Mr. Khamenei! You are Making a Mistake
In his most recent public speech, Mr. Khamenei has said, “After a passage of thirty years since the victory of the Islamic revolution, the advance of the Iranian nation, particularly the youth, towards the ideals and their progress in this regard has picked up further momentum and it is this fact that has further frustrated the enemy of the people.”
Except for the words “thirty years”, the rest of the sentence is “not right”. Mr. Khamenei is making a mistake. Please note that I am not saying he is “lying” for such an accusation against Mr. Khamenei will be construed as “an insult to the leadership.” Furthermore, the leader of the deprived of the world, as the leader of the Islamic republic is referred to, cannot be and must not be a liar because a liar as an enemy of God (a Quranic verse), although we the common people have heard that a liar is an enemy of God from these very individuals.
So where are the mistakes or errors in Mr. Khamenei’s sentence? Let’s begin with the term “victory” and ask: Does victory simply mean that the Shah left and the Islamic republic replaced him? If the answer is a yes and the only issue that matters is that the Shah left, as did Googoosh (a popular pop singer in the days prior to the 1979 revolution), then of course Mr. Khamenei is right, as are all others who equate personal achievement with achievement for Iran. Definitely one died and the other inherited. The Pahlavi Foundation turned into the Mostazafan Foundation and the 15 Khordad Foundation, etc as one person was replaced with another. The only difference between the individuals however is that the new ones own high-rise buildings and ammunition in Iran, and their wives have flooded the streets of Vancouver, new York and Dubai with the Islamic hijab wrappings to “protect the principles of Islam”, which of course is victory for the clerics and the hajjis (Muslims who have performed their necessary pilgrimage to holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia).
If, on the other hand, the term victory of the Islamic revolution means the attainment of its ideals and goals, or at least moving in that direction, then the term is open to disagreement.
Without being negative, let’s look at the facts. Yes, it is true that inflation is a global issue. But is the manifold increase in oil revenues for a country also lead to an increase similar increase in oil revenue for all the countries of the world? Or, is the presence of a President who mistakes the Rial for a Dollar also a global phenomenon? Is the existence of 15 million people in the country who live under the poverty line also a global phenomena? Note that 15 million is the figure that is presented not by the enemies of the Islamic regime but by President Ahmadinejad’s deputy for planning affairs, while experts put the figure at 35 million people. Please name me a country whose income has tripled during the last three years while the number of its citizens living below the poverty line has multiplied similarly. There is only such country.
Show me another country whose boasts of freedom, liberation and leadership of the world are so massively propagated around the whole world, while the country witnesses an attack against its media every 36 hours. Show me another country whose religious leaders – who in unison support the “monolith” administration – collectively complain about hyper inflation, where pro-state media call the President “Unthoughtful who disturbs public order”, yet the only person who by law is designated to be the arbitrator beyond factions and parties says, “I absolutely do not accept this negativism that some people constantly repeat.”
Show me a country that claims to be Islamic with Islamic values where a speaker says this to its Basijee volunteer defenders, “Through the creation of a class structured society some of its members acquire interests that they must then theorize , and unfortunately an atmosphere has been created in which where the righteous have become villains while the corrupt have become virtuous, which required a response with a similar intensity”, or that “a soft over throw is taking place by pseudo-idealogues”, while the highest authority in the country calls on everyone to vote for that very group that is labeled “pseudo-idealogues.”
Mr. Khamenei! I am against Velayat Faghih (i.e. the rule of the clerics). I believe in the separation of the state from the church. I think of all things that Islamic republic has done during these “thirty years” to uproot the faith of this “Islamic nation” – as you call it – to such an extent that for decades and decades to come faith will not be resurrected in this country. So is suppressing me, or others like me and violating my basic human and civic rights, and those others like me, merely because of our different views, an indication of the rapid progress towards the utopia that you have been promising? Is threatening me and others like me to death, to have our throats cut and heads placed on our torso, signs of your utopia?
Even if we forget ourselves, is forcing a former member of the Majlis (Iranian parliament) to write a repentance letter for participating in a sit-in in comprising supporters of Velayat Faghih in the same Majlis the very same ideal progress that you have mentioned? Is expelling the protégés of the Islamic republic towards Mohammad Khatami because of their ideas (not followed up by any action) an indication of the world that you are inviting others to help you build?
Do you also “absolutely … not accept” the condoning of the actions of the privileged in the Islamic regime and allowing them to violate the honor of Iranian women in medieval prisons? Are the youth of this country who have chosen “the moment” because of every day pressures and have taken to drugs and light up a moment of their life the very same “youth” that refers to in your talk? Can a land in which once the smallest loan or debt was an indication of moral standing, but today a brother treats his own brother like an enemy, be the environment for idealism and principles?
If your response to these questions, and many other similar ones, is negative then come forward and let the public judge them. Come and by holding free elections, for once give those very individuals who you say constantly advance “negativism” a response they deserve. And since despite these people, there are many who chant “We are all your soldiers, Khamenei”, so what is the fear for? Let them (the supporters) come and show their camaraderie. And also let the youth and me and us come to. You spend so much money; why not now not spend to legally put the opponents in their due place. Is arriving at the truth and not making the same old mistakes that may be construed as “lies” not worth the cost of such an endeavor? Let law demonstrate who is truly “frustrated”.