Sweet Scent of Moderation
I have always wondered how do they know when is the best time to speak your heart. I wonder how did earlier reformers - whose majority feel bound to their promises – know when was the best time to raise issues with the public. I am in wonder which model of moderation and reform is seyed Mohammad Khatami following and therefore can’t escape the worst timings. I am referring to his recent talk about the return to elections as the condition of the reformers.
“Even though you have been pressured, but you know best that you are at a dead-end. So I will show the way out so that you can rejoin the public without disgrace and stay with them, if you are wise.” This is pretty much the meaning of the message that Mr. Khatami recent published. And the expected response was what Tehran’s prosecutor put into words on behalf of the hardliners, the same response that ayatollah Janati personally presented, whose single sentence summarized hundreds for which he must be applauded. The wrong response, I have to unfortunately say, came from our reformist friend who appears to have realized the hard way that this is not the time for their words and that nobody will listen to them. It is clear that we were not prepared for this. And I wonder why we do not learn from our opponents who act so well and in unison. We too must learn to speak at the right time.
Mohammad Khatami’s appropriate words that came from his heart a few days ago are also an opportunity for the sincere to ponder. His message should send the scent of good sense and goodwill across the land in which for over a year now a group has sacrificed its faith, principles, the regime, its values and its popularity simply because its selfishness prevents it from admitting its errors.
They do not wish to admin that through their mistakes a country that displayed happiness, laughter and creativity during the eight-year reform period, created Kahrizak prison, became internationally known as the land of hangings and stoning, sanctions, capitulations, etc. Today, blind mice are so intoxicated with celebration that hearts are filled with the fear of a plague. And all of this to avoid admitting a mistake. The political climate in Iran is today worse than its air pollution in Tehran.
Mr. Khatami’s suggestion, recommendation or advice is not coming from someone who is foreign to the antics of the hardliners and power mongers. As someone said and announced, he knows the hearts of these heartless beasts well. He well knows Mr. Janati, Hossein Shariatmadari, etc, and even the sharp knives that are honed for any or no event.
During the hard times of the early 20th century when the Azerbaijan revolution was on its way and the city of Tabriz was in blood, constitutional forces were battling the regime of the time. The thuggish forces of the tribes too were busy with their unilateral actions. They say that while the battle was raging between one city district with another, a man of God gets up and walks across the town and yells out, “Stop it!”
A little layer, about a hundred years ago in these days, the Russians took advantage of the domestic turmoil and battles in Iran and entered the country, set up a week-long court in their Tabriz consulate, and executed or hanged the big and the small turning half the families of the town into mourners.
But no document shows that at the time anybody cared for the dervish who amid the bloodshed kept on screaming, “Stop it!”
Unfortunately the illusion of victory is greater than the bitterness of defeat. Defeat is bang for awakening and its acknowledgment can introduce the awakening. But the illusion of victory is a deep sleep that can only be shaken with the bang of cannon. When will the sleepers be awakened by the call of that man of God?
“Even though you have been pressured, but you know best that you are at a dead-end. So I will show the way out so that you can rejoin the public without disgrace and stay with them, if you are wise.” This is pretty much the meaning of the message that Mr. Khatami recent published. And the expected response was what Tehran’s prosecutor put into words on behalf of the hardliners, the same response that ayatollah Janati personally presented, whose single sentence summarized hundreds for which he must be applauded. The wrong response, I have to unfortunately say, came from our reformist friend who appears to have realized the hard way that this is not the time for their words and that nobody will listen to them. It is clear that we were not prepared for this. And I wonder why we do not learn from our opponents who act so well and in unison. We too must learn to speak at the right time.
Mohammad Khatami’s appropriate words that came from his heart a few days ago are also an opportunity for the sincere to ponder. His message should send the scent of good sense and goodwill across the land in which for over a year now a group has sacrificed its faith, principles, the regime, its values and its popularity simply because its selfishness prevents it from admitting its errors.
They do not wish to admin that through their mistakes a country that displayed happiness, laughter and creativity during the eight-year reform period, created Kahrizak prison, became internationally known as the land of hangings and stoning, sanctions, capitulations, etc. Today, blind mice are so intoxicated with celebration that hearts are filled with the fear of a plague. And all of this to avoid admitting a mistake. The political climate in Iran is today worse than its air pollution in Tehran.
Mr. Khatami’s suggestion, recommendation or advice is not coming from someone who is foreign to the antics of the hardliners and power mongers. As someone said and announced, he knows the hearts of these heartless beasts well. He well knows Mr. Janati, Hossein Shariatmadari, etc, and even the sharp knives that are honed for any or no event.
During the hard times of the early 20th century when the Azerbaijan revolution was on its way and the city of Tabriz was in blood, constitutional forces were battling the regime of the time. The thuggish forces of the tribes too were busy with their unilateral actions. They say that while the battle was raging between one city district with another, a man of God gets up and walks across the town and yells out, “Stop it!”
A little layer, about a hundred years ago in these days, the Russians took advantage of the domestic turmoil and battles in Iran and entered the country, set up a week-long court in their Tabriz consulate, and executed or hanged the big and the small turning half the families of the town into mourners.
But no document shows that at the time anybody cared for the dervish who amid the bloodshed kept on screaming, “Stop it!”
Unfortunately the illusion of victory is greater than the bitterness of defeat. Defeat is bang for awakening and its acknowledgment can introduce the awakening. But the illusion of victory is a deep sleep that can only be shaken with the bang of cannon. When will the sleepers be awakened by the call of that man of God?
posted by masoudbehnoud at 7:17 AM
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