Brainwashing and its function on self immolation
in the memory of Yaser Akbarinasab;the victim of Rajavis’ cult
Mujahedin Members and Self-immolation
“The explosion of the office of Islamic Republic Party on June 28th, 1980 and self immolations on June 17th, 2003”
Mohammad Hussein Sobhani( in persion)
June 25th, 2006
Last week was coincident with special days for Iranians, accompanying bitter experiences of which, the most notable is June 20th 1980, the day that reminds the initials of violence and terror in Iran current era in which the MKO played a key role confronting the Iranians social political challenges that were processing peacefully and politically, with a substantial trouble, delaying the process of democracy in Iran for decades of which the effects are still tangible.
Therefore, this week I want to discuss the issue of hidden and visible violence which is pertinent to these days.
In the first view you may not find any strong relation between the violence committed in the office of Islamic Republic Party and the self-immolations of metamorphosed people but I put these two terror actions near each other intentionally since they are the two sides of violence coin. One side shows committing terrorism to face the enemy, the other shows using terrorism to save Violence captured in cul-de-sac.
The result of both sides is the same. Violence is violence. One who kills another, can burn oneself too. “violence and Terror” in any form or cover ,with any motivation, with plenty of sincerity has no result except strengthening violence and dictatorship .you may be able to change a dictator regime by terror and violence weapon but you would definitely replace a more completed and complicated dictatorship. The one who burns himself, will burn his rival doubtlessly, without hesitating.
During the three past years, MKO, due to international considerations, hesitated to support the self–immolations and Rajavis tried to consider the event as non-organizational, but now they are supporting this act for different reasons, sanctifying it openly. They write on their websites:
“The first human torch throws the snare of fire around the head and neck and the second one wears the clothes of fire, and the third one becomes a flowing torch to declare a message, you can not change a direction without paying the price and the voice of protest needs a strong method of declaration. The flames of protest spread in Bern, Rome, London, Athens and Nicosia too and …”
I may view a thought as “terrorist or aggressive” while another one views it as “proclaimer of freedom”? But what is our criterion to recognize the freedom proclaimer from terrorist?
Should we consider the honesty and devotion of the think tanks as our standards of judgment?
In my opinion, honesty and devotion do not include the necessary criteria for legality of an action? Therefore at the first stage one should consider the means used by the activists. Considering their means, one can understand which one is a freedom fighter and which one is a terrorist? Although the declared objective is important or seems holy, the means used to reach the objective has the substantial importance and grants legality to the movement.
The thought that provides its metamorphosed supporters with bombs, weapons, cyanide and fire for self-immolation instead of heart, logic and language, kills its members and its dissidents on the pretext of “strong protest”. This thought is not a messenger of freedom but a terrorist and when ever it achieves the power, it would bring a new tyranny.
Using means of violence to reach any objective, an apparently or really holy objective, accustoms the users to violence. Thus the violence becomes structured in their spirit so that they use it in any case ,along with their objectives.
This violent means can terrorize American military personnel one day and the other day it can assassinate the critic and dissident Magid Sharif Vaqefi, one day it can explode the office of Iraqi Intelligence service and the other day it can order the members to set themselves on fire in the streets.
You may find differences in the form or direction of each of these violent activities, but they are all the same, in substance.
When a group, a party or an organization command its members to set themselves ablaze, it is denounced that the so-called group has crossed an identified limit of spreading terrorism and violence since, naturally using violence against the enemy such as bombing at Islamic Republic Party Office is easier than using violence against its own members like self-immolations in June 2003. The difference shows that the basis of “hidden and visible violence” in MKO has become more profound and complex. Therefore all the freedom-lovers should be warned.
The more important issue to worry about is that they pretend suicide, self-immolation and violence as devotion and honesty and a few people are paid to cry for it, this threat should be considered as serious.
