i )
CLEARWATER, FLA.
SUN
0. 41 523—S. 43,015
TAMPAST. PEtERSBURG METRO AREA
JUL IJ $(.:;
By ANNETTE DROLET
Sun staff writer
When Kainbiz and Farah Rouhani hear news re-
ports about the persecutions of Baha'is in their na-
tive Iran, they feel especially alarmed.
Besides being Baha'is themselves, the Clearwater
couple has relatives iii that Middle Eastern country.
Though their loved ones have escaped harm so far,
the Rouhanis fear their relatives will fall victim to
0 Baha'i the ‘one true faith,' next page
the violence that has left at least 150 Baha'is dead n
Iran since the Ayatollah Khomeini's regime came to
power in 1979.
“The Iranians say they want to eliminate all Ba-
ba'is,” Mrs. Rouhani said. “They're killing people
because of their beliefs. In that sense, I feel it's a
genocide.”
Mrs. Rouhani said letters from her Iranian rela-
tives—an aunt, uncles and grandmothers—have con-
tained no information on the persecutions, because
her loved ones are afraid similar things will happen
to them if they talk about the situation.
“I think all the correspondence is read” by Iranian
authorities, Mrs. Rouhani said. “What my husband
and I know about the situation is what we see on
television and what we read in the newspapers.”
In the past two months alone, according to news
reports, at least 17 Baha'is have been murdered in
Iran. On June 18, for instance, 10 women were
hanged after hours of questioning, threats and assur-
ances that they could save their lives if they would
renounce their faith.
Two days before the women died, 81X Baha'i men,
ranging in age from 23 to 60, also were hanged. On
June 24, another young man was executed.
“They're beginning to kill groups of Baha'is with-
out any trial or levying any charges,” said Linda
Brown of the Clearwater Baha'i community.
“There's not even a pretense at a trial.
“The families don't find out about the deaths until
afterward. The Baha'is aren't given the rights the
rest of Islam has. In the Islamic religion, burial is
very important. After they execute these Baha'is,
they throw them in a mass grave. Even after death
they do as much as they can to degrade.”
In addition to being murdered, Baha'is in Iran
(who number about 350,000) are being imprisoned,
deni& .heir pensions, ousted from schools and jobs
and deprived of their homes, businesses and other
properties, according to news reports.
S v r, 'l w k ape. bcet 130 P,aha'is. includine
Since the Ayatollah Khomeini (above) has been in power in Iran, at
least 150 Baha'is there have died because of their beliefs. Yet, Baha'is
(whose symbol is shown in inset) throughout the world remain
faithful to the teachings of a prophet who coming was foretold'by
the Bab. The Shrine of the Bab (left) is part of the Baha'i World
Center in Haifa, Israel. I3]1 C) (1)0249
4
Local Sahals- fear
fOr faithful in -Iran
v ry important After they execute these Baha'iS,
they throw them in a mass grave. Even after death--
they do as much as they can to degrade.”
in addition to being murdered, Baba'is in Iran
(who. number about 350,000) are being imprisoned.
denie.' lieir pensions, ousted from schools and jobs
and deprived of their homes, businesses and other
properties. according to news reports.
Several weeks ago, about 130 Baha'iS, including
women and children, from the northern village of
Ival were confined three days and denied food and
water unless they converted to Islam.
Unyielding, they eventually were released, at-
tacked by mobs, driven from their homes and forced
to hide in a forest bordering their village.
“All these victims are innocent people who have
comniitt d no crime,” said Mary Allen, public tot or-
mation representative for the Clearwater. Baha'i
communitY. “We just can't sit back and let this
happen.”
Baha'is don't know what action to take that will
stop the persecutions. Mrs. Brown said. But she and
others of the faithful think letter-Writing campaigns
to elected representatives will help.
“it's making the masses aware of what's happen-
tog,” Mrs. Allen said. “People have to know what's
going on. When that was happening to the Jews, we
didn't know about it until it was over. This cannot
happen again.”
