UN Religious Freedom Official expresses fears for Baha’is in Iran
I hate to bring this up so soon into your joyous new year, but it seems that things are getting much worse in Iran.
The linked BWNS story tells how the United Nations Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, Asma Jahangir, released a statement about actions of the Iranian government against the Baha’is.
It seems that on October 29th of last year the Chairman of the Command Headquarters of the Armed Forces in Iran wrote a letter to a bunch of government agencies asking them to, “in a highly confidential manner, collect any and all information about members of the Baha’i faith,” prompting Ms. Jahangir to respond that she “considers that such monitoring constitutes an impermissible and unacceptable interference with the rights of members of religious minorities.”
From the story:
Such actions come in the wake of mounting media attacks on the Baha’is, the nature of which in the past have preceded government-led assaults on the Baha’is in Iran. “Kayhan,” the official Tehran daily newspaper has carried more than 30 articles about the Baha’is and their religion in recent weeks, all defamatory in ways that are meant to create provocation. Radio and television programs have joined in as well with broadcasts condemning the Baha’is and their beliefs. In addition, the rise in influence in Iranian governmental circles of the Anti-Baha’i Society, Hojjatieh, an organization committed to the destruction of the Baha’i Faith, can only heighten the fears for that beleaguered community.
[Bani Dugal, the Baha'i International Community's principal representative to the UN said,] “We well know what hateful propaganda can lead to; recent history offers too many examples of its horrific consequences. We make an urgent appeal to all nations and peoples on behalf of our Iranian coreligionists that they not allow a peace-loving, law-abiding people to face the extremes to which blind hate can lead,” said Ms. Dugal. “The ghastly deeds that grew out of similar circumstances in the past should not now be allowed to happen. Not again.”
For more information about the situation of Baha’is in Iran, please go here. Then, take a moment to puruse the graphic below, which highlights persecutions of the Baha’is in Iran from 1979 to the present (and feel free to download this high-res version of it.) And finally, please remember the Baha’is of Iran in your prayers. They could use them now more than ever.
(For previous entries on persecution of Bahai’s in Iran, look here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.)
March 27th, 2006 at 10:25 pm
Ruth Gledhill’s blog has an excellent article on this development in the persecution of the Baha’is in Iran.
Ruth is the religious affairs correspondent of The Times (of London).
Do please leave a comment or a trackback on her post.
March 28th, 2006 at 6:48 pm
wow.. somehow I missed both this AND the BWNS article on the 20th.
March 29th, 2006 at 12:54 am
Excellent article and one which should make the right-thinking people of the world sit up and take notice!
March 29th, 2006 at 1:33 am
This is amazing that Iran has chosen to track the Baha’i people in the Belief that the tweleveth Iman will appear if they cleanse the country of it’s impurities. This includes all infidels (westerners, non-believers in Islam, and Baha’is). What does this mean for the world?
March 29th, 2006 at 5:29 am
Thank you for writing this and letting the world know about the situation of Baha’is in Iran
March 29th, 2006 at 6:32 am
Thank you for highlighting the persecution of the Bahais of Iran. Thank you. We stayed silent during Halocaust, in Rowanda, too quiet in Darfur. I hope as a human race we can unite to end the regime that Iran has against the Bahais.
March 29th, 2006 at 4:05 pm
We pray for the enlightenment of Iran’s leaders, that they will come to realize we are ALL one people, one human family, under God’s protection.
March 29th, 2006 at 4:39 pm
I appreciate so much the most recent news of the Baha’is in other parts of the world. My husband and I are Baha’is in Traverse city, Michigan, USA. We recently returned from Pilgrimage in the Holy Land in Haifa, Israel. We are so aware that we are spiritually united to our fellow Baha’is all around the world and want to keep informed so we can make a difference in whatever way we can to promote Peace and religious freedom. Thank you!
March 29th, 2006 at 7:27 pm
We Baháis of finland have also become aware of this inhuman situation. We must alarm leading people to take actions in condemning this process, at least making is less dangerous. Thank you very much for bringing this issue to the attention of the world.
March 30th, 2006 at 5:20 am
This is absolutly horrible what’s happening to our friends in Persia. I wish there was something we could do. This is at least making us aware. I feel that we need to pray for the friends and keep them in our hearts, and discuss these atrocities at meetings here at home. Thank You :)
March 30th, 2006 at 5:42 am
Thank you for covering this critical issue. Stories like these are often lost amidst politics, and articles like this one help break the silence so commonly surrounding them. I pray for the families in Iran, concidering that they are both mine literally and spiritually.
