Editor’s Note: On Saturday, March 7, 2009, several Persian online journals carried this report, which appears below in translation.
On March 1, 2009, the government-run University of Semnan expelled Miss Minoo Shahriari, a student majoring in economics, on the grounds that she was a Baha’i.
In an interview with the Committee that pursues the right of Baha’is to education on behalf of Iran’s Committee for Human Rights, she described her expulsion in these terms: “I was a student in macroeconomics, and about 5 weeks had passed since our second term classes had started. Before the semester had started, I had been threatened that if I did not write one of the approved religions in the form and insisted on continuing my education, then severe consequences awaited me, including preventing me from entering university, and if I were to enter, that other students and professors would have no relations with me. They said that I would be so harassed that I would be compelled to resign from the university.
Disregarding all these threats, I was eager to attend classes and showed my eagerness.
There was no particular problem, until one day I was told that I was no longer on the class roster. Officials in charge of registration and student files swore that they had not changed my student status.
Since previously I had been threatened many times by the president of the university and his deputy, I thought that the latest tactic was to scare me and they would not follow through with their threats [and dismiss me permanently].
To pursue the matter, I went to the central office of the university, but the person in charge completely ignored me — on purpose he would not even look at me. Eventually, he only said, “You must leave the university and Semnan at once.If you have a complaint, you can register it with the judiciary in the city.”
It should be noted that recently, with much greater intensity the authorities are expelling the few Baha’i students who had been able to participate in the college entrance exam and had enrolled at universities.
[Sources: http://hra-iran.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=647:567&catid=160:6954&Itemid=368 and http://www.iranpressnews.com/source/055658.htm. Translation by Iran Press Watch.]
March 19, 2009 1:59 am
The Baha’is have always proved a great asset to Iran and a remarkable credit to the strength of character and nobility of the Persian people. It is a tragedy to see the brightest lights of that civilization dimmed by those few within it who have the weakest vision.
March 19, 2009 3:15 am
“Much will they listen and much will they see, on the Day of Regret when they come to back, but today the unjust are in open error.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l33rFvckE6U
March 19, 2009 10:22 am
What a shame! What a degradation for Iran! What a degradation for the Rektorof the University of Ignorance!
March 19, 2009 9:55 pm
شیخ مهدی دانشمند و بهاییان
In this early lecture in his internet career. Haj Shaykh Daneshamnd warns his audience about Bahais:
He tells the parents that “there are 800 girl students in my school and only one qualified to receive a grade of 20 out of 20 ( “A” ) and that one is a Baha’i student.”
He goes on to say that he “will give a top prize to anyone who shows me an addict Baha’i or a Jew. You can’t find Baha’i with a bad attitude. Baha’i earns a grade of 20 for reading Quran and the top Shiia student gets a grade of 2 (“F”). And we were forced to give the Shiia student her grade of 2 ( “F”) becuase her father would have been offended, otherwise the Shiia student didn’t even earn that.”
He further states that “Baha’is are never engaged in anything illegal, they don’t cause fights in school, don’t skip class, help everyone and are courteous and show wisdom. ” Then he goes to say that “I wish I could say the same for for the Shiia students. If you search the school today, you’ll find two killos of heroin on the Shiia students. They fight, argue, skip class, are not truthful, etc.”
He says that Baha’is say ” Look at Imam Ali’s followers and how they behave. Bravo. Bravo.”
Enjoy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0EG-IMOD0m0&feature=related
His second lecture “why muslims are not muslim”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ilBCOvFC2F0&feature=related