Source: www.yahoo.com
Verity Bowman
The Iranian government is ordering teachers to identify children of the persecuted Baha’i minority to convert them to Islam, leaked documents show.
The move forms part of a plan to intensify the monitoring and suppression of the Baha’i people, one of the most persecuted religious minorities in the world.
Local authorities in the city of Sari, in the northern province of Mazandaran, plan to “conduct strict controls” on Baha’i people and track “their operations”, according to a new directive given to officials.
Children are specifically singled out, with teachers directed to “identify Baha’i students” and “bring them into Islam”.
“Clear plans to change children’s beliefs is a galling violation of human rights,” said Diane Ala’i, the Representative of the Baha’i International Community to the United Natins in Geneva.
The Baháʼí faith originated in Iran during the 19th century, but now has an estimated six million followers around the world.
According to the UN there are about 350,000 Baha’i in the Islamic Republic, making them the country’s biggest religious minority, but they are considered heretical by the Iranian regime.
Hundreds of followers have been executed or jailed since Iran’s 1979 revolution, the UN claims.
The document, handed to The League for the Defence of Human Rights in Iran and the International Federation for Human Rights, represents an escalation of Iran’s ongoing war against religious minorities.
They warn that it outlines a “detailed plan” to “rigorously” control aspects of the community, including their “public and private meetings”.
The Commission on Ethnicities, Sects and Religions in Sari allegedly issued the document, which operates under Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, a body chaired by the county’s president.
It is thought to stem “from national government entities at the highest levels”, according to Ms Ala’i, and “suggests that similar meetings and directives about the Baha’is may be occurring across Iran”.
“Despite constant claims from the government that Baha’is are not persecuted for their beliefs, the Iranian authorities have once again exposed their true intentions.”
Local officials at all levels received the document, including police and military organisations, educational institutions and economic bodies.
March 23, 2021 12:36 am
This is astonishing. How would any Moslem community respond to the idea of “bringing” their children to Christianity or any Christian community to the idea of “bringing” their children to Judaism. Children are not to be expropriated by Iran. Is there any violation against humanity that can compare to this recently uncovered campaign of Iran’s theocratic administration to force Islam on anyone’s children? This is destructive to the very concept of religious belief. True religion elevates volition, the supreme gift to man, and conversion through extortion is expressly forbidden: “There shall be no compulsion in the matter of religion.” What could Iran’s theocracy possibly sat to exonerate themselves from this violation of every human covenant: “bringing Baha’i children to Islam”?