Mohammad Hussein Sobhani( in persian)
June 25th, 2006
Mojahedin’s ideology of violence celebrated in UK’s Houses of Parliament
The Mojahedin-e Khalq have launched a massive recruitment campaign in Europe and Iraq to celebrate the failure of its coup d’etat of 30 June 1981 and the arrest of leader Maryam Rajavi in Paris on terrorism charges on 17 June 2003.
As though this were not bizarre enough, the Mojahedin chose to stage one of these celebratory meetings in the UK’s House of Lords. Using its alternative name, the National Council of Resistance, the Mojahedin celebrated its acts of clear aggression against the French Judiciary and French Government which followed Maryam Rajavi’s arrest.
Each orchestrated act of self-immolation – in which two Mojahedin members died – had been filmed in detail by the National Council of Resistance of Iran. Three years later, the crowd at the meeting in the British parliament watched the video film of these burning people and cheered and chanted in celebration of what normal people would find a horrifying act of violence.
The Mojahedin’s website ‘hambastegimeli’ publicised the event. But only in Persian language – which may or may not be significant. We look forward to seeing similar publicity of the event on the Mojahedin’s English language website ‘iranfocus’. (Both websites of course use the alias ‘National Council of Resistance of Iran’ as a pseudonym for Mojahedin-e Khalq.)
Iran-Interlink, June 22, 2006
On 18 June 2003, following Maryam Rajavi’s arrest in France, a number of Mojahedin’s sympathizers, reported 20, committed self-immolations in streets of Paris and other Western cities to obtain her liberation. Commonly believed, these acts of self-burning were organizationally preset acts of dissent dictated to the members who practiced them. The organization, however, insists to hail them as heroic, spontaneous acts done by some sympathizers.
Pay attention that Mojahedin had videotaped all scenes of the self-immolations, implying it is impossible to be in the right place at the right time unless you were prepared and informed beforehand. The acts of self-burnings had to be stopped somewhere, and that justifies Maryam Rajavi’s call from prison on members to refrain from self-immolation. But the call came after two innocent women, Sediqeh Mojaveri and Neda Hassani, died of the burn injuries.
In a Mojahedin’s TV program on the anniversary of the self-immolations, Ali Hassani, Neda Hassani’s brother, described his sister’s self-immolation before the French Embassy in London based on completely videotaped scenes. His words prove the fact that none of these fiery protests had been done deliberately; the innocent practitioners were set on fire to fulfill a decreed mission.
Maryam Rajavi’s arrest and imprisonment in France on 17 June 2003, not talking of its prejudicial impact to her political character, made Mojahedin face a new challenge. The challenge was the outcome of an encounter of Western democracy and civility vis-à-vis the dominant social anarchism and wild adventurism in Mojahedin organization that attempted to forge legitimacy by comparing itself to one of the most prime anti-fascism resistances in the Europe.
Maryam Rajavi’s arrest and its aftermath gave the states and the public opinion the opportunity to see behind the pseudo-democratic face of Mojahedin. Accused of terrorist activities, association with a terrorist organization and financing terrorist operations, the French Police raided the office of MKO at Auvers-sur-Oise and arrested 164 suspected Mojahedin cadres as well as Maryam Rajavi. Immediately after the arrests, a number of the group’s insiders immolated themselves in public in a series of premeditated missions as leverages of pressure to buy Maryam Rajavi’s freedom. The human tragedy ended with two deaths; according to the group’s own reports, two women, Sediqeh Mojaveri and Neda Hassani died because of the self-immolation injuries. One more was paralyzed forever.
These acts of self-destruction reveal the covert violent mien of the group’s ideology which is brought to surface and fully practiced whenever the circumstances deem it just. It is not wrong to say that the acts of self-immolations imposed Mojahedin’s demands on the French judges and courts to take a moderate position to stop further agitation of the public opinion.
