Saturday, August 31, 2013

my photo weblog



تهران 1388 دبیرستانی که در آن تدریس می کردم

I missed you guys





Dress code in Tehran


This aricle was originally published in:

The exponto

Cnn iReport


Arash Sameti: My interviewee had a unique experience that is hard to forget. During the last summer, she was arrested by the Moral Police in Tehran, Iran. The police considered her clothing not sufficient enough. They told her that the sleeves were considered shorter than allowed and tighter than the government standards. She agreed to explain her story, with the condition of remaining anonymous. 
Was your clothing that bad? I was wearing the official Manto. It is like a longer dress that women must wear out of their home in Tehran, on the top of any other thing that you want to wear. It did not have any problem. It was even black and that’s the color which is preferred by the Moral Police. I think they just wanted to arrest some people to show their power and will to other citizens. 
What are the standards of the government regarding the clothing? 
There is no freedom for women to choose what they want to wear. As I mentioned you have to wear a long and loose dress on anything else. Off course you have to cover your hair with a scarf. 
The dress must be very long to cover your knees and its sleeves must be so long up to your wrist. Also it has to be very loose. If they think that it is tight; they will arrest you. The scarf must be wide and big and you are not allowed to let your hair out from the forehead or back. They also don't like colorful dresses and so it should be black or dark blue. 
So how did they arrest you? I was going home. It was a very hot summer day in Tehran. Usually the temperature in Tehran reaches 35-36 and it was the same that day. As you can imagine it is very hard for women to go out in that kind of situation. 
I was walking home and I had to pass a Moral Police station located in a roundabout. It was 1 pm and all I was thinking was to get home and get rid of the stupid uniform and lay down. Suddenly I heard someone calling me from the behind. Unintentionally I turned my head back and I saw a woman in a complete black cloth that is known as chador. She came right to me while in a few steps from her a huge police man was standing. The first thing she did was grab my hand and in a very impolite way she pulled me to the side and said; "what is this that you are wearing?" It was impossible for me to give any kind of explanation. They act like programmed robots. They do what they are told and complaining or negotiating with them is useless. They took my ID and put me in a police van standing there. 
Were you all alone in that vehicle? No. There were four or five other girls and women there too. One was older than me and the rest were younger or about the same age. One of them was only 16. She was frightened and was crying. It was a terrible experience for all of us. To make it a complete torture, we had to sit in the hot car without AC and wait until it was full. That means we had to wait for the police to arrest more women and to avoid the heat we had to pray for the arrest of more women! Off course I did not do so but seemingly that`s what they wanted to happen. 
Where did they take you finally? 
We were taken to a Police Station North West Tehran. They put us in a room and one by one we were taken to another room where we had to hand in our IDs and fill in a detailed form. The worst part was that they took our pictures holding a number, as if we were murderers or criminals. 
We were treated like criminals and had to avoid their dirty looks and jokes. They acted as if we were prostitutes. Any argue or defense was useless. 
Then another person with a long beard appeared. He seemed like a higher authority and he told us as this was our first time they would let us go, but the second time they are going to imprison us. 
The arrested women ordered to call home and ask their relatives to bring a sufficient ID that shows the relationship and proper clothing. In my case I called my husband and he had to bring along his identification in which it is indicated that we are husband and wife. He also had to bring a wide, old style, black Manto ( the long dress). 
How did this hard experience affect you? For a few days I was not able to leave my house as I felt scared. I cried a lot and preferred to be alone. It took me several days to reconstruct myself and be able to leave the house. The whole thing was ridiculous and the worst part is that they are still arresting women in streets of Tehran.

بغداد

رایزنی برای خروج اعضای مجاهدین از عراق 

 دیدار با رییس دفتر رییس جمهور عراق آقای جلال طالبانی

2008

ژنو سوییس


در تلاش برای آزادی (خروج از عراق) آن دسته از اعضای مجاهدین خلق که نمی خواستند به همکاری با این سازمان 
ادامه دهند.
 دیدار با کمیساریای عالی پناهندگان سازمان ملل، صلیب سرخ و مقاماتی از دولت 
سوییس به عنوان میانجی



