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Congress Hears Bahil Testimony on li - Iran Persecution by Eari C. Brooks When the Hou^e Sub-com ?htee began ha hearings in ? Washington, DC into spedflr exam plea of religtoius perse cution as a violation of human rights, the Bahais of the United States were the leadoff witnesses. First to be heard were the Bahais, represented by three members of their National Spiritual Assembly- ' Judge James F. Nelson, Chair man; ur. Firuz Kazemzadeh, Vice Chairman; and Glenford E. Mithcel, Secretary. Judge Nelson addressed his remarks to the recent wave of persecutions against the Bahais of Iran; Dr. Kazemzadeh discussed the history of the Faith and the genesis of those persecutions; and Mr. Mitchell outlined the response of the American Bahai Community to the ordeal of its bretheren in the Cradle of the Faith. Further sobering testimony was given by Mrs. Rsmna Mahmoudi Nourani, an Irani an Bahai now living in Penn sylvania. Mrs. Nourani's mother, Ginous Mahmoudi, who was chairman of the National Spiritual Assembly of Iran, was one of the eight members of that body who were abducted during a mee ting last December 13 and executed two weeks later. Also making strong state ments at the hearings in - support of the Bahai's were two members of Congress, Reps. Edward Derwinski of Illinois and Fortney "Pete" Stark Jr. of California. The historic two and one-half hour session, conducted at the Rayburn House Office Build ing, was presided over by the Sub-Committee Chairman, Rep. Don Booker of Wash ington State. "Since the inception of the Bahai Faith." Rep. Booker said in his opening remarks, "(the Bahal's) have lived in a climate of constant repression characterized by frequent out breaks of violence and blood shed..." "Now once again in posfaevolutionary Iran, diffe rences in religious idology are being used by fanatical ele ments to justify violent attacks on the Bahai Com munity." Rep. Derwinski, the first person to speak at the Sub committee hearings, describ ed the repression of Bahai's in Iran as "one of the great tragedies of our times." The Congressman said he had written to Kurt Waldheim, then Secretary- General of the United Nations, asking for his help in alleviating the suffer ing of Iranian Bahai's, and addressed the House of Rep resentatives on July 24, 1981, "Denouncing the cruelty and excesses of the Iranian regime' and calling for particular attention to the continued persecution of the Bahai's." Rep. Stark who in March introduced a resolution in the House deploying and con demning the religious perse cutions to Bahai's by the government of Iran and a bill to prohibit imports from Iran until it ceases the persecution of Bahai's said, "It is quite sad and ironic that a people who for over one hundred years have striven to bring about the unity of mankind, world peace and world order, should be the target of flagrant violations of human rights." Rep. Stark included in his formal testimony excerps from the book, "A Cry From The Heart," by Willian Sears. Said Rep. Stark, "I would like to commend the Subcommit tee for hold this hearing to focus attention on the plight of the Bahai's in Iran. I hope that the Subcommittee will continue its work in this area, and favorably consider my resolution..." The horrors that are being inflicted on the Bahai com munity in Iran, Judge Nelson told the Subcommittee, "stagger the imagination" and "constitute without any doubt a gross violation of all fundmental human rights." After cataloging many of the atrocities committed against innocent members of the Faith in Iran and setting forth the reasons given by the present regime there for the persecutions, Judge Nelson carefully refu ted each of the allegations, calling them "a sham" and "a religious smokescreen for religious fanaticism." "Time and again," he said, "the persecutors have con firmed by their own acts that their charges are goundless. Bahai's in Iran he continu-1 ed, have been offered their lives and their freedom in exchange for recanting their faith. The friends (Bahai's) in the United States, said Judge Nelson, "feel no animosity toward the government of Iran. We feel genuine sym pathy for the long-suffering Iranian people and wish for them a peaceful and happy future." "However we cannot re main indifferent to the suffer ings of our Iranian brothers ?ad sisters at the heads at bigots, who have no coifaa citizens aad oar elected rep resentatives to proclaim that America will not acquiesce in oppression and that its perpe trators will have to answer ft* their deeds in the court of world opinion." Judge Nelson's testimony was amplified by several graphic and compelling exhi bits including photos by Bahai martyrs on whose mutilated bodies pare scrawled ephithet? huch as "enetay of Islam." Also exhibited was a map showing the locations of in stances of persecution of Bahai's in Iran since the revolution in 1978; a listing of the more than 110 Bahai'a executed there in the last three years; and written or ders