Am I an Iranian?

Iran is an ancient country in the Middle East region of southwestern Asia. It is a land of snow-capped mountains, green valleys, and barren deserts. Iran is one of the world’s oldest countries. Its history dates back almost 5,000 years and includes the eras of the great Medes and the great Persian Empire. It has natural beauty and magnificent historical places.

Iran is a cradle of civilization and one of the most beautiful, rich and unique countries in the world. It is comprised of diverse ethnic, national and religious groups. Persians, Azeris, Kurds, Blochis, Turkmen and Arabs are the major national groups in Iran and a few religious and ethnic minorities such as Assyrian, Zoroastrians, Jewish and Armenians are living in different parts of Iran. Iran’s main religion is Islam which comprises both the Shi’ites and Sunnis. Majority of the Iranian population are Shi’ites and Shi’ism is the official religion of the state.

However, the successive Iranian rulers have never recognized the multicultural, multinational, and multi-religious status of Iran. Under the reign of Reza Shah Pahlavi and his son Mohammad Reza (1925-1979) the slogan of one nation, one language and one culture was the dominant feature of the day. They tried to assimilate all non- Persian ethnic and national groups. Persian became the official language and all other languages considered as mountain dialects and prohibited from schooling and even publications.

All other nationalities except Persian were deprived of very basic natural human rights. Under such an exclusionist system whoever demanded to have education in their native language or even chose to name their children according their cultural norms ended up in jail or were executed by the Savak (Iranian Intelligence Service). It was an absolute tyranny and authoritarian regime. Shah became the shadow of god and the Iranian people became slaves. When the Shah was boasting about Iran as an island of peace, the people were shouting, “down with the dictator”.

The problem was he either did not hear these voices or he chose not to hear them. When he finally heard those voice by saying, “I did hear your revolutionary voice” it was too late. Khomeini was aware of the culture that been created and left behind by Shah. He declared himself as a representative of god so, that he could easily accept or dismiss anything he wanted. He disbanded all political parties and created an Islamic party. He implemented the Sharia law according to his interpretation of Shi’ites branch of Islam. He continued the foot step of the Shah with the same slogans. Even today, over 50% of the total Iranian populations who are not Persians have no right to be educated in their native language. Still Sunni Muslims are struggling to build a mosque in Tehran.

I consider myself an Iranian Kurd. The Kurds form 10% of the 70 million Iranian populations. We have no right to set up political parties, became a governor of district, governor-general, minster, head of the army, head of judiciary, member of guardian council, member of assembly of experts, speaker of parliament, president, or even deputies of one of these. Even today my fellow Kurds can not name their new born babies with Kurdish name. Even today if we demand any of the rights mentioned above we will end up in jail, face execution and very easily labeled as an enemy of the state.

So my fellow Iranians as long as I am not free in Iranian Kurdistan, people of Azerbaijan, Baluchistan, Turkmenistan, Ahwaz and Abadan are not free, you as Persian will not be free in Tehran, Mashhad, Kerman, and Isfahan either. As long as my very basic human rights are violated, my dignity not respected, and my identity denied I will question if I am an Iranian. It’s worth mentioning that, if we want to have a great Iran for all Iranian regardless of gender, nationality and religion then we have to reshape our vision, and face the reality. So let us create a culture of tolerance, let’s respect each other for who we are, lets extend a mutual recognition and respect towards each other. It is only then we will enjoy prosperity together.

nsilwanagh@hotmail.com