June 20. 2009

People of Iran demand freedom & justice

In recent days Iranians have been experiencing a near-revolutionary mass uprising that started with their legitimate initial reaction against yet another regime-made event: a rigged election orchestrated by hard-liner theocratic rulers and high-ranking security officials, with the backing of Ali Khamenei, the religious supreme leader. This time around, people from every line of thought -- from those who naively hoped that under the existing repressive theocracy they might have the chance to vote for the lesser of the evil candidates, to those who had no illusions about the reactionary nature of the regime but wished to see any level of change toward moderation -- poured to the streets. In doing so, they have created a political atmosphere that reminds many of the pre- revolutionary period of the late 1970s in Iran.

Mir Hussein Moussavi, once a hard-liner and a prime minister for eight years in the beginning the revolution, and now a more moderate and pragmatic personality, was chosen by the reformist faction inside the regime to run against the more populist-oriented but dogmatically principled Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who in the last four years has embarked on several misadventures internationally and has, internally, reinstated harsh socio-political restrictions. Some people inside Iran supported Moussavi’s candidacy, mainly from the viewpoint of denouncing the more fundamentalist faction inside the regime. From a strictly progressive perspective, siding with one faction of the reactionary regime is not necessarily the best political strategy. One cannot be very critical, however, of the millions of people who have only limited options to express their political views.

But what about the freedom- and justice-seeking activists and progressives who are, unfortunately, still in disarray when it comes to saying “no” to the periodic sham elections that take place in Iran? Progressive individuals and groups - particularly those abroad, including socialists - should have been more prepared and politically able to organize collective, united actions against the reactionary Islamic Republic and its politically manufactured shows, including this recent presidential “election.” Unfortunately, this has not been the case at this important juncture.

In Iran, officials from the Interior Ministry claim that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad received almost 63 percent of the vote while his strongest rival, Moussavi, received less than half that. The demonstrators who belong to multiple segments of the society, among them workers, women, students and youth, contend the official results are fraud and have reacted with extraordinary political actions. In the days before the election, people participated in rallies in the streets, on university grounds and at workplaces to express their built-up frustrations against the repressive theocratic regime. Their slogans and demands are mainly against dictatorship and for socio–political freedom. It’s important to note that the protestors phrase their legitimate aspirations in indirect ways, mainly because of the absence of democracy and that they fear retaliation from the repressive regime. This is why some support the least conservative candidate, although the majority simultaneously rejects the totality of the reactionary Islamic Republic.

Nevertheless, a common theme has emerged in the minds of the great majority: the clear desire to see fundamental changes toward political freedom as well as greater equality and justice in socio-economic spheres. The mottoes chanted by the demonstrators are against tyranny, injustice, corruption, nepotism and the government militia’s intervention in people’s everyday lives. Despite the regime’s efforts to deny freedom of choice to society at large, many people, particularly the young, are able to publicize their demands and struggle via direct actions, sit-ins, the internet, YouTube and twittering. Many, by participating in the undemocratic election and by voting for the more moderate candidates, Moussavi and Mehdi Karoubi, wished to bring about a degree of change, even if it would have been limited to the political framework inside the Islamic Republic. Others might have anticipated the current scenario and by their vote have actively created unprecedented divisions inside the ruling circles.

The question remains: What should progressives (among them the socialists who have a clear stand on the reactionary nature of the theocratic regime) do now? On the face of it, the vast majority of people believe that the election results were rigged and want another election. Some personalities, like Shirin Ebadi, even call for UN intervention to monitor another election. Many others, who have no illusions about the reactionary and repressive nature of theocracy in Iran, have political demands that extend beyond just the condemnation of vote fraud within the system. They are on the path of revolutionary struggle against the regime in its totality and want to establish a democratic, secular republic.

But among the progressive activists, some outside of Iran, there is confusion regarding how best to show our solidarity with the people’s struggle for freedom and the right to self-determination. There are those who incorrectly advocate supporting only the demands that call for overturning the electoral outcome, which they rightly believe was overwhelmingly in favor of Moussavi. And they wrongly deny the primary reason millions of Iranians have been demonstrating in the streets of Iran: the desire for regime change to bring about basic civil liberties and democratic rights. Iranians want to participate freely in constructing their own social destinies. It should be clear by now that the great majority of protesters harbor no illusions about the repressive and fanatic nature of the political order in Iran.

It seems logical that freedom-seeking progressive individuals and groups, both Iranians and internationalists, would support the people’s emancipatory aspirations by promoting, not limiting, the revolutionary and humanistic demands now reverberating among the masses in Iran.

Faramarz Dadvar