Iran and black and red colonialism

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Ettelā'āt magazine (1978)

Iran and Black and Red Colonialism ( Persian ایران و استعمار سرخ و سیاه, DMG Īrān wa este'mār-e sorḫ-o siyāh ) is an article in the Iranian daily Ettelā'āt , which appeared on January 7, 1978 (December 17, 1356) under the pseudonym Ahmad Rashidi Motlagh. This article, which insulted and vilified the exiled Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini , sparked a storm of protest among theologians and residents of the city of Qom . On January 9, 1978, the military violently broke up the demonstrations by shooting into the crowd. The exact number of deaths and injuries is not known to this day, the figures vary between 7 (government) and 80 dead and 300 injured (opposition). This marked the beginning of a period of violent street demonstrations in Iran. This article gave a decisive turning point to the Islamic Revolution and is widely regarded as the catalyst for the revolution.

Content and translation in excerpts

The article Iran and Black and Red Colonialism states that attempts have been made to prevent the Shah's White Revolution . They also wanted to win over the clergy for counter-revolutionary activities, but met with rejection. Nevertheless, it was important to use a clergyman as a figurehead:

“It wasn't difficult to find such a man […] They found him, found a man with an obscure past. He belonged to the most reactionary and fundamentalist classes. Since he had no influence whatsoever in spite of foreign support, he had long been waiting for an opportunity to go on political adventures and thereby become known. Ruhollah Khomeini was the most suitable figure that the black and red reaction could find. The shameful events of 1963 are on his account ... (and) his name (has) been remembered through the shameful events of 1963. At that time he tried to implement the plans of red and black colonialism, he revolted against the distribution of the land, against the freedom of women, the nationalization of the forests and sacrificed innocent people in the process.

A few weeks before the revolt, it became known in Tehran that an Arab adventurer named Mohammad Tofigh Al-Gheisi had been arrested with ten million rials in cash . The money should be given to certain people [...]

Fortunately, the Iranian revolution triumphed. Resistance from the landowners and elements of the Tudeh Party was broken and the way was paved for progress and the realization of social justice. However, the events of 1963 will remain a painful memory in Iranian history. Millions of believers will not forget how the enemies of the land agreed when their interests so demand, even when they are in the guise of clergy. "

- Ettelā'āt of January 7, 1978.
Black Friday (September 8, 1978), Tehran
Anti-Shah demonstration 1978, Tehran
Black Friday (September 8, 1978), Tehran

Authorship and Consequences

Initially, the then Information Minister Darius Homayun was suspected to be the author of the article in the cabinet of Prime Minister Jamshid Amusegar . But the latter denied authorship and passed responsibility to the imperial court, which had given him the article for publication. The author is still unknown today.

“For years, the regime's propaganda machine had left no stone unturned in denying the very existence of Khomeini. The sudden smear campaign now aroused an interest in people who had actually almost forgotten him. ”For Khomeini, the abusive article was a“ godsend ”. Exactly forty days after the incidents, mass demonstrations took place in many cities according to the Islamic ritual of remembrance of the dead. The protest rallies, which now run every 40 days across the country, increased in terms of the number of participants and the number of injuries and fatalities. The funeral procession to commemorate the dead led on February 18, 1978 in Tabriz with around 50,000 participants to riots with other dead. The funeral procession for the Remembrance Day of the Dead of Tabriz resulted in more deaths in Yazd on March 28 , as the funeral procession ended in street battles with the security forces. The peak was reached on September 7, 1978 in Tehran with over a million people demonstrating against the Shah. On the night of September 8, 1978, martial law was imposed on Tehran and 10 other cities: Tehran's Black Friday came .

“At the rhythm of these 40 days, Persia experiences the same sequence of funeral procession, police counter-violence and new, even greater mourning for practically a whole year. It is a process that can no longer be stopped. "

- Heinz Nussbaumer

On August 5, 1978, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi accepted some of the demands of the regime critics and promised political freedoms, democracy and parliamentary elections for mid-1979, but these far-reaching reforms of the existing political system were no longer to come. The Shah left Iran on January 16, 1979, and on February 1, 1979, Ruhollah Khomeini entered Iran for the first time in over 14 years. The end of the monarchy and the establishment of an Islamic Republic of Iran loomed.

literature

Remarks

  1. This sentence also aimed at the origin of Khomeini: “Not even his closest relatives can provide information about his connection with India. Some say he was in India for some time and had contacts with the center of British colonialism. That is why he was called Seyyed Hindi. ” See Bahman Nirumand, p. 25.
  2. This sentence is aimed at the unrest in Iran in June 1963 .

Individual evidence

  1. Monika Gronke : Iran's History: 1941–1979 - From the Second World War to the Islamic Revolution. Federal Agency for Civic Education , June 10, 2009, bpb.de (“massively insulted”). Retrieved August 14, 2014.
  2. Monika Gronke: History of Iran - From Islamization to the Present. CH Beck, Munich 2003, ISBN 978-34064-8021-8 , p. 109. (“grossly denigrated”).
  3. Fariborz Riyahi: Ayatollah Khomeini. P. 48.
  4. Bahman Nirumand , Keywan Daddjou: With God for Power. P. 163.
  5. Amir Taheri : Khomeini and the Islamic Revolution . Hamburg 1985, ISBN 3-455-08237-8 , pp. 248 .
  6. Monika Gronke : History of Iran . Munich 2003, p. 109 .
  7. Katajun Amirpur , Reinhard Witzke: Schauplatz Iran . Freiburg 2004, ISBN 3-451-05535-X , p. 68 .
  8. ^ Translation by Bahman Nirumand: With God for Power. P. 162.
  9. Fariborz Riyahi: Ayatollah Khomeini. P. 48.
  10. Bahman Nirumand: With God for Power. P 161.
  11. Monika Gronke : Iran's History: 1941–1979 - From the Second World War to the Islamic Revolution. Federal Agency for Civic Education , June 10, 2009, bpb.de (accessed on August 14, 2014)
  12. Hans-Georg Müller in: The Islamic Republic of Iran. Akademie Verlag Berlin, 1987, ISBN 3-05-000079-1 , p. 98.
  13. Bahman Nirumand: With God for Power. P. 164.
  14. Bahman Nirumand: With God for Power. P. 163.
  15. Ulrich Tilgner (Ed.): Upheaval in Iran. P. 15.
  16. Heinz Nussbaumer: Khomeini . Herbig Verlag, 1979, ISBN 3-7766-0961-3 , p. 110.
  17. Ulrich Tilgner (Ed.): Upheaval in Iran. P. 185.