Abdulkarim Soroush, a religious thinker
and a critic of the Iranian state, has
written an open letter to the Iranian
leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, advising
him to begin accepting criticism so that
Iranians can move towards national
reconciliation, civic life and
modernity.
Dr Soroush, who has had to live outside
Iran for years and lectures at
universities in Europe and the USA, has
made openness to criticism the subject
of his most recent letter to the Iranian
leader.
He writes that Iran’s current conditions
are a product of Khamenei’s refusal to
accept criticism; conditions which he
describes as follows:
“Others must come along and ask you why
our homeland is so deformed; why is the
brook of culture so sullied; why is the
sky of freedom cloudy; why is religion’s
visage so stony; why has justice’s back
been broken; why are art’s eyes tearful;
why is learning’s heart so fretful; why
are lives and reputations so cheap; why
are the propagators of the ‘Neither
East, nor West’ slogan so determined to
build another Soviet Union; why is the
climate of politics so deathly; why is
the economy’s belly so distended with
ill-gotten gains; why is the ship of the
revolution veering this way and that;
and why is a secular Turkey more
appealing than a religious Iran?”
Regarding ‘the dominion of the faqih’
(the Islamic Republic of Iran’s ruling
system), Dr Soroush writes that the
theory “has no validity, either
religiously or rationally, and many
faqihs and thinkers oppose it. But
even as it stands, it means political
dominion, not spiritual dominion, and it
amounts to nothing more than rule by a
faqih.”
“Astute people know and are certain that
all the suffering, all the chains, all
the pillaging and rapes exist and occur
with your knowledge and consent. Hence,
the sin is yours… There have been
countless accounts of the wickedness and
injustices of your henchmen. Can you
shoulder the retribution for all these
crimes? If all that is good in the land
is the product of your wise and
prophet-like leadership, is all the
ugliness not your doing too? Absolute
power brings absolute responsibility.”
Be that as it may, he writes that
“whether leadership is your right or
not, criticizing the leader is
unquestionably the people’s right and
listening to their criticism is your
duty, and in the open, not in secret”.
In his letter, Dr Soroush says that the
impossibility of criticizing power has
resulted in circumstances about which he
says: “With such a wretched parliament
and judiciary, how can anyone expect
justice and rule by the people? And
which of the nation’s many problems will
elections solve? Have you appointed the
paradigms of might, mammon and duplicity
– that is to say, the three Larijani
brothers – in the hope that they will
divest you of any need for justice, laws
and human rights?”
Dr Soroush refers to the fate inflicted
on Khamenei’s critics, such as Mohammad
Nurizad and Ahmad Zeydabadi, and says:
“Why do you treat your critics and
opponents in this way? Are you afraid
that your absolute power may be
curtailed? Are they saying anything more
than that you must play the game of
politics according to its rules and that
you must cut the garb of leadership to
the appropriate size? Are you afraid of
losing the power of life and death over
everyone? After all the times you have
invited people to observe piety, can you
not, just once, invite them to
criticize?”
Addressing the Iranian leader, Dr
Soroush writes: “How strange! What has
happened to the preacher from Mashhad as
to make him so deaf to anyone else’s
preaching? What has the magic of
absolute power whispered in his ear as
to make it impossible for him to hear
anything?”
Abdulkarim Soroush, who has, in the
past, called on Mr Khamenei to step
down, warns that the state’s conduct has
so weakened Iran’s social groups and
political parties that resisting a
foreign attack will not be easy: “Just
think! If this land is confronted with a
crisis and becomes the target of foreign
greed, what miracle do you expect
wretched parliamentarians, wronged
academics, stifled and heart-broken
writers, silenced thinkers, intimidated
and enfeebled parties, yes-men,
ineffectual officials, mendacious media,
affronted clerics, impoverished
labourers and corrupt upstarts to be
able to perform?”
Dr Soroush says that he holds the
Iranian leader responsible for the
“crimes” committed by the state and
writes: “Astute people know and are
certain that all the suffering, all the
chains, all the pillaging and rapes
exist and occur with your knowledge and
consent. Hence, the sin is yours… There
have been countless accounts of the
wickedness and injustices of your
henchmen. Can you shoulder the
retribution for all these crimes? If all
that is good in the land is the product
of your wise and prophet-like
leadership, is all the ugliness not your
doing too? Absolute power brings
absolute responsibility.”
Abdulkarim Soroush concludes by calling
on the leader to “allow everyone to read
this letter, and with ease of mind, not
with anxiety; in newspapers, not in
clandestine tracts; in the open, not in
secret. Begin a two-way communication
with the masses, answer them openly and
defend your ‘religious tyranny’.”
(Translation of a report posted on the
BBC Persian website: http://www.bbc.co.uk/persian/iran/2011/12/111220_u04_sorush_khamenei.shtml)
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