|
“Di=
alog
of Referendum” to undermine the “Civil Disobedience” in=
By Mohammad Parvin
(02/21/05) The Islamic Regi=
me of
Iran knows well that it is not wanted by the majority of the Iranian peop=
le. It
is true that it has survived for twenty six years by repression and help =
of
the interest driven Iranians and western power. But, in spite of all thes=
e obstacles,
the freedom-loving Iranians have resisted and have not allowed this brutal
regime to stabilize. The Iranian people are still resisting, and that is =
why
we are witnessing daily imprisonments, tortures and executions by the Isl=
amic
Regime. This regime knows better than anybody else that is hated by the
people and will never yield to a referendum request expressed by some of =
the
so-called “reformists.” Of course, refer=
endum can
be used as a challenge to the Islamic Regime of Iran (IRI) and all those =
who
consider any legitimacy for it.
When we claim that IRI has no legitimacy and does not represent the
majority of Iranians, we can qualify our claim by challenging those who t=
hink
otherwise to an internationally monitored referendum. To avoid any misunderstanding, w=
e also
need to emphasize that IRI will never dare to accept such challenge. At t=
his
stage, referendum is just a tactic and nothing more. The type of referendum that is
introduced by Sazgara, et al, is not of this nature. Sazgara, the main
architects of the referendum, was a close ally of Khomeini and an advocate=
of
the 1979 Islamic Revolution. He was one of the found=
ers of
the Islamic regime's Elite guard ,
and a former
candidate of the Islamic presidency. In recent years he has turned to a
critic of the hardliners and was arrested in June 2003, during a wave of
student unrest in At first, he and=
others
proposed the “referendum”&nb=
sp;
as a means of changing the Iranian constitution. It was argued tha=
t this
referendum would be an alternative to violent actions. When the obvious question =
was
raised as to how this bloody regime would yield to the will of the people
expressed by internet clicking, the architects of this referendum and oth=
er
supporters resorted to contradicting arguments and finally ended up saying
that we just want to have a “dialog about referendum.” Proposing a refe=
rendum,
as a practical alternative to violent action and reducing it to dialog, h=
as
the dangerous potential of diverting the attentions from the real
alternative, which is civil disobedience. In fact, such diversion could be
the only outcome of this referendum. Considering the =
above
argument, it should not be surprising that the main architects of this de=
adly
project are people like Sazgara, Maleki, and those from the Unity
Consolidation Office (the real name is Office for Consolidation among
students and shia’ clerics). At best, and even if we assume that th=
ey
have been “reformed”, what they are seeking is a watered-down
Islamic regime. They =
have
articulated their wish for transformation of present theocracy to a
“good” one in many writings and interviews as I have referenc=
ed
in my recent Persian articles. And, as to the
supporters of referendum outside Fortunately, the
supporters of referendum have been left isolated and people inside Contrary to what=
some
people have suggested, I don’t believe that President George Bush
should endorse this referendum to demonstrate his sincerity about real ch=
ange
in ·
Acknowledge
the fact that the freedom-loving Iranians want a secular democratic regime
and are against the entirety of the Islamic Regime, its constitution, and=
any
form or shape of the interference of religion in state. · &nbs=
p;
Impose
a smart sanction against the Islamic Regime of Iran. This sanction should=
be
a real one and not of the type that would exclude 200 American companies =
such
as Halliburton and General Electric. A sanction that does not h=
ave
any loopholes and does not allow Halliburton or GE to stay in · &nbs=
p;
Reduce
the diplomatic relations with the Islamic Regime to the lowest possible
level. · &nbs=
p;
Apply
the U.S. Anti Terrorism Act indiscriminately and do not allow the IRI lob=
by
groups such as AIC and individuals like Senator Biden to legitimize a
terrorist regime. If the As Gene Sharp, t=
he
pre-eminent authority on strategic nonviolent struggle articulated in an
interview that I had with him last week, referendum, at best, falls within
the category of negotiation.
And negotiation can never persuade this monstrous regime to abdica=
te
its power. So let us start from where we all know the referendum will stop
and stage a real fight. It is a hard one but Iranians can do it. Mohammad Parvin is an a=
djunct
professor at the Original Source:=
http://www.americandai=
ly.com/article/6886 MEHR Tel: (=
310)
377-4590 E-mail: mehr@mehr.org |
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