Of the main cause behind intensifying security measures in Auvers-Sur-Oise and concealing it from the focus of the media may be the fact that Mojahedin are highly concerned about the rumors running rampant that insiders are deserting. Majority of those who have defected from the organization are known to be quitters, but to be a deserter is absolutely intolerable. Being a highly closed cult of personality, Mojahedin Khalq Organization disapproves either of the two groups of the quitters and deserters, but, according to many MKO former members, Rajavi discriminates in favor of the former. He is quoted to have reiterated that he prefers to have a member quitting every day to having even one deserter in a year since the cost the latter imposes on the organization is irreparable.
Now this question arises that why a quitter is supposed to impose lower costs on the organization? As a former MKO member explains, when a member declares his willingness to separate the organization, he has to account for some ambiguities, such as being the enemy’s accomplice, and undergo some process. First, the dissident member has to sign papers that his separation is a willful act due to individual frailty and failing to keep on his past enthusiasm for struggle as a freedom fighter. Then, he is forced to sign to discredit any criticism of the organization at any time in future done in his name. Thus, the quitters are careful about whatsoever they say about the organization lest it should make public their signed papers which might indicate that they have talked under outside pressure and discredit whatever made testimonies. That is just what happened in the case of Marzieh Qursi who quitted MKO last year and tried to unveil some of its cultic activities and features.
Mojahedin justify that the process at least works as a barrier for possibly further collaboration of separated members with the other oppositions in general and the Iranian regime in particular hence cutting costs to the possible extent. However, those members who manage to escape from or desert MKO impose a greater cost on the organization since they are under no obligation and have signed no particular paper. They freely take the opportunity to disclose whatever the organization tries to keep concealed about its cultic relations and scandals. In the same way, it is evident that the members’ slinking away from Auvers-Sur-Oise would be in no way tolerable and is incomparable with escapes made from Camp Ashraf.
There are evidences that disclosures of members deserted while in Europe have been much more effective compared to those escaped from Camp Ashraf. The reason may be their familiarity with the Western culture and knowledge of appropriate terminology and the ways in which the real nature of Mojahedin can better be publicized. For example, Masoud Banisadr’s “The memoirs of an Iranian rebel” has been much more successful than oral statements and testimonies made by other separated members. Also, the fact that Auvers-Sur-Oise has drawn the attention of France security agencies is another impetus for Mojahedin to maneuver on Camp Ashraf than Auvers-Sur-Oise and its occupants.
It has to be also pointed out that there are countless instances of complaints and objections made by local citizens who are disturbed by living in the vicinity of Rajavi gang’s residence; as it was one of the reasons for Rajavi’s expulsion from France when protests were made that he was shattering peace and security in the suburbs of Paris. However, at the present Mojahedin run two strategic strongholds which are under the threat of disintegration and dissolution. They know well that collapse of Ashraf may lead to their strategic blockade in Auvers as well, so they reluctantly abide by the imposed rules of being under the control of outsiders as done in Iraq.
Wherever they are, Mojahedin necessitate a camp-like location to run a collective life. Contrary to their phase of armed struggle which bore no settlement, now they are highly in need of a dwelling to survive. Unlike the past, they are in need of securing a permanent setting to run a seemingly pro-democratic struggle. That is why Auvers-Sur-Oise is of great strategic and political significance for Mojahedin. They are willing to turn it into a legalized refuge of their political struggle in Europe. In fact, they try to model Ayatollah Khomeini whose settlement in Paris suburbs was the climax of his political, anti-monarch struggle conducted from France and initiation of his Islamic regime. But there is one exception. Looking it from an impartial angle, Khomeini’s residence was open to the world to visit.
As pointed earlier and verified by many reporters visiting Auvers-Sur-Oise, it has been turned into a strategic fortress and cultic bastion guarded under strict security measures. Generally, it has to be a location for all opposition groups dissenting the present Iranian ruling and a place where people of all classes can attend freely to express their ideas and take part in collective political activities to achieve a joint objectives.
The reason why Mojahedin have established another camp in France is a matter of consideration to which France government has to pay due attention. If it is an ordinary camp of some political refugees, why it is so unusual? The fact is that despite pro-democratic and peace-seeking gesture of Mojahedin leaders, Auvers-Sur-Oise is a cultic bastion and an assembly of terrorist plotters set in the heart of Europe. It might well answer the question that why Mojahedin refrain to admit anyone to Auvers-Sur-Oise while they insistently invite their Western advocates to visit Camp Ashraf. The duality may be the ground for the West to take a closer look at the course of events therein.