Violence is rebuked for its transparent contradiction with social and conventional codes. Utilization of violence for whatever objectives never justifies it as a theorized instrument practiced by opportunists to accomplish the ends. The practitioners of violence, whether from a potential military standpoint or frustrated political stance, resort to what is most regarded a reactionary approach. Legalization of violence terminates the rational ways of furthering dialogue to a democratic solution and its utilization as leverage of pressure, a threatening method, and even as a moving element to stir sympathy never justifies its application.
Appalling, sect-like self-immolations once more endorsed Mojahedin’s restoring to complexities of a cult. The ideology does not necessarily suggest application of violence against others since teachings of some cult decree self-destruction practices as the most influential approach. Overt practices of violence against other individuals spread psychological terror among a society while acts of self-destruction, besides spreading psychological terror, endanger emotional and social health. In other words, when someone consents to commit self-destruction in so appalling a way, no doubt he is capable of wiping out masses in cool-blood.
There are many instances of known cult decreed self or collective destructions. So impressed are the insiders by the violent approaches of a cult that they may volunteer to commit suicide before they receive orders to do so. Following the same cult codes, Mojahedin owns a prearranged, deliberate list of registrants volunteered for self-immolation wherever and whenever the organization deems it appropriate. Alireza Jafarzadeh, a Mojahedin’s media spokesman, in a letter published in one of Mojahedin’s newsletters, prior to his demands to be registered as a volunteer of self-burning, stated:
Truly, the ignorant have not fully made out the sharpness, shrewdness and decisiveness of a Mojahed Khalq element more because they have failed to acknowledge Massoud. They are too narrow minded to know what a storm Rajavi’s order might give rise to, and that this generation’s will might leave them in a dark world of absolute desperation. [1]
His words indicate that he is fully under the influence of the group’s non-peaceful teachings as a strategic approach. He does believe in what he is saying and the history of the organization approves him.
Mojahedin’s past history contains a broad practice of violence against the agents of Shah’s regime and, furthermore, against the working Americans in Iran in 1970s to prove they were on a right path of struggle; it is an aspect of its utilizing violence against others. Later on, during the mass trials of the members arrested by Shah’s security system SAVAK, the arrested members decided to commit self-destruction to stir sympathy among people. To achieve the goal, they decided to take a harsh attitude in their speeches made at court defense sessions to incite the military judges to deal harshly with the defendants. Their tactic of self-destruction worked well and most of the leading figures but Massoud Rajavi were executed by the regime. Talking of the method of self-destruction at the time, Massoud Rajavi said:
We had to do our outmost to be executed by Shah. Then, our movement overpowered the proceedings. He [Shah] had to give an answer and we could not let him evade. [2]
First, by utilizing an armed struggle strategy and then by throwing themselves before the fire squads, Mojahedin furthered an overall method of violence. They were thoroughly devoted to a ferocious style of struggle against Shah and nothing but death could stop the move. Hanifnezhad, one of the first founders of Mojahedin, received a life imprisonment by the Shah’s court but his colleagues in prison coerced him, and even threatened him of being given an organizationally decreed revolutionary execution, to move on a self-destruction path so the organization could condemn the regime of his death. He was put before the fire squad, however.
Mojahedin can never think of peaceful ways when seeking for solution to an issue. In the course of Iran’s nuclear file, for instance, they resort to violent proposals or incite other parts to take a hostile attitude towards Iran. Violence is integrated in Mojahedin’s literature and it can be classified as:
– Transparent violence: armed struggle and terrorist operation.
– Advocating violence: inciting others to resort to violent ways to solve a problem.
– Provoking violence: coercing others to take violent reactions.
– Utilizing violence: self-destruction as a leverage of pressure or a moving element to stir sympathy.
The 17 June and its aftermath crystallize terrorism and violence in their full term. The case has to be studied in full details.
Notes
[1]. Alireza Jafarzadeh’ letter; Newsletter of the Union of the Muslim Student Associations Abroad, No. 127, 11.
[2]. The Founders, 96, Mojahedin Khalq publication.
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