Fraternity-Testvériség, 1979 (57. évfolyam, 1-4. szám)

1979-01-01 / 1. szám

All the anti-shah forces united under the leadership of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini to demand the abdication of Pahlavi. After his departure they demanded the resignation of the Bakhtiar government. Khomeini was inspiring the revolt and directing the demonstrations from his exile in France.

Khomeini’s home town was Khomein. It is a common practice of the Ayatollahs or Shiite Islamic religious leaders to take the name of their home town. In 1927 he married the daughter of a theologian in Tehran. He has three daughters and two sons. He accuses the Savak for the mysterious death of one of his sons. In 1960 he openly criticized the Shah for too much westernization, particularly the growing influence of U.S. and Israel. In January, 1963 he was arrested for opposing the urbanization and modernization reforms of the Shah. In June he was again arrested for his anti-shah sermons encouraging riots in Tehran. He was arrested several times and condemned to death, but Ayatollah Kazem Shariat saved him by successfully arguing that an ayatollah should not be subject to capital punishment. In 1964 the Savak exiled him to Turkey. He moved to Iraq and in 1978 went to Paris.

After the Shah left Iran, pro-Khomeini and anti- Bakhtiar demonstrations were held in Tehran. On January 20th Khomeini announced that he was ready to end his exile and return to Iran. Bakhtiar ordered the army to close all the airports in Iran in order to prevent Khomeini’s return without a common understanding and agreement of a new coalition government. Bakhtiar maintained that he was the head of the constitutional government. He claimed that he was willing to negotiate with Khomeini in Paris about his return to Iran and to make his government more representative by including representatives of the antishah religious and secular elements. Khomeini promptly rejected Bakhtiar’s offer and refused to meet him. On February 1st Khomeini flew to Iran and made a triumphant entry into Tehran after Bakhtiar and the army decided to open the Tehran airport for Khomeini’s return and assure his safety. They thought that in the near future his presence would quiet down the crowd and end the daily demonstrations of hundreds of thousands of Iranians in the major cities. Khomeini again demanded the resignation of Bakhtiar government which he claimed was illegal. Otherwise he vowed to declare a “holy war” against both the government and the army. However, he stressed that he prayed for the change in a peaceful manner. He also emphasized that his followers were in daily contact with the members of the government and the soldiers. On February 5th he appointed Mehdi Bazargan the prime minister of his provisional government. Four days later the showdown came between the two opposing uncompromising parties.

The best equipped, well paid, comfortable quartered cadets of the air force carefully selected for their loyalty were watching the television report of Khomeini’s return to Iran in their barracks at the Farah Bad Airforce Base in Eastern Tehran. Some loudly cheered Ayatollah Khomeini. Soon they were joined by the technicians. Troops from the Javidan (immortals) division of the Imperial Guard were sent to make order at the air base. The cadets and technicians were helped by the civilians. They received arms and after a brief bloody battle most of the soldiers of the Imperial Guard put down their weapons. Walked out the gates. Joined the civilians who kissed them and accepted them as “brothers.” In two days of fighting 210 persons were killed and 870 wounded in Tehran; 34 killed and 310 wounded in Shiraz. Within a single month Khomeini with the help of his followers forced the Shah to leave the country; abolished the secret police Savak; disintegrated the army; ended the ancient monarchy; persuaded the 282 members of the Parliament’s lower house to resign; ended the political leadership of the “constitutional” Bakhtiar government; established the Islamic republic and appointed the transitional provisional government. The demonstrators before marched without weapons, hut now had 400,000 weapons in their possession and used it against each other. Khomeini gained a complete victory in the first act of the revolution. He appointed several Islamic revolutionary courts which at their secret trials ordered the executions of the leaders of the secret police and the army. They found them guilty as the enemies of the people and of “seditious violations of the Koran, the Moslem holy book.” An estimated 2,000 persons arrested are still detained in Tehran only. More are arrested daily in the provincial cities. Executions are also held daily throughout the country. When will the executions and the chaos end?

The Azerbaijanis, Baluchistans and the Kurdistans residing at the borders of the Soviet Union and Iraq represent many millions of ethnic groups of Iran’s population. They are restless and armed with the weapons taken from the police stations and the army barracks. Under the Shah they fought for autonomy and were defeated. If they try again in 1979 the weak central government might face the challenge of another strong and stubborn separatist movement.

Many communists returned from their long exile. The Marxists are well trained, disciplined and well armed. They want to abolish the capitalistic system and demand the nationalization of the hanks. The Marxist of Edayecn and the Palestine Liberation

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