This afternoon, Baba'is and other concerned per-
sons who want to “stand up an be counted” may
attend a memorial service for the murdered Iranian
Baha'iS, Mrs. Brown said. Services, sponsored by the
Bahs'is of Largo, will be held at 3 p.m. at the Largo
CommunitY Center, 65 FOurth St. N.W.
Local Baha'is believe that it enough people voice
their outrage against the situation in Iran, the Kho-
meini regime could be swayed by the criticism.
“Although Iran says it doesn't care about the
views of the American people, it still has an effect,”
Mrs. Rouhani said.
Since the Ayatollah Khomeini (above) has been in power in Iran, at
least 150 Baha'is there have died because of their beliefs. Yet, Baha'is
(whose symbol is shown in inset) throughout the world remain
faithful to the teachings of a prophet who coming was foretold by
the Bab. The Shrine of the Bab (left) is part of the Bahal World
Center in Haifa, Israel.
Several governments, including the United States,
Canada, West Germany, Great Britain, Australia,
Switzerland and Luxembourg, and the United Na-
tions Commission on Human Rights have protested
the perseCutiOnS.
Mrs. Brown recalled an outbreak of mob violence
against the Baha'is in the 195 that was quelled by
the Shah of Iran after telegrams were sent by Ba-
ha's from throughout the world.
“The shah realized the Baha'i faith had spread
way beyond Iran and wasn't just a local problem
anymore,” she said. “Public pressure led him to
stop the physical danger.”
Balia'is living in the birthplace of their faith have
been under threat of peril since 1844, when a young
Persian merchant who became known as the Bab
promised that God would send a prophet made in the
image of Buddha, Mnh,.mmed and thrist.
Baha'is say that prophet is Baha-u-ilab, an early
disciple of the Bab and founder of their faith.
The Bab's teachings, which spread throughout Per-
sia, provoked opposition by Moslem clergy and the
government. Consequently, the Bsb and more than
20,000 of his followers were killed.
Among those who died was Mrs. Bouhani's great-
great aunt, who was burned at the stake.
Mrs. Rouhani, who moved-to America 18 years ago
after a decade in Iran, has firsthand knowledge of
discrimation of Baha'is in her native land.
“In school, the teachers and students picked on
you,” she said. Mrs. Rouhani remembers having the
(Please see IRAN, next page)
* k'an
(from page 1 C)
grade on one of her assignments re- In present-day executions, the Irani-
duced from -a .“98” to a “50” because an courts have labeled the Baha'is as
she began the essay with a quote from American spies, agents of Zionism,
Baha'i writings, collaborators with imperialism, ene-
“We couldn't publicly talk about the mies of Iran, moral degenerates and,
faith because we were afraid fOr in the case of women, prostitutes.
pie to know we were. Baha'i,” she said. mc last accusation, American Ba-
“The Baha'is, were ziOt looked onkind- ha'i officials say, stems from the Ba .
• - ha'i belief in the equality of the sexes,
The reason, according to a Baha'i which Islam rejects and which the
publication, is that fundamentalist Khomeini regime considers to be de-
Moslems in Iran regard the Baha'i prayed. - -
faith as a threat to Islam, which they All of the Iranians' charges against
• hold to be th& final-religion for all the Baha ‘is—peace-loving people who
people advocate obedience to government and
“The Baha'is are denounced as non-involvement in politics—can be re-
‘heretics' and as ‘renegades' from futOd, Mrs. Brown said.
lam be ause the founders of their reli- Though saddened by the plight of her
• gion iii the last century were, for the Baha'i brethren tn Iran, Mrs. Brown
most part, Persian Muslims (or Mos- predicts that a positive future will
lems),.. and because their. proph- emerge from' today's darkness.
et. ..had the misfortune tobeborn “As painful as it is for Bàh is tO
after Mohammed, who is considered live through this period, it can only
(by Moslems) to be the last messenger help the faith in the long run because
of God.” That statement was reprinted that's what it's done in the past,” she.
from the French daily,- LeMonde, in a said. “It's the persecutions that have
Baba'i pamphlet.: . - . . : . actually pushed through the faith.”