authorizing dismissal of Bahai's from jobs and schools. Dr. Kazemzadeh, a pro fessor of history at Tale University, placed these events in historical prospec tive and explained the reasons for the intense hatred by. the fundamentalists among Iran's Shiite clergy. Principally, he said, the Bab's teachings were "a direct challenge to the Islamic fundamentalists," since the Shiite clergy held that Mu hammad was the "Seal of the Prophets" and that with Him divine revelation had come to an end. The Bab, said Dr. Kazemzadeh, not only claim ed that He was the "hidden Imam" whose return the Shiite clergy was awaiting, but that also that He was a new Prophet and the Herald of a still greater divine Messenger who would come to "fulfill millenial prophecies and bring about righteous ness on earth." Chalren hv the Rah's claims the clergy set about to under mine the foundations of the new faith. Thousands of its adherents were killed, and in 1850 the Bab Himself was martyred. These attacks on the Bahai's in Iran continued to the present day Dr. Kaz i emzadeh said. Baha'u'llah's teachings on I the unity of mankind, the I equality of races, the equality ' of sexes, universal education, i die harmony of religion and 1 science, the establishment of | a world, federatioq ani?tl)e - > maintenance of world peace | through collective security, I His advocacy of a universal -I > auxiliary language, and of i other measures designed to > bring about a peaceful and j inter- dependent world soci l ety," said Dr. Kazemzadeh, "were far too advanced to be understood by his contem poraries. These teachings ig nited in the Shiite clergy the same passionate hatred it had 1 earlier felt for the Bab. His teachings and his followers." . By the late 1930's, he said, I "the mullahs had created a whole new arsenal of anti Bahar weapons. It was sud denly discovered that Bahai's ?were unpatriotic...When anti- | British sentiments swept Iran, after World War II, the I Bahai's were accused of ser ving the British. A- -J TTI ill UIC SpiCOU Vi ?air Americanism in the last 10 to 15 years, it became fashion able to link the Iranian Bahai's to the United States where there exists a relatively large and active Babai com munity.. ..Clerical propagan da constantly repeated that Mohammad Reza Shah was surrounded by Bahai's and was. perhaps, one himself..." When the Iranian revolu tion broke out in 1978, the most radically conservative fundamentalist elements with in the Shiite clergy were determined to purge km of everything they disliked: modernism, emancipation ol women, the rights erf minori .ties, academicireedom, non conformist thought, opera and the theater, most forms of i music; but their strongest yearning was the destruction of the Bahai's. "Having achieved power, lie old enemies of the Bahai Ruth could not but use that power to crash a religion and a community for whose eradi ation they had striven for 138 tears " Mr. Mitchell, in sketching for the Subcommittee a brief history of the Faith in this country, said that, "because1 ,' the United States Bahai com munity is connected histori-' cally and spiritually with Iran, we have a grave concern for the fete of our long-suffering Iranian brothers and sisters, who for 138 years have made incalcuaMe sacrifice! ot com fort and of Hfo itself for belie* that we hold dear. It should be noted", be added, "that the Iranian i. umaieHj has not requested us to do anything] on its behalf. Kin in response to the letters, telegrams, telephone cells and personal appeals of the American Bahai's. and in response to its own sense of grief, that the National Assembly has at tempted to being the heart breaking story of these perse cutions to the press and to our *?The US Bahai community, said Mr. Mitchell, la thankful for the efforts of individuals and agencies of die govern ment and to international bodies such as the United Nations for their efforts to help relieve thd suffering of the hard-pressed Iranian Ba hai's. 1 - Nevertheless, ha said "a sence of helplessness frus trates our community.; Npth ing lifts the oppression of the Iranian Bahai's. The resolu tions of national governments and international organiza tions go unheeded. We cite these concerns in the hope that the actions of our govern ment and our fellow citizens will have the following out come: 1. Keep the Iranian government and people con stantly reminded through fre quent public statements that the world is watching what they do to the Bahai's and will not tolerate it. 2. Prevent Islamic Iranian fanatics in this country from curtailing the freedom which American Ba hai's share with their fellow citizens to meet in peace in the United States. 