W.EVELAND OHIO
II. 401 I DEALER
CLEVELAND M ROPOL RE4
I I9
‘Baha'is gain support for bid to worship in peace
never again.. Now is the time to act on that vow,” protected under- the constitution of the Islamic
By Ken Kusmer Wiesel said republic as are other minority faiths like Judaism
ASSOCIATED PRESS The Baha i leadership says that since the Christianity and Zoroastrianism
‘1 Khomeini- regimd gained power in 1979, 142 “Now it is virtually impossible (for a Baha'i)
flitJXZt 1 1 ae 1 Bahai's have been killed and 14 are missing and to leave Iran,” Barrett said. “Why? We're the
P'II he solemnity of the Baha'i World Center presumed dead. About 275 are imprisoned, scapegoats. If the war with Iraq goes bad, blame
I dominates picturesque Mt Cannel The the Baha'is If the crop goes bad, blame the
golden-domed Shrine of the Bab glistens in Baha'ism, often erroneously referred to as an Baha'is.”
the hot summer sun and two white marble “ Islamic sect, embraces the unity of all religions, Bahai leaders say ‘Iranian Baha'is are guilty
edifices stand amid rows of manicured gardens and besides Mohammed, it considers among its only of membership in the faith and that conver
The tranquility here differs dramAtically from prophets Moses, Jesus, Buddha, Krishna and sion to Islam offers immediate freedom ‘for
the mood 750 miles away in Iran, where another ‘ Zoroaster, as well as its own prophets. ‘ incarcerated Baha'is.
ugly chapter in the faith's brief history is unfold- “We are, not a sect, We are not a section or - The influx of Baha'i money and pilgrims to
ing Baha is there are imprisoned, sent to the gal part of anything,” Barrett said Haifa has triggered the Iranian accusations of Zio-
lows or forced from their jobs by a government The United Nations, the European Common inst espionage a charge that for many years caus-
that considers them heretics, subversives prosti , Market, the U S Congress and the national parka ed the world center here to avoid comment on the
tutes and Ziomst spies Baha i shrines have been inents of Canada, Australia, Fiji and West Genma Iraman situation.
bulldozed. ‘ ‘‘ ‘. - fly' have plissed resolutions condemning the' 1, ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ -
In June, the situation in Iran deteriorated persecution Because Baha'ism s roots are in Islam, Iran
drastically.' The fundamentallst Islamic regime of ,. - ‘ : , : ‘, ‘ ‘regards it as heretical and a threat to Islam. But
Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini scoffed at an appeal As secretary general, Barrett represents Barrett argued. ‘We are the only other major reli-
by President Reagan for the lives of 22 Baha'is and Baha i concerns on behalf of the top Bahai admm- gion to recognize Mohammed as a prophet and the
executed 17 of them in the space of two weeks istrative body, the International House of Justice Koran as a holy book
The WOrld Center said two other prominent'Baha'is ‘A silver-haired, affable American and former sen- ,, - ‘ Iran chargei'that the Baha'is cooperated with
were kidnaped on the streets of Tehran, while 130 ior legal cOunsel for the Gulf Oil Corp., Barrett, 55, - ‘ the previous Iranian monarchy, but -a basic Baha'i
Baha'i men 1 women and children were held captive is the chief Baha'i spo1 esman tenet demands obedience to government and f or-
by neighboring villagers and pressured to recant Baha'ism was founded in 1844 and has spread bids participation in partisan politics Baha i liters-
their faith to 134 nations with more than 2 million adherents ture describes the systematic violation of_ Baha'i
“We are alarmed and very concerned that ‘the Its largest community — 1 million — is in India, ‘human rights under the Iranian shahs.' , , -
extent and the intensity (of the persecution) -may and it has 100,000 followers in the United States, , - . ‘, Another frequent Iranian charge is that Baha-
be increasing,” said Donald Barrett, secretary where it is headquartered w Wilmette Ill ‘is are immoral and prostitutes. This comes from
general of the Baha i international organization. Baha'ism has cothistently been persecuted in the fact that Baha 1 marriagn is not recognized in
Jewish author Elie Wiesel, the chairman of the the land of its birth, then called Persia and now Iran, and that women are treated equally with
U S ‘Holocaust Memorial, recently suggested that Iran, and has been banned at least partially in men
the U N Human Rights Commission probe the several other, predominantly Muslim countries Barrett said Baha's women are teachers of the
plight of the Baha'is in Iran Baha ism is the largest minority religion in faith, a role that takes on special significance as
“We all vowed after the Nazi outrages — Iran today, with about 400,000 mex ibers, but is not Baha ism has no priests
- “s- ‘ - ‘ “.BPO•00556
Donald Barrett 1,
AP
