Green Path of Hope

Tragic events have overshadowed the political atmosphere in Iran after the elections. It is clear now, that supporters of Mr. Ahmadinejad , in the executive, military and judiciary sectors have worked together to prove that the peaceful protests of millions of people against fraud and deciet in the name of Islam, was a foreign instigated attempt for a velvet revolution. Interesting to say, all three rivals of Ahmadinejad have rejected election results on the basis of clear and widespread evidence of cheating and fraud at all levels of vote counting and supervision. They who were all devotees and trustees of the Islamic Revolution, with more Islamic and revolutionary credentials than Ahmadinejad felt that the Islamic Republic is facing a serious challenge to its basic principles and values. The major concern was that clinging to power by any means constitues a deviation that that would distance the government from Islamic values and therefore contradict many of those objectives. Decieving the people into thinking that they could bring about change in the context of legal elections by playing the game and accepting the rules, and then accusing them of formenting a velvet revolution was a senario that the ruling establishment had concieved.

What they could not predict was that Mousavi and Karroubi and the people would resist inspite of brutal suppression , arrests, banning of publications, internet sites and in general freedom of expression. It is evident that the Islamic Republic should be protected but does that mean at any price ? Can a system based on religious and Islamic ethics go too far to infringe on all basic human rights in a very widespread level? The reality is that we are facing a paradox of protecting the sanct entity of the Islamic Republic which was intended to be the ultimate utopia of humanity in contemporary times, or protecting the substance and values that constitute the theoretical and fundamental values of this Revolution?
Mousavi has announced the creation of the Green Path of Hope as a widspread movement to follow the objectives of his campaign, Mr. Karroubi has embarked to defend the claims of those abused and victimized during street protests or while detainment. The Majlis has created a Special Committee to follow complaints.
We adopted a bill in the Tehran City Council obliging the Mayor of Tehran to prepare a report on how the City Council could attend to some of the sufferings and pain that the citizens of this city have faced during the unrest and protests after the elections. Supporters of Ahmadinejad are not content with these developments, they consistently deny or underestimate wrondoings and indicate that they will attend to all claims. The State run TV channels have totally censured the events, while many Iranians, even in villages now refer to foreign media for their news.
The post election events and the tragedies that have ocurred have nothing to do with Islam or the Islamic Revolution , they are the result of the blind actions of ambitious politicians who wish to hold on to power at any price. Imam Khomeini considered selfishness and pride, the egoistic ambitions of leaders, the inner drive for absolute power as the major threat for any Muslim official.He would refer to this reality constantly in his speaches. In his final will Imam idicated that the same way that Western powers are a threat, backwardness and egoism are also threats to the Islamic Revolution. We now witness how the legacy of Imam Khomeini stands,once again, as an obstacle to despotism and oppression in Iran.

The Savior and the Green Movement

There is no question that the string of events that we have seen during and after the tenth round of Presidential elections have permanently changed the trends of the Islamic Revolution. A major rift among the followers and devotees of the Revolution has now occurred. The biased election officials and regulatory bodies have not been able to convince the three rivals of Mr. Ahmadinejad or their large body of followers of the integrity of these Presidential elections.

People believe today that the voting process was rigged and that fraud and deceit in the system has seriously damaged the dignity of the Islamic Republic. In addition, the violent and illegal behaviour of militia and security forces with people demonstrating in the cities, and the irresponsible and inhumane behaviour they have had with the detainees has created many questions. Their actions have led to injury and death for citizens who only demanded a response to their questions on the elections and this has shocked the sincere believers and followers of the Revolution. The only response they have heard, has been allegations of a velvet revolution and foreign conspiracy displayed recently in a large trial of dozens of reformist leaders. Last week former Vice President Abtahi and political activist and journalist Atrianfar made obscure televised confessions in a very awkward manner clearly indicating the pressures they faced in prison. Abtahi who had lost over 20 kilos during 40 days of detainment was evidently under duress. No one on the street believed what they said about taking back their claims on election fraud and denouncing Mousavi. During the last week many leading religious authorities ( Marjaa) denounced the value of confessions under pressure. Pressures from the people has forced officials to announce the closure of an unofficial detainment facility as well as indictment of the perpetrators of assaults against detainees.

In the mist of these events and ongoing street protests, the legitimacy of the government( which is now endorsed and inaugurated) and the confidence of the people has eroded significantly. This is the ethical crisis that the Islamic Republic faces today; three decades after its inception.
Tomorrow we celebrate the birthday of the twelfth Imam ( descendant of the Prophet) who is currently in occultation. He is the Saviour who will appear to bring justice and peace for the world. The philosophy of awaiting the appearance of the Saviour is an integral theme in Shia teachings. Awaiting the Savior is an indication of protest against the status quo and dissatisfaction with existing trends. It is a message to current world leaders that their efforts have not made the world a safer place but that war and armed conflict of people against people and against nature is still taking its toll. The Islamic Revolution has been closely affiliated to the belief in the reappearance of the Savior and today it is clear that due to the serious challenges and crisis that it faces , we need to pray more than ever before for the Saviour to come and take affairs in his divine hands.
The Green Movement feels that it needs to believe and pray for the Saviour to come and change the current conditions of mistrust, insecurity and legitimacy crisis.