Unrest
In Tehran-Pars Or Is It?
By
Mozhgan Bahar
Znet
22 June , 2003
Public protests have been
growing in Tehran and other Iranian cities during the past few weeks.
In Tehran, they spring out every night (after 10:00 PM) in different
parts of the town and continue sometimes until 4:00 AM. Tehran-Pars
is a neighborhood in the West side of Tehran (a city of over 12 million).
The main street in Tehran-Pars connects four large public Squares. A
variety of shops line the two sides of the main street and the residential
areas are tucked in on the side streets. Iranians take great pride in
their public gardens and each of the four squares in Tehran-Pars is
a magnificent display of this pride. The First Square, (Falakehe Aval),
takes up a large area with beautiful trees and colorful flowerbeds with
ancient Persian carpet designs that renews ones love for her ancient
culture at each glance. Water fountains, flowerbeds and colorful sitting
benches are in shades of old trees to cool the people and to rest their
tired feet.
Last night (Friday 21 June),
the First Square was packed with people who had come to give the Islamic
Government a clear vote of No Confidence. Almost everyone
was sitting down on the grass, the benches or the edges of the numerous
marble water fountains, chatting quietly amongst themselves. Everyones
eyes, including mine, were on the Bassiji. The Bassiji are simply paid
government hooligans in civilian clothing. By all accounts the Bassiji
are responsible for numerous murders and disappearances since the start
of the Islamic Republic. The arrogance, self-ritciousness, and total
disregard of these civilians for the people and their rights
under the constitution, is public knowledge.
The Islamic Republics
usage of Western crowd control technology is in full swing
these days. I saw a well-groomed man; wearing a navy blue vest, give
away canisters, no doubt containing toxic mixture of gases, to some
civilians (the Basiji). Later I saw the word Police (in
English) on the back of his vest. The men in navy blue vests seem to
be the higher-ranking Bassiji members who organize and direct the rest
of the Bassiji forces. Last night most of the Bassiji were on motorcycles.
The City police and the Traffic Police had also been called in to deter
the unrest. The good thing about the last two groups is
that 1) they are in uniform and therefore easily recognizable and 2)
they have little sympathy for the Islamic regime.
Walking around the First
Square at 11:30 PM, I saw four large empty busses parked in narrow side
streets. I wondered what all they were doing there? Were they used to
transport the Bassiji and their supporters to this part of the town
from other places? Another oddity I noticed was that many doors to private
homes had been left open! Do people not fear the danger of these times?
I gently opened a door a bit more and looked inside. A young woman was
standing in the small front yard. I smiled and asked, Is this
a private residence? She smiled back and said, Yes!
I thanked her and hurried back to the square. By now the people had
stood up and were whistling loudly encouraging the cars to blow their
horns and join them in the protest.
Are people leaving their
homes open to shelter the fleeing protestors from the wrath of the Bassiji,
I asked myself?
The Islamic Republic may
seem in control of Tehran during the day light hours, and even that
is debatable, but the people have taken the nights. What do people want?
Talking to the people on the streets, it is safe to say they want a
government to protect them and their interests. The first step to this
magnificent destination, they feel, is the removal of the Leader
(Ayatollah Khamenehie) and his position from the political arena in
Iran. The Leader is given his mighty powers not by the masses
but by a self appointed assembly of Islamic clerics who are at this
point completely hated by the people. The Leader has the
power to veto any and all candidates for public offices, including the
presidency, and to appoint individuals to any and all public posts without
the smallest public input. The public resistance we are witnessing in
Iran is to restore peoples power over the rule of the clerics.
Peaceful protest and small political gains will get us there sooner
or later! a young woman in the crowd said.