Iran’s Democracy and the Situation of the Opposition in the Middle-east country

In the disguise of a democratic state, Iran is turning out to be a hard-line Islamic state. After being elected for a second term, the President himself has taken initiative to strangulate the voice of the opposition so far. It has become such a sinister practice that the autocratic ruler is now instigating a constitutional reform, which may empower the state to try the opposition leaders for their ‘impudence’. There are chances that the leaders may be hanged if the state declares them as ‘enemies of the state’. The punishment for this kind of ‘offence’ is always capital in the extremist regime, which can endanger the possibility of a republic to be transformed entirely into a dictatorial one, which does not allow the opposition to raise their voice of concern.

June, 2009. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad had been elected for a second time. Aftermath of election had shown the world, how the opposition voice can be strangulated by the order of the state (though Libya is walking through the same path nowadays). Ahmedinejad ordered police to open fire on the opposition rally which had killed numerous people. The repression of the state was so brutal that an arrest warrant was issued against each and everyone who opposed Tehran and its policy. Days have been really hard for the opposition leaders like Mir Hossain Mousavi, Mehadi Karaubi. Iran has so far tried several people for ‘opposing the state’. It’s when the international world starts questioning, how is this possible in a democracy? These ‘oppositions’, tried in a lower court, have been termed by Iran as ‘spies of West’. No, they were not sentenced to death so far. But, they do not include only the political activists as well. There are many intellectuals whom Iran has imprisoned inside the darkness of Evin. Starting from Clotilde Reiss, a French Academician, there are numerous examples of intellectuals, who are being tried for ‘espionage’ after the disputed election of Ahmedinejad. Clotilde was living in Tehran at the time of presidential election. She used to send mails to her friends in France about the repression of Iranian Government and its brutal purging of the opposition all over the country. Later freed on condition and exchange of an Iranian convict (a former minister involved in a murder had been imprisoned in France), Reiss was soon termed as a ‘spy’ and arrested by Ahmedinejad police. After getting hold of Clotilde, France dismissed Tehran’s allegation that the French academician is a ‘Mata Hari’. For the same allegation, three Americans are now being tried to the lower court of Iran. The fates of Joshua Fattal, Shane Bauer and Sarah Shourd are yet to be decided. They too were arrested in June, 2009, after the disputed presidential election from the Iranian border with Iraqi Kurdistan, allegedly ‘spying for the west’.

‘The great dictator’, after being elected for the 2^nd time, allegedly claimed that the Western world, including Britain, America has been tried to disrupt the Presidential election and thus tried to get hold of the country secretly. He termed the opposition leaders as the ‘western spies’ and brought assertions that all of them are actually involved in a terrible ‘conspiracy’ against the state and should be tried for ‘trying to sell out the country to the West’. His latest initiative to reform the constitution only proves that he is trying to dismantle the opposition voice. Thus, his ‘endeavour’ is worsening the situation of the opposition day by day.

Talking about the intellectuals, who have been imprisoned for supporting the opposite power, one cannot skip mentioning Jafar Panahi, the worldwide acclaimed film director. Panahi was allegedly being seen at the opposition rallies, raising voice against the dictatorial power. The misfortune came in the disguise of Iran police when Panahi ventured to write a script of his new film, stating the condition of the country, the autocracy of the ruler and its initiative to throttle the opposition voice. Panahi had been arrested along with his acquaintances from a dinner party at his own home. Freed for a while on bail, he had been tried for ‘espionage’. Later, the court had sentenced him 6 years imprisonment, barring him from making films for 20 long years! In another word, it has virtually ruined the filmmaker’s career. Despite the objection from internationally acclaimed actors and directors like Juliette Binoche, Abbas Kiarostami, Iran has not moved an inch from its position. Later, in a statement forwarded to the press, Panahi said, ‘they have condemned me to twenty years of silence. Yet, in my dreams, I scream for a time, when we can tolerate each other, respect each other’s opinion and live for each other’.

But, Iran Government seems to be deaf to his concern. How can they tolerate the opinion of others? There are highest possibilities that this may empower the opposite forces to topple the autocratic ruler, strip him off from his power and get hold of the country itself. How can Ahmedinejad government let it happen? That is why, Panahi’s voice of concern seemed too loathsome to them to be taken into account. Iran’s latest movement just proves that.

Will the day ever come when each and everybody in Iran will be able to communicate their opinion in public without the fear of being arrested, interrogated and imprisoned? Will the Adolf Hitler of today be shown mercy then? You never know. The terrible surge of Egyptian and Libyan opposition movement may stir Iran too. What is the other possibility? Iran may slowly, gradually be turned into a complete autocratic, extremist state. Time can only give the answer, what is likely to happen.