Use of Islamic Justice to persecute Baha’is in Iran
Recently, an article titled “The United Nations and the attempt of Baha’is to condemn Iran” attracted my attention on the website of the Comprehensive Base of the Sects, Religions, and Faiths. This website, which does not even have an introduction page, and no specific author, its design should be found in one of the intelligence offices of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps or the Basij militia. This type of organized movements against the religious minorities which it was founded about five or six years ago by order of the Supreme Leader, after adherence of many Muslims to Baha’i Faith, Zoroastrianism, Christianity, and even Sufism and even other Islamic sects to confront these religions. It is fascinating that among the pages on this website, we can mention emerging mysticism, Salafism and Wahhabism, Sufism, Yarsanism (Ahl-e-Haqq), Zoroastrianism and Ancientism, Christianity, Sunni schools, Shaikhis and Baha’ism. In short, they have not left any religious beliefs from prevalent slander and damnation of the Shi’a scholars, and maybe it is because of this way of penmanship that they are reluctant to introduce themselves on their website. An important issue to acknowledge is that, with all the noise that the minds behind creating such sites affiliated with the Velayat-e faqih (Guardian Jurist) are eager to rise to attract the attention of the compatriots, no wise Iranian would use such a website to get acquainted with the Baha’i Faith or Christianity or Zoroastrianism. Since I saw this article and the way these dear Muslim scholars write as the judge and the jury without a shred of evidence, I decided to write to clear minds of such people. The mysterious people who publish these articles in the chambers of one of the seminaries or the basement of The IRGC, I hope after forty years of being brainwashed there is a place for reflection and contemplation. In this article, making a few points is necessary for these friends not to repeat these mistakes.
First, the Baha’i International Community is not a representative of a political community, but it was established as a non-governmental organization (NGO) since 1948 at the United Nations.
The second is the number of believers in the Baha’i Faith in Iran. The number 300,000 people who are used in different talks as the number of Baha’is in Iran are based on the latest statistics from the Iranian Baha’i Census Desk, which was shut down in the first or second year after the interim government orders. Of course, it is noteworthy that the current number would undoubtedly be more than the 300,000 which is 40 years old. But the Baha’i international community, due to lack of access to new statistics, relies on the last accurate census from forty years ago.
The third point is that in this article if the Islamic regime of Iran who is running the country wanted to harass the Baha’is for ideological reasons, the number of Baha’is in prison was not sixty, and now we have to have 300,000 Baha’i inmates. The expression of such childish reasoning still reflects a weak rational since the Islamic Republic of Iran has not limited itself to a means of imprisonment since the beginning of the Islamic Revolution and harassed the Baha’is for various excuses. At the beginning of the revolution, over 200 Baha’is have been killed or executed under various pretexts. All Baha’i youth who have passed the university entrance exam with high marks are banned from entering universities under the reason of having an “incomplete Dossier.” If they file a complaint against the ruling, they are imprisoned. They seal off Baha’i-owned shops for various reasons, including closing their shops during Baha’i holy days that are not more than nine days when according to laws each shop is allowed 15 personal days. No Baha’is have the right to work in government agencies, and private business owners are prohibited from hiring Baha’is. The pensions of many Baha’is have been stopped with the excuse that their hiring was wrong at the time of recruitment. The properties, farms, and plots of Baha’is being confiscated, and so on. So do not include such a childish excuse in your articles referring to “incarcerating 300,000 Iranian Baha’is with bogus charges if we were against Baha’is,” which it will be the cause of embarrassment for you and the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The Iranian Baha’i community is currently undergoing full-scale systematic apartheid under the Islamic Republic of Iran, and the IRI does not listen to the Iranian Baha’is pleas for justice.
The fourth point is that the authors of this article may not be aware and it is necessary to ask the Chiefs and Commander of the affairs about the number of times the Baha’is of Iran have come to their offices to appeal and ask for justice or how many of their written pleads are left unanswered. Also, they need to know about the number of times the Bahá’í international community representing the Bahá’í community of Iran engaging and lobbying the governments who have a good rapport with the IRI in different ways. Now that all these efforts have been fruitless and the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran has ignored these pleas and their direct and indirect complaints, the only path left is exposing these persecutions and harassments by providing proofs and documents (Some located at https://iranbahaipersecution.bic.org/). These acts have been unjustly committed against the Iranian Baha’is by the Iranian authorities and the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran for forty years, and now after ignoring these pleas, it is time to bring them to the attention of the only global organization of nations and governments at the United Nations and the Human Rights Commission.
I have only written this article just to clarify the thoughts of my kind compatriots who, instead of realizing the real truth and enlightening truths of Islam, advocate for the clerics who have exposed the Iranian society for their personal use as the enemy of all religions, nations, tribes, and states in the world. Maybe there are some objective people among my fellow citizen who can understand their Iranian Baha’i compatriot’s situation, and after forty years they will be able to defend or at least rejoice with their Baha’i neighbors, their Baha’i classmates, their Baha’i associates, and their Baha’i friends.
Here is the article on the website of the Comprehensive sects, Religion, and Faiths:
United Nations and Baha’is attempt to condemn Iran
Comprehensive Base of Sects, Religions, and Faiths _ On the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, the Baha’i organizations tried to play its instrumental role in exerting pressure against our country. At this meeting, Ms. Diane Ala’i, representative of the Baha’i International Community at the United Nations, stated in her speech: “The Baha’i International Community has warned against the active and systematic efforts of the Iranian government to eradicate the Baha’i community, the largest non-Muslim religious minority in the country. Now about 60 Baha’is are imprisoned because of their beliefs … Even a Baha’i family in Iran has not been safe from these persecutions … “[1]
But in response to this political show by the Baha’i organization, a few points should be noted:
First: The claim of the largest religious minority for Baha’is in Iran is a false claim, since, on one hand, calling this organization a religion is incorrect, and on the other hand, no demographic data has confirmed such an imaginary claim for the followers of the Baha’i organization. [2]
Second, according to this report, there are only 60 Baha’is out of the claimed population of 300,000 Baha’is in Iran in prison, whereas if Baha’is were arrested solely for the sake of beliefs, we would have had 300,000 Baha’is in jail. [3] So, how can one expect to be a Baha’i to prevent the prosecution of offenders in Iran?!
Third, while the United States is pursuing a boost to pressure and sanction on the people of Iran to justify its bullying and decrying, the Bahá’í organization with its political show has a duty to justify its behavior.
Footnote:
[1]. Baha’i affiliated news agencies, Ms. Diane Ala’i’s speech on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly.
[1]. For further reading, see the Iranian Baha’i Statistics
[2]. According to Baha’i affiliate news agencies.
