Noose from Iran

          
          Ijc J3nt4jiit tou h1!c __
          Noose from Iran
          On June 18 in Shiraz, Iran, 10 women
          were hanged, purportedly on behalf of a
          merciful God. They were executed, their
          survivors say, because they were of the
          Bahai faith, which makes them infidels in
          the eyes of Islamic fundamentalists. The 10
          women followed, by a day, six others who
          also perished on the gallows for their faith.
          It's open season on Bahais.
          How easily comes martyrdom for a Bahai
          in Iran! Since the revolution of February
          1979, over 150 Bahais have reportedly been
          executed by the holy men of the Islamic
          revolution.
          Hundreds, perhaps thousands more are
          imprisoned. From time to time, one or two
          will be taken to a courtyard and shot. Their
          families, if they wish to claim the bodies,
          might first be required to pay for the bullets
          that killed them. And every so often, a mob
          will do the honors, as was the case not long
          ago when a man and his son were seized and
          hacked to bits just before they were set
          afire.
          The apparent plan is to do away with the
          Bahai religion in Iran, where over 300,000
          members of this gentle sect still live. Bahai
          children are banned from schools, pensions
          are cut off, securities are frozen or con-
          fiscated, houses are looted, temples are
          THURSDAY, JULY 14, 1983 /PAGE I
          
          razed. All the while, Bahai leaders perish by
          blade, bullet or rope.
          While persecution of Bahais in Iran is
          nothing new — some 20,000 have died there
          in the last 100 years, according to Bahai
          officials — today's oppressions represent a
          switch from the way things were under the
          late shah. Bahais now pay for whatever
          decent treatment they enjoyed during his
          reign. They are now considered a part of his
          hated faction.
          Bahai leaders in this country hope world
          public opinion can avert the complete exter-
          mination of their coreligionists who will not
          renounce their faith— the only escape from
          the gallows for a collared Bahai. Anybody
          whose indignation still needs fueling should
          consider some of the basic tenets of this
          persecuted religion.,. Bahais do not partici-
          pate in partisan politics. They believe in the
          unity of mankind, the unity of all religions,
          the equality of the sexes and the races, the
          harmony of science and religion, in univer-
          sal educationand universal peace.
          Just a reminder of what was traded for
          what when the previous administration
          withdrew . support from the shah and
          opened the dOOr for the Ayatollah Khomeini
          —“that Gandhi-like figure' as Jimmy Cart-
          er's ambassador to Iran called him.
          BP000546