Did you know Why ‘freedom of thought’ is a sin in the Mojahedin? Why every single member of the Mojahedin is required to write a daily report about every thought which comes to their mind during the day?
With the introduction of the”Second Phase of the Ideological Revolution”in 1989, married couples and children were separated from one another in a bid to divert all personal love and affection towards the Ideological Leaders Massoud and Maryam Rajavi. The Revolution did not stop at that point however. Soon, unmarried people were also expected to ‘divorce’ in their hearts and minds everything to do with the opposite sex. They should not allow themselves to think about the opposite sex at any time during the day even, for that matter, during their sleep and dreams. A sex related dream or, remembering your child or, a passing memory of a girl or boy you knew perhaps as a teenager, were all declared to be signs that a person is”drowning in a world of sexuality”, and that therefore they”needed the Leaders’ help”.
The problem outside of Ashraf Camp was that members would meet and talk
over the phone with people of the opposite sex, see billboard advertisements, and even sometimes watch uncensored television. Inside Ashraf Camp the refectories were separated, men and women would not sit in the same car, and even the petrol station had separate timetables for men and women so that they would not meet. This resulted in a different level of thoughts about the opposite sex.
The Rajavis’ compulsory daily report was introduced thus:”once you write down all these ‘contradictions’ and read them aloud in the meeting at the end of the week, then the collective presence [peer pressure] will shame you sufficiently that you will reduce and will ultimately eliminate these bad thoughts or ‘contradictions’ to the point that your heart and mind will eventually belong solely to the leader.”
Once people were forced to write down their ‘contradictions’, the daily reports began to read along these lines:”I used the petrol pump after sister x, and I felt aroused”, or”I saw two birds together in a tree and I had an erotic thought”, or”when I sat on the chair that sister x has just left, I felt”. The more that time passed, the more ridiculous the reports became. And the more they wrote, the more they had things to write about. It became clear that most members over the years came to the conclusion that the daily report is something they have to do in order to get the leaders off their backs, and that what they actually think and do (when they get the chance) is not really what they should write about. After all, the reports should show”progress”. If not, you will be accused of resisting”Massoud and Maryam’s Ideological Revolution”. And of all other crimes only this is absolutely unforgivable.
Although no one has claimed, and is unlikely to claim, that any individual can ever achieve this totally pure state of mind (Massoud and Maryam Rajavi declared that from the start they did not have this problem, and that is why they are the ideological leaders and that is why they can remain married without corruption), the process intensified year after year to the point that the daily report has evolved into the ‘daily collective meeting’.
These meetings are held on a daily basis under any circumstances, even if there are only two or three people together for any task or mission. In the daily meeting, daily reports have to be read out in turn (except for the head of the meeting who must attend a separate meeting with peers in the hierarchy), and the others have to attack the writer, swear at him or her as hard as they can and in their own words”crack”the person by whatever means. If anyone comes down soft on the target, he or she will be accused of having something to hide inside, and of not taking the side of the Leaders in confronting the outside savage world. These meetings nowadays frequently result in physical fighting and abuse. Those who resist are labeled as agents of the intelligence ministry of Iran, who have no claim to any rights and can be treated according to the will of the Ideological Leaders. (In fact, such ‘traitors’ are ideologically condemned to execution by the Leaders. Actual execution of the order depends on the circumstances, and according to the whim of the Leaders. For instance, sending a ‘traitor’ to Abu Ghraib prison was equivalent to putting into practice the death sentence, since the victims were unlikely to survive there.)
As this psychologically cohesive method combined with other manipulations have been exercised over the years, the behaviour of people in the Mojahedin, including the way they see other nonmember people, the language they use and even in some cases the physical tone of the voice, face and body features and even the day-to-day desires of members have changed. For instance, it is not abnormal any more to see women who have more pronounced body and facial hair growth. The practice of self satisfaction [masturbation – which in Islamic teachings is forbidden] has become something so widespread for both men and women, that it has even been mentioned by Maryam and Massoud Rajavi in the general meeting as a problem which has arisen after banning sex.
