The Gandhian Moment

Ramin Jahanbegloo – published in Dissent Magazine on June 20, 2009

WITH THE refusal of Iran’s political establishment to re-run the elections, more repression and violence seems inevitable. However, what we are witnessing since the first demonstrations against the results of the presidential elections might very well be considered as a major nonviolent movement in a Gandhian style. There is already an evident similarity between the civil disobedience movement in today’s Iran and successful nonviolent movements led by Gandhi in India in the 1920-1940s and Martin Luther King Jr. in the United States in the 1950-1960s.
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Speaking out against violence in the Iranian Parliament

On June, 28, 2009, Masoud Pezeshkian, a member of Iran’s parliament spoke out against violence and torture.  (Video is in Farsi with English in closed captions.)

Dr. Masoud Pezeshkian speaks against government actions in Majlis by using Imam Ali as the example. Imam Ali is the son in law of Prophet Mohammad and is considered the role model of Iranian citizens. His birthday is celebrated as father’s day in Iran. Dr. Pezeshkian in his speech uses Imam Ali’s letter to Malek Ashtar that specifically tells him what he should not do just because he is in position of power exactly what the government of Iran has been doing these past few days.

Iranians rally at Ghoba (Qoba) Mosque

Mousavi supporters join Beheshti commemorators

Published by Press TV – Sun, 28 Jun 2009 20:36:24 GMT

Hundreds of Iranians have gathered in a mosque to commemorate the martyrdom of former chief justice Ayatollah Mohammad Beheshti.

Supporters of defeated presidential candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi also marched down Tehran’s Shariati Street from north to south and silently gathered outside the Ghoba Mosque — where the event was being held.
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In Iran, the protests have quieted, but the protesters are simmering

Iranian security forces on motorcycles make their presence known on a Tehran street. Postelection rallies have quieted, but such patrols have been common, as authorities keep an eye out for would-be demonstrators.

By Borzou Daragahi for the Los Angeles Times - June 27, 2009 23:20 PDT / June 28, 10:50 Tehran time

Iranians who demonstrated against the election results are not moving on. They are biding their time, weighing their options — and seeing their government in a dramatically different light.

TEHRAN — The young men and women enter Haft Tir Square tentatively.  Their pace slows as they discreetly glance around. They spot the club-wielding uniformed security officials and plainclothes Basiji militiamen, scan the square for other would-be demonstrators. Read the rest of this entry »