Arranged Marriges

 
Colonel Amiri insists to be called colonel by friends and family. Many still does not know his first name and just use the term Colonel to refer tohim. Retired about 8 years ago from Iranian Armed forces, he works as a consoler for a private company. He lived with his wife and two daughters in a military compound before he retires.
Recently the Amiri`s Family has under gone a huge cultural dilemma when the youngest daughter of the family, Mona told her parents that she has met someone on the internet who has proposed to her. "It was totally un acceptable for my parents, since they have traditional view towards the marriage." says Mona.  
 Mona is a graduate student of political science and a successful researcher in school. she mentions," I was mainly focused on my studies and researches and at the side I was studying English." Therefore as recommended by her English tutor, she joined a group of online Iranian students who exercised English using chat. She says, "it was nothing at first. I considered him as one of my classmates; he was just a Cyber classmate."
 Mona`s older sister, Samaneh got married 5 years ago to son of his father`s colleague from the military. It was an arranged marriage. That is the groom`s family approached the bride family and propose for their son.
Arranged marriages are still practiced in Iran. There is no reliable statistic about arranged and non-arranged marriages in Iran, but Dr J.Shamsi an Iranian psychiatrist believes that still more than 60 present of the marriages throughout the country are arranged.
In the traditional way of arranged marriage, the groom`s family would propose to the bride`s family and after one or two meetings they decide if the couple are able to get married.
Although in the recent years the tradition has gone under practical changes and parents allow their children to be the final decision makers.
"my family is a total tradition family. My father had his military discipline at home too." Says Mona, "Samaneh`s husband family first contacted my mother. My brother in law`s mom called my mom and said that they want to set a visit to our house as an all women party. There they proposed to my mom that they want my sister to be their daughter in law." she adds.
The first few proposal ceremonies are very official. In some of these gatherings the men are not present and usually it takes a while till actually the young couple are able to talk to each other privately. As I mentioned, the more open mind families allow their children to be the final decision makers, although it seems that there are still total arranged marriages being practiced throughout the country.
"It was a challenge for me and also for my family. I could understand them. My older sister had gotten married through the method that they like and recognize the best and then i came in and told them that I want to get married to an internet person. There is a huge misjudgement bout people who get to know each other over internet and especially if they decide to get married." Mona explains.
 the young man from the internet is a successful student too. he had les problems to convince his family into his decision to marry Mona. After a month of chatting which was supposed to be English exercise, he took the first step to ask her out on a date. "He was very nice and caring, with a great knowledge of English language. Although I did not hesitate to say No to his offer. Then he insisted and tried to convince me." says Mona. He was successful to persuade Mona to go out and gradually they had regular meetings in a decent coffee shop in Tehran. one thing led to another, the young couple fell in love.
 "Many families especially the girls family disagree the internet marriage." says doctor Shamsi. "There is where the problem begins"
As doctor Shamsi explains, according to Iranian law, permission of father or a male legal guardian of women and girls is required for legalization of marriage in a marriage notarize office. in the absence of such permission, or if the parents of the girl express their disagreement with the marriage, the court rules about the decision. The court relies on a legal interview done by a trusted psychiatrist. he says," i do my best to help the couples."
Fortunately for Mona, she did not have to go through such a problematic system. She was able to convince her parents into an agreement. "I knew that they disagree, so i tried my best to show them that he (my fiancé now) is not just an anonymous person from the internet. First I explained everything about him to my sister and brother in law and asked them to be my lobbyists. Then with their help and my own efforts, I was able to convince my father to meet my future husband. That went very good! My father actually liked him after he got to know him! Parents usually think that people from the internet are a bunch of losers and liars. My fiancé is none of those!" she says.
After a while, Mona and her fiancé was able to get engaged. They decided to postpone their marriage after her graduation. They came a hard way in a traditional society that is conflicting with the new means.
http://www.expontomagazine.nl/home/buitenland/item/1842-arranged-marriage.html

