 be-'
          lievers were put to death in the early
          days); now, in “revolutionary” Iran,
          once again the mullahs have whipped
          up a frenzy of anti-Bahai persecution.
          With no legal standing (the religion is
          not recognized by the government or
          Constitution) .Bàha'is and their prop-
          ertycan be attacked by the most vi-
          cious clerical and -criminal elements
          in Iran with near complete impunity.
          They. need not fear retaliation. The
          peaceful Baha'is' religion forbids it.
          Ray Saldel is a research association
          at The Center For International Secu-
          rity, Washington, D.C.
          BPOOU26O j