Baha’is In Iran: Cultural Genocide

A poster published by human rights supporters depicting BIHE staff members detained in Iran

I am shocked by the campaign of cultural genocide pursued by Iranian authorities against the Baha’i community in Iran. The latest phase is an attempt to destroy community educational programmes set up because Baha’i youth are excluded from state-run institutions. BWNS reported on the 22^nd May that

A coordinated series of raids have been carried out on the homes of several Iranian Baha’is, active in a community initiative to provide a higher education programme for young members who are barred from university. Initial reports indicate that raids took place yesterday on houses in Tehran, Karaj, Isfahan, and Shiraz. As many as 30 people may already have been arrested…All of the targets were homes of individuals closely involved with the operations of the Baha’i Institute for Higher Education…The Baha’i Institute for Higher Education (BIHE) was established in 1987 as a community initiative to meet the educational needs of young Baha’is who have been systematically denied access to higher education by the Iranian government. The BIHE has been described by the New York Times as “an elaborate act of communal self-preservation.”

Source: http://news.bahai.org/story/825

Baha’i Cemetery Destroyed Near Isfahan

From September 6 through September 10, using large trucks and bulldozers, a number of unknown individuals destroyed and excavated the Baha’i Cemetery of Najafabad and Vilashahr [near Isfahan]. The cemetery, which belongs to the Baha’is of Najafabad and Vilashahr, and which is known as Gulestan Javid [“eternal garden”], is situated about 9 miles from Najafabad. This land was given to the Baha’is of Najafabad and Vilashahr in the winter of 1995; it has been attacked 18 times since them. It has been reported that 119 graves are located in this cemetery – 95 are in the first section and 24 more are in the second section. According to reports by eyewitnesses, when Baha’is visited the cemetery on Thursday, September 10, 2009, they were confronted with a destroyed cemetery and excavated land. The entire first section and portions of section 2 of this cemetery had been excavated, and large craters and earth-mounds were created. In some segments, the earth had been removed to the depth of over a yard, and in other segments earth had been brought in from other areas and piled up in long rows as high as 10 yards. Moreover, parking lots located on the northern and southern parts of cemetery were also excavated up to 35 yards from the graves, and large craters and mounds were created in them. It should be noted that tracks from bulldozers and large trucks were clearly evident throughout the cemetery and surrounding land. In addition, the remains of previously destroyed facilities that had included water tanks were taken away from the property. It should be noted that the previous Baha’i cemetery of this region was thoroughly destroyed and eradicated in 1984.

Source: http://www.iranpresswatch.org/post/5122

Sufi Holy Place Destroyed In Isfahan

I am concerned by the report that a place of worship of the Gonabadi dervishes in Isfahan has been demolished by the Iranian authorities. Golnaz Esfandiari of Radio Free Europe writes

The reason for the destruction — which reportedly took place shortly after midnight on February 18 — is not clear, but it comes amid growing pressure on dervishes, who practice the Sufi tradition of Islam, and other religious minorities in Iran.

The dervish house of worship, or hosseinieh, was located next to the tomb of the great poet and dervish Naser Ali at the historical Takht-e Foulad cemetery, where a number of respected Iranian figures are buried.

Dervishes gathered there to pray, meditate, read Sufi poetry, and perform religious ceremonies. In recent months, following the demolition of several dervish sites throughout Iran, dervishes in Isfahan had expressed concern that their hosseinieh could meet a similar fate.

To prevent that from happening, several of the local dervishes were spending nights at the hosseinieh to keep watch.

But there was little they could do when, in the early hours of February 18, some 200 members of the security forces, police, and plainclothes agents arrived.

The dervishes’ mobile phones were taken away to prevent them from informing others of the raid, and they were detained and transferred to a police station.

Abdol Saleh Loghmani, one of the Isfahan dervishes, told RFE/RL that the security forces cut off water and electricity to the area, and destroyed the walls around the poet’s tomb with a bulldozer.

“They also destroyed the library where [religious] books were kept. They demolished the big hall where we had our Monday and Friday ceremonies and also our Sunday dawn meetings. They took away all the carpets and other property,” he said.

He said the five people were detained, but they were released after the authorities completed the demolition. He that added authorities then dispersed the dervishes who, after hearing the news about the destruction, had gathered around the site.

Source: Radio Free Europe