Saturday 16 January 2010

Students' Open Letter to Deans of Tehran Uni

Translated from @manic77's original to English by @mehrza

Today, our friends are carrying the stones of their prison on their backs, as Mary’s child carried his cross

 

This letter is addressed to anyone who is as guilty as the despots who imprison our friends, the children and future of this land.

 

Greetings Mr. (Dr.) Rahbar, the esteemed president of University of Tehran, and Mr. (Dr.) Jamshidiha, the esteemed dean of the faculty of social sciences of the University of Tehran:

 

First of all, I address you as Mr. only for two reasons: primarily because of your gender, I had to address you as such, and also to maintain the norm in this letter, as a typical letter of its kind. Otherwise, god knows that it is very clear to me and to you, too, if you still have some decency left, that you don’t deserve to be called a “man. Nonetheless, how can you claim to be a man and let the children of the country, the students of the very institutions that you are supposed to be leading, to be jailed only because they are Kurds, or simply because they are honorable, conscientious “students”?

 

To be honest, you are not so respectful, either. To be respectful, one is responsible to recognize and respect oneself, by knowing self boundaries and protecting everything within those boundaries against any kind of insult. In that sense you can’t be considered respectfulhow could you be respected as you allowed invasion of those boundaries by letting every lunatic “plainclothes vigilante violate security and safety bounds of students in “university. How could you be respected if you let them invade student dorms, which is supposed to be the students’ safe home, and turn them into bloody, flaming rubble? That was our home,” which always had and still has our respect and reverence, but be your own judge and tell us how you can be respected as you disrespect our “home.” How could you turn the “university” into an unsafe place for students, where they even have to be afraid of their own ethnicity, and expect to be respected?

To us, “University,” as a place for “learning” and education, was a respectful place. As a place where great people arose, university had our reverence. As it was marked by the presence and blood of the three divine flames of Azar, it had our deep respect. And still does. But you, the incompetent deans of the University of Tehran, don’t have our respect anymore. Do you even know that it is almost 40 days that four students of the College of Social Sciences have been in Evin prison? 40 days, just like 40 ascetic days of “chelleh-neshini, with the difference that at the end of the 40th ascetical day they are not awarded a prize, they are not welcomed, nor are they to be ranked as sacred. At the end they only will be handed a sentence, which maybe suffice to burn your conscience, if you have one, for the rest of your life and afterlife! I pronounce their names so that they will be recorded in the history, which only honors distinguished people, not that these unfortunate students have a distinguished post or position, but because they are just being decent human beings at a time that it is rare to find one! These are not children of some “important” people to make you worry for your position, nor do they belong to any organization or association, which would at least be seeking to follow up on their case. They are: Amjad Kordnejad, Sajjad Moradi, Alireza Moradi and Abbas Kakaii.

 

They are said to have been tried already, and nobody knows what has happened to them in that mockery of a court of law. We ask: Were any lawyers or family members allowed there to support them? NOBODY, is the answer – do you understand the meaning of “NOBODY”?

It’s been said that they are being accused of involvement in many incidents, such as 13th of Aban (November 4th), 16th of Azar (December 7th) and even the tragedy at the student dorms … they are being cast in a scenario for which nobody can tell the ending!

 

Dr. Rahbar, dean of the great University of Tehran,

We know, and at least in your solitude you must admit, that whatever happened on those three landmark days was part of a game that you had set up. The brutal nightly attack of the vigilantes and mercenaries to the student dormitories was personally ordered by you. This is also according to many people. Even if nobody had said that, you could find the truth searching in what is left of your conscience. On Azar 16th (December 7th) all of those plainclothes vigilante and Basiji forces gathered from various bases, which was already admitted by the head of Basij in our own college, were permitted to intrude in what should have been a safe haven for students.

 

Dr. Jamshidiha, dean of the college of Social Sciences of the University of Tehran,

The barb of what is mentioned above is intended for you as well.

I ask you nothing but one request: put yourself in the shoes of the parents of the detained students. Imagine that for just one moment. Although I’m sure even for one second it doesn’t occur to you that those 4 students could have been your own children, behind the walls of their cells at Evin prison, waiting for a verdict that should have been issued for the despots whose torturous apparatus is made of the bones of this land’s best children and decorated with the broken teeth of their parents who tirelessly never give up hope for this oppressed land’s future.

 

Mr. Rahbar and Mr. Jamshidiha,

Today our friends, our classmates of long time, are carrying the stones of their prison on their backs, as Mary’s child carried his cross. Jesus ascended to heaven and rested in the arms of God and became eternal. Be assured that regardless of the outcome and whatever is the verdict, the stigma of the disgrace will be on the foreheads of those who closed their eyes and became blinded to all of this. Beware of the explosion of the silence that is being witnessed. Help our old and new friends get back to us. These people have short memories but big hearts … they will forgive you. Before it is too late, come to your senses, and allow us to once again regard you as “men” and respect you as such.

 

I believe it is still not too late to reclaim just a speck of the honor and the conscience that you’ve lost, and at least for once in the history of this land of ups and downs, demonstrate that the decanted water “can” in fact return to the stream (as we say in Persian; equivalent of claiming that the jinni “can” be put back in the bottle), if we have the will and if we believe in God, who is the most merciful of all… And who doesn’t believe in God’s mercyi and forgiveness?    

  

“Kelk Meshkin”

Posted via email from Liss's posterous

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