While you’re getting ready to celebrate Ridvan in your community, take a moment to remember the Baha’is in Iran. Since the release of a UN report expressing fears for the Iranian Baha’is last month, Baha’is and others from around the world have been calling for action. There’s a letter in The Independent in the UK, signed by numerous professors of human rights and international law; a story in the Times of India; in the North Wales Chronicle; and a number of stories in Canada. There’s also a story in the Moorpark Acorn, from Moorpark, California in which, halfway through the article, the word ‘Baha’i’ is suddenly replaced by the word ‘Bah’:

The imminent danger to which the Iranian Baha’is are now exposed can be better understood against the backdrop of events since the Iranian Revolution of 1979:

+More than 10,000 Baha’is have been dismissed from government jobs and university pensions and many more have been denied jobs and pensions solely because of their religion.

+More than 200 Bah’s, including men, women and teenage girls, have been executed on account of their religion. Many more have disappeared or have been kidnapped.

+Bah’s have been blocked from higher education. Young Bah’s seeking entry into university and college are required to state their religion on a form and then denied entry on the basis of their religion. The government has also sought to close down Bah’ efforts to establish their own institutions of higher learning.

Questionable spelling aside, it’s nice to know that the world is beginning to pay attention.

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