3. Assist those Iranian Bahai's who seek refuge in the United States. The story of the persecution in Bahai's in Iran, said Mrs. Nourani, "is an intensely personal one for me. With the blessings of the Islamic gov ernment, I have lost my father and mother to the fanaticism and hatred of the Moslem Clergy. This story is even more tragic because all the atrocities committed against the Bahai's is done with pride, in the name of reli gion. Her father, she said was an educator and author who for more than 15 years was one of the most revered television personalities in Iran. "Gen erations of Iranian children came to love and respect him. He was a father figure to them." On August 21, 1980, Mr. Mahmoudi, along with eight other members_oj[_the_EjLgtion guards from l private resi dence to Tehran. We never heard from my Cither?* she said, and all the appeals yyi?4f by the Behei community of Iran to the Islamic govern ment produced no result. We r^n only fear the worst. My only hope is that he was not tortured. Mrs. Nourani's mother, el ected chairman of the Nation al Spiritual Assembly, was arrested December 13. 19b 1 and executed secretly Decem ber 27 with seven other Assembly members and one other Baha'i. Thier desecrat ed bodies were accidently found half-buried in the "in fidel" section of the Muslim cemetery in Tehran. No fami ly members were notified of . their deaths, no trials took place, and no charges were placed against them. Mrs. Mahmoudi, a well known scientist, had been the director of the Department of Meteorology in Iran and the president of the School of Meteorology. ? "After the revolution," said Mrs. Nourani, "my mother was fired and taken off the payroll. She was even asked to give back all the salary she had received for the past 25 years of her service because, they said, it was illegal for a Baha'i to be hired by the government." Mrs. Nourani also fold of the execution of a cousin, 35 year old Shiva Mahmoudi, with five other members of the Spiritual Assembly of Tehran; of a cousin of her husband, Habid Tahqhiqi, with eight other members of the Spiritual Assembly of Tabriz; and of two of their neighbors in Tehran, Mr. & Mrs. Foroohr, after 10 months in prison. "Our 138-year history" she said, "is filled with unspeakable cruelties and atrocities against the Baha'i community. But there is a difference. This time we have a well planned case of genocide...." The Baha'i testimony was interspersed with and follow ed by a number of probing questions by Subcommittee members who listened with rapt attention as the Bahai's presented compelling evi denct ot the extremely hsrxh ud callous treatment to which the friends in iraa an being subjected. Depite the urgency of a budget debate taking place in congress that day, most mem bers of the Subcommittee were present at various times during the hearings. In addition to its chairman, Rep. Booker the Subcommit tee members are Democrats Michael D. Barnes of Mary land, Benjamin S. Rosenthal of New York, Sam Gejdenson of - Connecticut, Mervin Dy mally of California, and Rep ublicans Jim Leach of Iowa, John LBoutillier of New York, and Joel Pritchard of Wash ington State. At the conclusion of the hearing Rep. Booker said the Subcommittee would be work ing on a resolution "with teeth in it" to present to its parent Foriegn Affairs Com mittee, and eventually to the House itself. inrjocxToooooorxTonor Prmnt Hyptrttnsion ? An you on quaking tanna with your blood prw ?in? ? y?u an owweight, un a wt of nit or tend to ba "up inbt," you could be lieadtd fur a CloM oncoun tar of tha wont kind. High blood pressure, or hypertension, is a major killer in the United States. And more than 90% of hy pertension cases are caused by one or more factors which only you can control. To help prevent hyper tension, say the folks at Colonial Penn Insurance Group: ? Stay away from salt, e Stay aiim and keep .moving. e Learn to relax. mnnrx A A A A AAxwwxfca y UUUUUUVVUU V UUUUU V vv vuuvvvuv wvy I 5 Sampson family g 1 Holds Reunion ? ?=> ?o ? & o o The Sampson family reunion was held q q Aageat 7 at Plney Grove Cafeteria. Mr. o <=> Sampson has 14 chldien, 45 grandcldlien g q and 36 great-grandchildren. The fourth o O generation was present. They are Boncfl ? Sampson, his daughter, Rnby Holmes, bei o | o son, Colonel Holmes and his danghter, ? ? Beverly Holmes. o S Mr. Sunpfloo aiio cdfbrited his 81st ^ '?=> birthday. The birthday cake was baked by S g Mm. Stelk Jacobs. wmwmmtimwm NEW LOOK, THE PRACTICAL WAY LEVOLOITBLINOS ?FREE ESTIMATES ?EXPERT INSTALLATION * i gPEMBPOKE CARPET SERVICE f cd wist mmo iTWUT g ? PB.mownc.tM7. <?! CARPET - WALLPAPER - VINYL Mwxti Day 111/lll.iMi ?0 NlSMT iii/HI.MM fhflO(HQOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO( _ ^ It 's amazing how you can dress up c> an entire room with an imaginative o use ot our. kevolor Winds They do more than control light They can be worked into dozens of color o, schemes and we'll make them up Of for windows or as room dividers Come in for a color sampler MyjMQOQQQQQQMftJ^ ^ ^ a ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ; We want you to wake up: ! feeling so good it shows!' 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The Carolina Indian Voice (Pembroke, N.C.)
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Aug. 19, 1982, edition 1
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