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Mohammad Parvin
August 2, 2019
In response to my previous post on the statement of fourteen activists in Iran
[1], one
of the activists abroad sent me an email and asked:
"Suppose the
Islamic Regime was overthrown tomorrow or next week
or next month.
What is the
Alternative really and who is it?"
I gave him a
short answer and will try to address this very
important question a little more in this writing.
The Islamic
Regime will not be overthrown by itself even after
another forty years. And, its overthrow by a
military invasion and coup, etc., will never bring
about democracy.
This regime
has been the best alternative for the
interest-driven governments of the world.
One of the
main factors behind such a situation is and has been
our lack of action, counting on only slogans,
issuing petitions and statements. We have been
unable to get involved in actions that could result
in the empowerment of the Iranians and show the real
and better alternative to the entire world.
Armed
uprising and fighting cannot overthrow the Islamic
regime, which has the most advanced weapons and will
not abstain from killing thousands to save its
regime. If the possibility of a successful armed
uprising could be shown, I would have no problem
with it personally.
The far more
rational solution is the battle of disobedience. I
believe that the overthrow of the Islamic regime is
possible only with the participation of millions of
people in the battle of civil disobedience.
But the
battle of disobedience is not shaped by the
slogan. Political activists need to learn how to do
it, and to organize and disseminate dissatisfied
people inside Iran from the outset, and in the
anonymous form at the beginning (not starting by
issuing a statement with their names on it!).
As an observer
of the fights in Iran, I have never tried and will
try to tell the militants in Iran what to do. But
with my knowledge of conditions inside Iran, I think
that I should be allowed to share my thoughts with
others. If we look at the struggles of the Iranian
people, it demonstrates the fact that they are
pursuing disobedience campaigns. The protests and
disobedience of some of the Iranian women by saying
no to the Islamic Regime and breaking the hijab law
is an example of this campaign [2].
Freedom
fighters in Iran have found that this bloody regime
cannot be fought with cannons and tanks. They know
that carrying on a covert armed struggle cannot
attract unhappy people. As a force and movement that
does not include the informed masses, it either
doesn't have any chance for success, or even if
happened to succeed under extremely exceptional
circumstances, and the transfer of power was done,
it wouldn't result in freedom and democracy.
Forces that
come to power without the involvement of the
informed masses, usually consider power only their
own right because they have fought for it. Most of
all, they usually believe that the people owe them
and ask: " where you were at the time of our
bloodshed." And with that logic, they will never
dare to put themselves to the vote of the people.
The option of
the disobedience fight to overthrow the Islamic
regime is not picked out of fear or any humanistic
concern. It doesn't have any similarity with the
struggles within the regime's rules and laws and
reforms movements.
The Islamic regime that owns our country will block
any movement. We cannot just push it aside and pass
by it!
The battle of
disobedience that is aimed at the totality of the
system of oppression, never reconcile and its only
aim is to overthrow the Islamic regime. Its
organizers consider their battle more serious than
to give their suppressors their names at the
beginning of this battle. We have to put aside
relying on the statements and challenge each other
on practical solutions. The battle of disobedience
must first be first learned and then commented on.
Some
progressive groups in Iran have adopted the method
of disobedience by pursuing appropriate methods in
accordance with the present conditions of our
society. These groups although have not yet received
the support of the dissatisfied but passive and
indigenous populations and although may not be well
equipped with theories and actions of disobedience
struggle, have been able to make the regime somewhat
shaky and unstable.
However, the
Islamic regime has been able to control and prevent
the expansion of these movements. It has done it by
consistently suppressing social-political activists,
exploiting interest-driven elements inside and
outside Iran (active lobbyists), distorting
fundamental issues, exploiting political burnout and
repentance, promoting a reformist mindset, and
finally the help of the Western countries.
We should be
able to take these destructive tools out of the
regime's hands.
Disobedience
struggles will continue to be suppressed by the
regime if it remains spontaneous and
unorganized. The degree of the regime's brutality in
dealing with disobedience struggles and the timing
of its intensification depends on different
conditions inside and outside the border. So, beyond
all these discussions, the fundamental problem that
must be resolved is how to organize the disobedience
campaign.