Life, sweet life




In School





نقض حقوق بشر یکی از دلایل بی اعتمادی ایرانیان به مجاهدین خلق است

گزارش وزارت خارجه امریکا در ماه می 2011 بر عدم وجود حمایت مردم ایران از سازمان مجاهدین خلق در داخل و خارج از کشور تاکید دارد. در این گزارش قید گردیده که "باید گفت که ایرانیان در صورت لزوم احتمالا بجای حمایت از این سازمان، به مقابله با آن قیام کنند" و می افزاید "هر گونه حمایت امریکا از مجاهدین خلق بشدت به سابقه امریکا در بین ایرانیان لطمه زده و احساسات ضد امریکایی ایرانیان را بر خواهد انگیخت". گزارش وزارت خارجه یاد آور می شود که نجات یافتگان از فرقه از سازمان مجاهدین خلق بعنوان فرقه ای یاد می کنند که اعضای سابق خود را مجازات می کند. گزارش می گوید که رهبری مجاهدین خلق برای کسانی که سعی در فرار داشته اند حکم اعدام صادر کرده است.
بیانیه وزارت خارجه که بر پایه ارتباطات و تماس های مردمی سفارت خانه های ایالات متحده در کشور های همجوار ایران و توسط تیم "دیدبان ایران" جمع آوری شده، بازتاب رویکرد ایرانیان در داخل و خارج کشور نسبت به سازمان مجاهدین خلق است.
یکی از محور های اصلی این گزارش به نظرات ایرانیان مبنی بر نقض حقوق بشر در داخل تشکیلات مجاهدین خلق می پردازد. امری که هر نیروی مخالف رژیم تهران را در مورد حمایت از این سازمان به شک و تردید وا می دارد.
نگارنده به عنوان عضو اسبق تشکیلات مجاهدین خلق در ایالات متحده، عراق و ایران شاهد نمونه های جامعی از نقض حقوق اعضا در داخل این گروه بوده است. امری که هر شاهد بی طرفی را نسبت به مجاهدین خلق دلسرد می کند.
مسئله فوق از آنجا مورد اهمیت است که مجاهدین به عنوان اپوزیسیون ضد رژیم در تلاش برای سرنگونی حکومت و جایگزینی آن هستند. اما باید گفت هیچ کس در داخل و خارج از ایران نمی خواهد یک نظام ایدئولوژیک را با نظام ایدئولوژیک دیگری جایگزین سازد.
مجاهدین نیرو هایشان را در محیط های بسته و با حداقل ارتباط با جهان خارج نگهداری می کنند. مزیت این کار این است که فرد به لحاظ روانی کاملا وابسته به تبلیغات ارائه شده توسط کانال های اطلاع رسانی خاص گروه است و حائز ارتباط اندک یا اصولا بدون ارتباط با رسانه های آزاد می باشد.  
مجاهدین خلق از تکنیک های منحصر به فرد روانشناسانه برای کنترل اعضا استفاده می کنند. این دیگر یک مسئله درون سازمانی تلقی نمی شود چرا که هر عضو را بصورت ماشین یا ادم آهنی برای پیشبرد اهداف گروه در می آورد. بر پایه همین القائات ذهنی است که نیروی مجاهدین حاضر به عملیات انتحاری یا خودسوزی می شود. به این موضوع باید ایدئولوژی تدوین شده و پرقدرتی را افزود که مبنای آن زندگی و کار اشتراکی، عدم وجود ازدواج، یگانگی با رهبر عقیدتی و ارائه گزارش از خود به مثابه ابزار کنترل نیرو است.  
انتخابات درون سازمانی خود موضوع دیگری است که غیر دموکراتیک بودن سازمان و نقض حقوق انسان ها در درون آن را برملا می سازد. در این رابطه اسناد زیادی منتشر نشده است اما می توان اینگونه بیان کرد که انتخابات اصلی در درون مجاهدین همواره به اتفاق ارا ( یعنی همه ی رای ها ) به مقصد می رسند. هیچ نیروی منتقد و مخالفی وجود ندارد.
بر خلاف آنچه مجاهدین تبلیغ می کنند، هیچ یک از موارد بالا  الزامات مبارزه با حکومت ایران نیست بلکه همگی نشانه های هویتی توتالیتر و فرقه گرا است. در این چارچوب برخی از حقوق اولیه خود محروم شده  و شستشوی مغزی می شوند. نگارنده همچنین شاهد نمونه هایی از ضرب و شتم و ناپدید شدن اعضای مجاهدین خلق در درون این سازمان بوده است.
موضوع اقلیت های دینی همواره یکی از موضوعات مورد بحث منتقدین سازمان بوده است. شرط عضویت در تشکیلات مجاهدین خلق اعتقاد به شیعه دوازده امامی است. چراکه فقط بر اساس اعتقاد داشتن به اما غائب است که می توان به نائب رسمی یا غیر رسمی امام اعتقاد داشت. در تشکیلات رجوی بصورت غیر رسمی از مسعود رجوی به عنوان نائب امام یاد می شود تا بر قداست وی اطاعت محض از او بیفزاید. به همین دلیل اعضای غیر مسلمان همواره تحت فشار قرار داشته اند تا به شیعه معتقد و پایدار شوند. البته از دید مسئولان گروه اینها کافی نیستند و فرد باید مناسک اسلامی شامل نماز روزانه و روزه را به جای آورد. 
 با اینکه مجاهدین خلق قصد دارند خود را اپوزیسیون مهمی علیه رژیم تهران جلوه دهند، عدم رویکرد مردم به این گروه ادامه می یابد. بنظر نمی رسد تا زمانی که مجاهدین دست به تغییرات اساسی در سازمان نزده اند اقبال مساعدی بیابند. یکی از این تغییرات بی تردید به رسمیت شناختن انتخاب فردی اعضا و حقوق آنان است. 

Friday, August 9, 2013

جغد



جغد در ادبیات ایران باستان (بند هشن - ترجمه مهرداد بهار) بهمن مرغ نامیده شده است و آنچه می شود از آن فهمید این است که برخلاف ادبیات تازی (عربی) پرنده ای شوم نیست و سمبل آفریدگان نیک اهورا مزدا است. "مرغ زوربرک و مرغ بهمن است که جغد خوانند"