March 30th, 2006 at 6:26 am
I received this report from my friend Kambiz who recently lost a brother in Tehran from this “monitoring” of Baha’is in Iran. His brother was visited several times by the police in the middle of the night. They banged on his door and took him away while his wife and children prayed fervently for his return. When he did return, he had been questioned about his Baha’i activities and beat. This happened several times and took a toll on his health which caused his early death at 54. In December a Baha’i was executed by hanging for having committed apostasy. You see it is a crime for a Muslim to convert to another religion. This man had actually been born a Baha’i which is allowed in Iran but a friend of his had told officials that he was a Muslim in order to avoid some kind of negative action. Later when this man stated he was a Baha’i, the officials took this opportunity to accuse him of apostasy and he was condemned to hang. The world needs to be aware that religious intolerance unfortunately still exists and is occurring in certain parts of the world today.
Sincerely, Mabel
March 30th, 2006 at 9:18 am
In South Africa we have witnessed such ugliness during the Apardheid era - not so different from those now inflicted on the Baha’is in Iran. Here there WAS international pressure - sanctions etc - to uphold Human Rights - but then again - South Africa has little oil. I would pray that the “Powers that Be”s greed for oil does not make prevent them from taking a stand on this horrific situation.
March 30th, 2006 at 2:32 pm
I was not aware of the extent of the damage being done. The map presents a very bleak picture. I wish I knew more to do.
March 30th, 2006 at 8:08 pm
The people of the world are not indifferent to what’s happening in every land. Everybody must see that these Baha’is who have been and are being persecuted in Iran, are a kind of ransom for the unity of all religions. A sacrifice to all of u,s to live together on the earth… what kind of Islamic belief/ which Islamic principle can approve this kind of persecutions to the Baha’is?? They must be everytime in our hearts and prayers…
Hi to all friends. A Persian friend living in Europe guided me to this website.
Recep, from Ankara, Turkey
March 31st, 2006 at 6:21 am
Chilling to read news of such an interference with basic human needs in democratic 21st century - that of communion with God. I will pray for the religious freedom of Baha’is in Iran.
April 1st, 2006 at 12:14 am
Thank you for helping to keep us informed regarding the recent increase in actions against the Baha’is of Iran. For those who have said, “I wish there was something we could do,” our Beloved Universal House of Justice, the Supreme Governing Body of the Baha’i Faith has let all Baha’is know that we can increase our efforts in the institute process and in carrying the unifying message of Baha’u'llah to the world. For those who are not Baha’is, prayer and informing others of the actions taking place in Iran are two very powerful and effective actions that can be taken. God bless everyone in our efforts toward unity!
April 1st, 2006 at 2:18 am
The Baha’is of Iran are the those unique souls the are in the world they are our inspiration, the light in the hearts of all human souls. Their sacrifice will no doubt set this world on fire and every soul will see their longing, the Lord of Host, the King of Kings as He descends from the heaven of Gods Omnipotence. Soon will this lamentably sick world and all its crumbling systems become a thing of the past and a New World order of peace and unity among all people become the heritage they leave us. There is no defeat only certainty that every drop of blood that they are forced to shed and every persecution that they are faced with, will reconsecrate every other Baha’i in the world to reach hundreds of thousands of other souls and lead them under the protection of Baha’u'llahs Alliance.
April 1st, 2006 at 7:17 am
I am extremely concerned about the situation facing Baha’is in Iran. I teach college classes and will have all my 300 students read your article as their first assignment next week for beginning Spring term! Thank you profoundly for bringing this to the world’s attention.
April 1st, 2006 at 11:55 pm
Thank you for this wonderful article in response to the persecutions of Baha’is is Iran. All fairminded people would do well to advocate for those who cannot defend themselves. Genocide happens when good people do nothing. Here is another opportunity to ” walk the talk”, and stand up for our bretheren. I am sending this link to all my friends, teachers and collegues.
April 2nd, 2006 at 3:54 am
What to do? This seems to be the question and I am so thankful for Dr. Addison’s pledge to make it an assigned reading for his 300 students! There are so many things that we can do - from talking with those around us and informing them, to holding events and writing letters to people with power. However, Baha’is are very limited on the actions that we can take personally as we know from experience that may make the situation worse for our brothers and sisters in Iran. I encourage everyone to deepen their understanding of the situation in Iran at: http://denial.bahai.org/
April 2nd, 2006 at 5:51 am
Thank you for helping alert others to the situation in Iran. Baha’is are peaceful, loving and respectful of their governments. This makes the persecutions in Iran even more troubling.
April 2nd, 2006 at 3:54 pm
I am an Iranian and am ashamed of the actions of my country. What a proud history Iran has had and look at what it has become. The Iranian government’s actions are clearly not supported in the Koran and only reflect a perversion of the that Holy Text. May God protect the the peace loving Baha’is. May the Bahai’s forgive Iran for these atrocities.