The extent of the problem is such that in Ashraf Camp, new regulations for men’s dormitories emphasise among other things that:
– No two men are allowed to stay in the dormitory without the presence of a third man.
– In the case of two people being sick, a third man should be chosen to stay with them.
– People are not allowed to change their clothes in the dormitory except behind a screen.
– Rubbing medicine on the back or chest of a patient should preferably be carried out by an older member and supervised by a third man at all times.
– Taking a shower or bath should only take place at certain times of the day and only according to specific regulations.
And for the people outside Ashraf Camp (in Europe, etc):
– Men are not allowed to report to or talk in private to their women commanders except in the presence of another member, and vice versa.
– Members who need to go online. They should be a minimum of two people and one should ask frequent questions about the other’s need to visit sites or download emails.
– Members who have to go to meetings with politicians, etc. There should be at least one other person present at all time during travel outside the base until return.
There are many other rules and regulations similar to the above which govern the daily minutiae of life in the Mojahedin. It is interesting that now in some cases it is preferred to send a supporter to monitor a member while outside. This is because more and more frequently, two members would plan together to go to a cinema, sex shop, etc and agree not to tell the commanders. Distant supporters are told that because they have come from the Iraqi deserts, such members need their help until they get used to their new environment. It seems that not only have these regulations brought no real relief or for that matter”love of the Ideological Leaders”, instead they have overwhelmed the hearts and minds of members. During recent years, crimes like”rape and related murder and other crimes”against women in Ashraf camp, which had never been seen in the Mojahedin before the Ideological Revolution, have increased to shocking numbers.
The major problem for the Mojahedin are those who have regular contact with supporters as part of their work. Supporters report that after any long visit by a member to their homes or places of work it is usual for them to receive bills for long hours of connection to sex websites. Many supporters now refuse to allow their children into the presence of MKO members and prefer only to meet them in the streets or in the MKO safe houses in Europe. Women members are expected not to concern themselves with the minimum of hygiene and personal grooming. As a result, most of the women members who are no longer as young as before suffer from all sorts of mental and physical disorders, including the above mentioned coarsening of beards and moustaches which is mainly due to hormone imbalance or disorder. Woman are denied treatments or any kind of make up, bleaching or waxing, etc. – except for Maryam Rajavi and the women she chooses to have looking acceptable. While Massoud Rajavi has been dying his hair for the last fifteen years and all of his, and Maryam’s family, have had the most expensive cosmetic dental treatment possible, ordinary members are expected to have no more than a backpack to contain all their belongings; that is, all their clothes, books, mementos etc. These backpacks are regularly checked for forbidden items including any trace of contact with,or pictures of, family or friends. At its inception, the daily report accompanied by follow-up”ideological meetings”served the leaders’ purpose to keep a grip on the members on one hand and on the other hand provided blackmail material for a rainy day in case any member found the courage to try to escape the cult. It is now, however, increasingly working against the Rajavis as they attempt to whitewash their image as heads of an Islamic Marxist terrorist cult who have used their members to attack the interests of the west as and when needed to pursue their own agenda.
Mojahedin members (which includes around 97% of those claiming membership of the NCRI) are indoctrinated in the Rajavis’ anti-imperialist ideology. They are motivated by their promise to destroy world imperialism and replace it with what the Rajavis call”the divine, classless society”. It is with this motivation that they submit to the suffocating strictures imposed on them by the Rajavis. Following the fall of Saddam Hussein, such members cannot reasonably be expected to change their ideological direction without a total re-programming of their world view. The Rajavis know this only too well.
However, an explanation is needed for these members, who are very much needed for activities like the self immolations of June 2003 to protest the arrest of Maryam Rajavi, as they see current Mojahedin behaviour in contradiction to everything they have been taught to believe.
The explanation is that”fooling the Americans and their allies”is a tactic. The ideology has not changed, but the path to”the divine classless society”at this point of time, must pass through this tactic, until we are ready to confront”imperialism and the world devourers”again. Members are praised for their superior understanding, and the leader is worshiped as the members are taught to realise that they could not have passed this phase of the struggle to save humanity if it had not been because of the ideological leader and the introduction of the”ideological revolution”at the very right time.