5/27/2011
Article - Untitled Article
Publication: Guardian 1821-2000; Date: May 19, 1979; Section: None; Page: 7
Iranian minorities urged to unite
From Liz Thurgood
in Tehran
The plight of Iran's ethnic
minorities was W t into
focus yesterday when the Ear-
dish leader, Sheikh Ezzr dflr
? eini, made an impassioned
call for solidarity among
Arabs, Balucl-iis and Turks In
their fight for autonomy.
The sheikh had just come
from what was described as
“useful talks” in Qoun—where,
with Kurdish and Turkish to-
preseflId [ IY , lie had discussed
Kurdish demands with the
A shs Khomeini and 1-Tsar-
iatmadari, two of the country's
three most influential religious
leaders. But few people believe
he won much more from Ki lo .
nielril than verbal, long-term
promises.
“We want freedom for all
political parties, a government
that both defends civil liberties
and respects the demands of
Iran's ethnic minorities for
retewomy,” Sheikh Hosseini
said. In reference to the in-
creasingly hard-line political
stand from the Islamic leader-
ship in Qom, Sheikh Hosseini
stated: “No one individual
will rule our society, We won't
allow dictatorship back into
Iran ,”
—tltr sheikh's implicit warn-
ing coincided with fresh re-
ports of trouble from the oil-
rich province of Khuzestan,
where Arab mi orily groups
are calling for a greater
degree of self-rule.
Tebran Radio reported that
gunmen of an “unofficial”
militia attacked the town of
Masjedzez Soleiinan. One
person died and four were
wounded as revolutionary
guai'ds attempted to force the
inilitia out.
The clash erupted as author-
ities launched a vigouous drive
to dlswrm militiamen terroris'
Ing the people of Rhuzestan.
The militia groups took control
after the February revolution.
On Sunday a clash in the port
of Khorramshahr left It
wounded,
“Imperialists and reac-
tionaries” were trying to
“divide and rule,” Shellch Hoe-
semi said and urged all Iran's
minorities — who makrtp
perhaps 50 per cent of the
country's 35 million people —
to fight for autonomy. “Don't
let religion divide us,” he said,
The minorities are generally
Sunn'i Moslems. The Persian -
speaking Iranians of the cen-
tral p1ate u na cxemplifled by
Ayatollah Khomeini, are
members of the unorthodox
Shi'a sect. “The Kurdish
struggle Is part of the IapulppL
struggle, and we-will alwoya uc
with the Iran ian people.”
Since tl 1 , F bruary uprising,
two Kurtlish rebellions have
erupted, l ving as many as
:ioo dead. The question of
Iran's ethnic minorities. sup-
pT d by the Shah, is un-
doubtedly one of the toughest
problems facing Iran's Provi-
sional Governmen ch has
been act-used of stalling on
Kurdish demands. Those range
oeally elected asse. bly
and Kurdish-recrulled gendar-
merie .d ljcc force to
lingul tic and cultural rights.
Despite repeated Government
pledges of autonomy for the
provinces, a draft copy of pro-
posed constitution published in
a local newspaper largely
ignored the rights of the
minorities.
Last, month Turkomans in
north -east Iran suddenly
rebelled again!r what they
considered Inaction on
their demands not only for
autonomy but also for a redis-
tribution of land. The fighting
only stopped when the Army
moved in and the Turkomans,
completely outnumbered, fled
with their guns to the moun-
tains.
The Government has tended
to blame the rebellions among
the minorities on local Corn-
rnunists, but the Marxist-
Len mist Fadavan -e-Khal
Guerrillas have in turn warnc
of “a plot by Shah loyalist
mercenaries aimed at destabi-
lising western Iran. General
Palizban, Sardar rand many
former - secret police agents
were said to he paying nier-
cenaries to rob, loot and kill.
O Iran's provisional Prime
Mii has appealed to the
cduntry's 10 million-strong
labour force to cooperate with
the Government in the task of
reconstructing the economy. Dr
Melidi Bazargan. quoted on
Tebran Radio, said pay rises
granted indiscriminately to
mollify angry workers during
the last months of the Shah's
regime. were excessive , iran,
he said, was staggering
only under the burden of econ-
omic problems created by past
regimes, but also under the im-
pact of strikes since the begin-
ning uf this yeaL
The Prime Minister did not
mention unemployment, which
officials at the Labour Ministry
have put the number at less
than one million. But a figure
of inure than three million . is
generally believed to be more
accurate.
© Guardian News and Media Limited
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