April 3rd, 2006 at 6:35 pm
I am an Iranian/Canadian Baha’i living in Toronto. I hope that the world can now sit up and take notice to the human rights violations that are being committed in Iran against many different groups of people, of which the Baha’i community is just one example. For years now we have been hearing of killings, but even worse is the systematic persecution that the Baha’is in Iran face every day.
I hope that we can come to the aid of the Iranian Baha’is who without the help of the international community could very easily face extinction.
April 3rd, 2006 at 11:28 pm
I found the Baha’i Faith as a teenager in New York, over 30 years ago, and I pray for the day when my precious Baha’i brothers and sisters and other religious minorities in Iran can live and worship in peace and safety.
April 4th, 2006 at 6:22 am
What the Baha’i community of Iran continues to bear is heroic. Their sacrifices and sufferings will continue to strengthen them, and it will give the rest of us strength and resolve. The persecutors of the Faith will ultimately only strengthen the Cause. The more they lie, slander, torture, and kill the Baha’is, the stronger the believers will become, the further the message will spread, and the greater the victory will be. They will never beat us.
When a thought of war comes, oppose it by a stronger thought of peace. A thought of hatred must be destroyed by a more powerful thought of love.
(Abdu’l-Baha, Paris Talks, p. 29)
We must all try to live true to this.
April 4th, 2006 at 8:37 pm
The Baha’is friends in Iran have been the most oppressed people on the face of the earth. They are like the trees who had been producing marvellous fruits and are yet being culled down for fuelwood.
Physically, it is so agonising to witness the same people who were instrumental in protecting and propagating the teachings of the Prophet of Islam , have been displaying such eagerness to exterminate His own lineage (i.e. Bahai believers) and His Faith (Bahai Faith) which was promised in the Quran as the Return of Mihdi or Qaim.
But spiritually, it must be a plan of God that is summoning the most strongest and bravest of Baha’is (of Iran) to test their endurance on the path of His service.
Let us pray our Iranian Baha’i friends succeed in enduring their spiritual tests, and that their physical tests and discrimination ends soon, so that the Land of Persia may soon become resplendent with the effulgences of the Greatest Name.
April 6th, 2006 at 12:37 am
Support and prayers sent from the New Zealand Baha’i community to our Baha’i friends in Iran. May your suffering not be in vain. Allah’u'abha.
April 6th, 2006 at 5:38 am
In Alaska where I live I often find myself trying to help Christians understand the beauty of Islam and it’s founder/prophet. I wish it was possible to help those people in Iran who would do harm to my fellow Baha’is to understand what a wonderful World we can and must have if we are to survive.
April 9th, 2006 at 8:24 am
Thank you Ruth.You are doing a great service
for freedom.Iran one powerful country,
during some time in history going backward ,to a time
where man behaved like animals.Simple freedom
of giving the individual right to practice what
he believes is threatened .21st century, nations
in the world trying to become excellent but Iran…..?
April 13th, 2006 at 1:50 am
Thank you Ruth for this article highlighting the plight of teh Baha’is in Iran.
April 13th, 2006 at 3:49 am
I am deeply saddened at the plight of the Baha’is in Iran. I pray for wisdom and courage for all involved. When will we ever learn that what we do to one person is done to the whole human family and beyond. Peace and healing…Donna
April 17th, 2006 at 6:07 am
I do not who wrote this, but it seems so apt at this sad moment when people have to suffer for their faith just when so many were starting to believe that persecution on matters of belief are in the past:
“We make ourselves a place apart,
behind light words that tease and flout,
But oh, the agitated heart
Till someone find the truth out.”
The times seem to recall Yeats’ wonderful lines,as well,
“The best lack all conviction while the worst are full of passionate intensity.’
There is hope yet if such irrational, incredible, unjustifiable behavior is making the news and informing people that as the dicutm says: ‘If you cannot change it with your hand, change it with your words, if you cannot change with your words, change it with your heart, say a silent prayer.” All that is necessary for for the triumph of eveil is that foo people do nothing” as Emund Burke said.
April 28th, 2006 at 3:49 am
Thank you, Ruth for giving us this news of our brothers and sisters in Iran. Our prayers are with the Bahai’s and all the people’s of Iran, that they may have the courage, faith and love that they surely need in these difficult times.
May 1st, 2006 at 1:34 am
Dear Ruth,
having lost my uncle to the persecutions in Iran, I can not express enough gratitude for your humanitarian efforts as a journalist in shedding light on all human rights violations.
The Baha’i message of Universal Peace and Oneness of Mankind will continue to spread worldwide regardless of the actions of the Government of Iran which will only help to bring world’s attention to who the Baha’is are and what they believe in.
Thank you for taking a step in that direction.
May 2nd, 2006 at 7:43 pm
Many thanks to Ruth Gledhill and likeminded journalists for highlighting the ongoing plight of Baha’is in Iran. The world community should act swiftly to stop the ongoing injustice and discrimination perpetrated against this peace loving community.