Back
to Articles
Have
mercy on Yourselves!
Translated by persianoutpost
By Masoud Behnood
Featured on March 8, 1999 in the Opinion section of Iran News daily
in Tehran, Iran.
Iranian society
is on the verge of institutionalizing the political party system
and the notion of popular participation in politics. If some persons
do not know the rules of the game and desire the revival of the
monopolistic system, it is because old habits die hard. They fear
that transparency will weaken the pillars of the establishment,
without understanding that a competitive atmosphere can be a source
of strength. Still another group totally ignores the rules of the
game and has practically slowed down the process. They resort to
every trick in the book to stop improvements which may not be in
their best interests. The true intentions and the members of this
group should be made public.
Let me point
to a historical case to further clarify the matter. Qavom-ol-Saltaneh
(a prime minister of the Pahlavi regime in the 1940s) went to Moscow
to discuss the situation in Azarbaijan (which had practically been
separated from the country by the Russians) with the towering political
figure of Josef Stalin. Some elements of the imperial court - a
group of Majlis deputies - who viewed his success as their own failure,
started to plot against him and his cabinet back home.
Qavam in a secret
message asked for help from Mohammad Mossaddeq and Moetamen-ol-Molk.
He also ordered his deputy, Sahom-ol-Soltan Bayat, who was the acting
prime minister, to tell those gentlemen, "Please wait for a
while. There is still time. At least have mercy on yourselves so
you will not go down in history as disreputable individuals."
Qavam's warning
proved quite effective and the deputies changed their minds about
impeaching his cabinet and waited until he came back from Moscow.
The atmosphere in the Majlis was such at the time that in the negotiations
with the Russian authorities, Malenkov sarcastically reminded Qavam
that he was not so popular at home. Qavam wittily replied, "Apparently
you people know everything about our Majlis. So why do you insist
that the Majlis should ratify the oil contract before it gets implemented?".
Qavam managed to escape the trouble, but this does not always happen.
When President
Mohammad Khatami visited New York in 1998, to address the UN General
Assembly and while the international community was eagerly waiting
to hear more about the new Iran, strange incidents occurred. These
incidents revealed that some people will do anything possible to
prevent the government from expressing itself on the world scene.
Of course, the international community gave sufficient attention
to Mr. Khatami's proposal of dialogue among civilizations, contradicting
the news which some were disseminating in Tehran.
Soon the president
will be visiting Europe. It is a vital development at the beginning
of the third decade of the Islamic Revolution and can open up new
economic opportunities for a country like ours which is oil-dependent.
In a world wherein the president of a superpower like the US is
involved in economic issues, to the extent that the European press
labels him as a great automobile middleman, why should Iran miss
opportunities for bolstering its cultural and commercial ties worldwide?
Those who claim
to be fighting against global arrogance, should welcome these new
chances. Otherwise, as Qavam said, there is still time and this
particular group should have mercy on itself. Let me also recall
one more important issue. In our most recent history, those who
have opposed the establishment of liberty and freedom have reasoned
that national security will be endangered and the youth and the
masses will create unwanted problems if freedom reigns in society.
This view lingered until 20 months ago and quite a large number
of individuals also supported the idea. However, we have lived through
it.
During the past
20 months, our people, particularly the youth, have had a cause
and never raised the least disturbance either. This is, in fact,
the reason behind their success in this period. Our youth have understood
that the might of the land lies in our tranquillity. In this same
critical region the Taliban exercises prehistoric rule, another
regime ignores the views of the majority of its people, our poverty-stricken
northern neighbors are preoccupied with throwing lavish festivities
and Saddam Hossein is raising hell, treating his hungry and sick
people to missiles for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Our youth know
that in the world we live in, the US gains economic prosperity when
the Southeastern Asian countries experience economic crisis and
oil prices fall drastically, and that difficulties can be only overcome
through patience and prudence. They also understand that they have
never been rude or obnoxious, but may God save us from those who
claim they guide the youth away from vice while they have only added
to our problems. I just welcomed the opportunity to remind you of
Qavam's word to Bayat, "Have mercy on yourselves."
|