Author:
Publication: The Bahá'ís
Date:
URL: http://www.bahai.org/dir/worldwide/persecution
Suffering for their commitment to an international
vision, Bahá'ís demonstrate the courage of their convictions.
Throughout the history of the Faith, the Bahá'ís of Iran have
been persecuted. In the mid-1800s, some 20,000 followers were killed by the
authorities or by mobs, who viewed the infant movement has heretical to Islam.
In the twentieth century, periodic outbreaks
of violence were directed against Bahá'ís in Iran, and the government
often used Bahá'ís as a scapegoat. In 1933, for example, Bahá'í
literature was banned, Bahá'í marriages were not recognized,
and Bahá'ís in public service were demoted or fired. In 1955,
the government oversaw the demolition of the Bahá'í national
center in Tehran with pickaxes.
Bahá'ís understand this pattern
of persecution as a manifestation of the misunderstanding and fear that often
occur when a new religion emerges from the matrix of a well-established orthodoxy.
The pattern has been repeated through the ages; indeed, virtually all of the
world's great religions have faced intense persecution in their early history.
In 1979, with the establishment of an Islamic
Republic, the persecutions took a new direction, becoming an official government
policy and being pursued in a systematic way. Since that year, more than 200
Bahá'ís have been executed or killed, hundreds more have been
imprisoned, and tens of thousands have been deprived of jobs, pensions, businesses,
and educational opportunities. All national Bahá'í administrative
structures were banned by the government, and holy places, shrines, and cemeteries
were confiscated, vandalized, or destroyed.
The 350,000-member Bahá'í community
comprises the largest religious minority in that country, and Bahá'ís
have been oppressed solely because of religious hatred. Islamic fundamentalists
in Iran and elsewhere have long viewed the Bahá'í Faith as a
threat to Islam, branding Bahá'ís as heretics and apostates.
The progressive position of the Faith on women's rights, independent investigation
of truth, and education has particularly rankled Muslim clerics.
In June 1983, for example, the Iranian authorities
arrested ten Bahá'í women and girls. The charge against them:
teaching children's classes on the Bahá'í Faith - the equivalent
of Sunday school in the West.
The women were subjected to intense physical
and mental abuse in an effort to coerce them to recant their Faith - an option
that is always pressed on Bahá'í prisoners. Yet, like most Bahá'ís
who were arrested in Iran, they refused to deny their beliefs. As a result,
they were executed.
International protest against the persecution
of the Bahá'ís of Iran has been widespread. Thousands of newspaper
articles about the persecution have appeared around the world. Prominent international
organizations, including the European Parliament and several national legislatures,
have passed resolutions condemning or expressing concern about the Bahá'ís
of Iran. More important, the United Nations Commission on Human Rights and
the UN General Assembly have passed numerous resolutions expressing concern
over Iran's human rights record. Virtually all of these resolutions have specifically
mentioned the situation of the Bahá'ís in Iran.
By the late 1980s, in the face of intense
international pressure, the Iranian government had reduced the rate of execution
and released many Bahá'ís held in prison. In the early 1990s,
however, clear evidence emerged that the government had not given up on its
goal of destroying the Bahá'í community. A secret government
memorandum came to light in 1993 aimed at establishing a coordinated policy
regarding "the Bahá'í question." Drafted by the Supreme
Revolutionary Cultural Council and signed by Ali Khamenei, the Leader of the
Islamic Republic of Iran, the document states unequivocally that the "progress
and development" of the Bahá'í community "shall be
blocked."
One example of this subtle campaign to block
the development of the Bahá'í community can be seen in an effort
to prevent Bahá'ís from educating their youth. Blocked by the
government from enrolling in public universities, the Bahá'í
community of Iran established in 1987 its own decentralized Bahá'í
Institute of Higher Education (BIHE). At one point, the Institute had more
than 150 faculty members and offered some 200 distinct courses, all in an
"open university" concept that provided a college education for
more than 900 Bahá'í youth throughout the country.
In a series of raids in the fall of 1998,
government agents arrested some 32 BIHE faculty members, raided some 500 private
homes, and confiscated books, papers, computer equipment and furniture, all
in an effort to shut down the institute.
A pattern of arbitrary arrests, imprisonments,
property confiscation, and denial of access to education and other rights
has continued into the new millennium, with no indication by the government
that it will end its effort to eradicate the Bahá'í community
as a viable element of Iranian society.
Links
Situation of the Bahá'ís in
Iran
Throughout the past century, the Bahá'ís of Iran have been persecuted.
With the triumph of the Islamic revolution in 1979, this persecution has been
systematized. More than 200 Bahá'ís have been executed or killed,
hundreds more have been imprisoned, and tens of thousands have been deprived
of jobs, pensions, businesses, and educational opportunities.
http://info.bahai.org/article-1-8-3-6.html
Iran's Secret Blueprint for the Destruction
of the Bahá'í Community The emergence in early 1993 of a heretofore
secret Iranian Government memorandum aimed at establishing policy on "the
Bahá'í question" has convincingly demonstrated that Iran's
policies toward the Bahá'ís are in fact centrally orchestrated,
as the worldwide Bahá'í community has claimed for many years.
http://info.bahai.org/article-1-8-3-14.html
Bahá'í Question Web site
The Iranian government's long term strategy to destroy the Bahá'í
community without bringing undue international attention was cruelly outlined
in a secret 1991 memorandum that aimed at establishing policy regarding "the
Bahá'í question."
http://question.bahai.org/
Denial of Education Website
Since 1979, the government of Iran has systematically sought to deprive its
largest religious minority of the right to a full education. Specifically,
the Islamic Republic of Iran has for more than 25 years blocked the 300,000-member
Bahá'í community from higher education, refusing young Bahá'ís
entry into university and college. The government has also sought to close
down Bahá'í efforts to establish their own institutions of higher
learning.
http://denial.bahai.org/
The Case of the Bahá'í Minority
in Iran
The experience of the Bahá'ís of Iran is a classic case of the
violation of human rights, produced by religious intolerance. Prior to the
Islamic revolution a deep-seated prejudice against the Bahá'ís
and their religion characterized not only Iran's Islamic clergy and the illiterate
masses, but also many among the country's educated elite and middle class.
The prejudice was widespread and communicated itself to many Western observers.
http://info.bahai.org/article-1-8-3-7.html
Annual Summaries 1993 - 2003
Annual summaries of the persecution of Bahá'ís in Iran.
http://info.bahai.org/article-1-8-3-22.html
The Bahá'í Institute Of Higher
Education: A Creative And Peaceful
Response To Religious Persecution In Iran Since 1980, as part of a government-directed
attempt to destroy the intellectual and cultural life of the 300,000-member
Bahá'í community, young people who declare their Bahá'í
identity have been systematically excluded from colleges and universities
in Iran.
http://statements.bahai.org/99-0129.htm