In the MEHR
group, we have learned a lot about the disobedience
movement and the way it has been practiced in many
places and countries, and we are still learning. No
uprising and struggle can be repeated, but one can
learn from them. For our part, we have shared with
other activists what we have learned from the years
of research and investigation of Professor Gene
Sharp and others [3].
We have also
shared this information with freedom fighters within
Iran to the extent that our capabilities permitted
us.
But this was
nothing that a small group of people with limited
resources could do. We got in touch with activists
outside Iran and asked them to form an organized
movement to achieve this goal. Unfortunately, we
didn't get anywhere and although very painful, we
had to stop. The statement of the fourteen people
made these pains more alive and I personally could
not avoid raising my voice again!
The key
point to keep in the mind is that the smart people
in Iran are witnessing that they are not only facing
this cruel regime but the entire world that is only
seeking their own interests. A world that thinks
that this regime will serve their interests in the
present situation and therefore their only condition
for the continuation of trade and economic tie to
this regime is related to nuclear activities and
interventions of the regime in the region. The human
rights condition has always been a decorative pot on
every negotiating table, but it has never been
practically put beside the atomic conditions.
This is where one of the important roles we could
and still can play overseas can be addressed. We can
empower the freedom-seeking Iranians in their
efforts by united and inclusive efforts around the
demand of not giving recognition to the Islamic
regime and form an opposition in the process.
This is not
possible with begging and the plea to the
humanitarian obligations of foreign statesmen. We
must raise the issue of not giving recognition
to the Islamic regime globally by seeking help from
the people of our residence countries and
participating in the political process to be able to
become a determining and reckoning force among
governments and politicians. Our efforts and demands
should be concentrated at the beginning at the stop
of human rights violation in Iran and as a first
step release of all political prisoners and
prisoners of conscience.
This also
cannot be done easily. It needs a broad unity of
action and a widespread organizing effort. To do
this, Iranians must be prepared to participate in
the political process of their residence
countries. We should ask the people of the world who
have been informed about the human rights abuses in
Iran to use their voting power. Civil society
organizations, trade unions, women's organizations,
artists, etc. should be sought to impose on Western
governments the requirement that the release of the
political prisoners and prisoners of conscience be
among the conditions for smart sanctions.
If tens of
thousands of Iranians, with the help of the others,
indicated above and behind the call for a cessation
of human rights violations and the release of
political prisoners by smart sanctions could change
the fate of political elections here and there
around the world, then it will start the competition
among the political parties and their politicians to
earn our votes by addressing our demands. This will
have a very positive outcome for the opposition
abroad. Our actions would become much more
eye-catching if we could attract international
organizations including human rights organizations
to support our task.
The hollow
slogan, "Political Prisoner Must Be Released", has
not and will not achieve anything. This slogan
should become practical and tangible in an effort to
make the release of political prisoners a
prerequisite for any relationship with the Islamic
regime.
This effort
may also fail to achieve its goal, but in its
process may achieve other very important goals.
Our united effort all over the world around one
defined goal will give us a distinct identity that
we do not currently have. For the first time, the
Iranians inside Iran observe that the majority of
Iranians abroad are demanding something specific by
mobilizing freedom-loving people all around the
world. Something that encompasses their
interests. And this is what will enable activists
and organizers within Iran to become more effective
in bringing the people into action. And this is a
brilliant start to the expansion of disobedient
struggles.
This is the safest and most natural way to create a
viable opposition. This effort, in the process of
forming itself, will find its leadership just like
any other collective movement, and will give united
and unified overseas efforts such an identity that
they deserve to call themselves opposition.
The
organizers of the disobedience movement in Iran will
also gradually become more powerful in the light of
the identification of an outside opposition that
calls and acts for their rights to be acknowledged
practically. This will empower the organizers and
accelerate their growth. They will also naturally
find their own leadership in the process.
Leadership will emerge from within and through these
efforts. An alternative that without any doubt is
not an individual but rather a united organization
that has been able to shape and advance disobedience
movements and is therefore supported by the freedom
fighters in Iran.
This alternative, in its widespread form, which is
backed by Iranians inside and outside Iran and by
freedom-loving people around the world, will
eventually impose itself to the interest-driven
foreign governments.
We should
not sit down in the hope of such a day. To make it
happen we must move from writing "statements" to
action.
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