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Dr. Parsa, the first woman executed by the Islamic regime by no means would be the last one. Ziba Kazemi, murdered by the reformist government of President Khatami – the man Europeans so much love to negotiate with and appease – was yet another reminder to the world that if the situation in Iran is not dealt with soon enough, many more would loose their lives in ayatollah’s Islamic dungeons. But again it seems all this falls on deaf ears!
Twenty-five years after Dr. Parsa’s execution, thousands of Iranian women and girls are still being executed, tortured, raped, stoned, lashed, hung from cranes in Iranian cities and even sold to Sheikhdoms of the Persian Gulf. Even at this point instead of assisting Iranians to eradicate the mullahs, the best strategy the British, French and German governments have recently come up with is their new idea of offering economic incentives to the Islamic regime in the hope that they may put an end to their uranium enrichment program. This is again a proof that such countries’ support for human rights and democracy are simply a mockery of such noble concepts when it comes to countries where trade takes priority over human lives.
Up until 1979, Iranians compared their country to the most advanced nations in the world. Our people’s expectations from our government were to provide them with the best the world could offer. Nothing less seemed to be satisfying Iranians’ appetite for progress and reaching the Great Civilization they were promised. This happened at a time when our public figures were the educated elite of men and women known and respected internationally.
We all remember those days when our people like spoiled children complained about absolutely everything. But the question I seem to be failing to find an answer for is how could it be possible for the same demanding people to allow themselves to be reduced to the current sub-human levels? How could a nation whose leaders were educated and intelligent personalities allow themselves to be ruled by an ignorant bunch, totally irrelevant to modern times?
The Islamic authorities have always feared our women. Twenty-six years on, their dictatorial power has yet to succeed submitting the Iranian women to their barbaric ways. They are well aware that the might of our women once united can destroy the foundation of their evil mullahcracy.
The agony our late Iranian-Canadian journalist, Ziba Kazemi had to go through and her eventual death resulting from all sorts of torture will always remain as a proof to their fear of women who were born, brought up and educated during the Pahlavi years. These women had learned to have a free spirit and were taught to be strong and independent. The ayatollahs’ fear doesn’t stop with women rejecting their authorities today, it extends to even those brave women who had died years prior to the revolution. But it is their legacy that is worrying their theocratic system, so much that soon after the revolution they ordered the destruction of Sediqeh Dowlatabadi’s tomb (who had passed away in 1962). The Islamic Republic leaders do not understand that destruction of tombs and books cannot vanquish our women’s free spirit and will to live freely. These values were encouraged and rekindled by the likes of Dr. Farrokhrou Parsa.
Although Sediqeh Dowlatabadi’s grave does not exist anymore, but her last will in which she stated: “I shall not forgive any woman who visits my grave veiled,” is not only a torch to lead our female compatriots to freedom but also is a concept more powerful than any weapon or any religious fanatic.
Today all over the world, Iranian women of Dr. Parsa’s generation and those who were educated by her and her colleagues hold respectable positions in renowned organizations and universities. With the exception of few who have never given up fighting for their rights, those who are living in free and democratic environments seem to have chosen to remain silent in the face of on-going barbarities in our country.
The regime’s enmity towards our women is in the ethos of the Islamic Republic, and it is for the very reason that I recommend the 25th anniversary of Dr. Parsa’s execution, a fitting date to remind and to invite all women of conscience, from within and without Iran, Iranian or not, to unite against the Islamic Republic.
I would like to encourage personalities such as Mahnaz Afkhami, Dr. Simin Redjali, Goli Ameri and many others to form a united front together with the likes of Shirin Ebadi - if she is willing to break free from reformists who are using her good name and intentions, and to mark May 8th in our late teacher and minister’s memory to form an Iranian Women United Front demanding world leaders and the international community to support a true referendum for the abolishment of the government of the mullahs in order to introduce democracy, secularism and justice in Iran.
This conspiracy of silence must be broken. It is in our silence and apathy that we remain weak and beaten. How can we forget and forgive those who never stop killing?
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Ardavan Bahrami
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