Moderates face another test in Iran

[Ulhas Joglekar]

> The Hindu : Moderates face another test in Iran
> By Kesava Menon
> Manama (BAHRAIN), NOV. 1. Judicial verdicts over the next few days could
> mark a defining stage in the struggle between conservatives and moderates
in
> Iran. In one of the cases, involving four students and a professor accused
> of having lampooned a revered religious figure, the pronouncement could be
> made as early as tomorrow. The conservative-dominated judiciary has chosen
a
> relentless approach but the verdicts may well hinge on the enigmatic role
of
> the supreme religious leader, Ayatollah Syed Ali Khamenei.
> Two of the students arraigned in one of the cases had co-authored a
> controversial play in which a revered religious figure from the past was
> depicted as having returned to earth only to be appalled by the manner in
> which religious teachings had been distorted. The other two students are
> said to be associated with the limited-circulation students' journal in
> which the play was published and the professor was tried because he had
> praised the playwrights when their work was first published. This is a
> strange case where those who were socially and politically under attack
for
> their hypocrisy have turned on their critics for their alleged
``blasphemy''
> in depicting a revered religious figure in less than sacredotal
> circumstances.
> Conservatives are entrenched not only in the judiciary and parts of the
> administrative structure but they run a number of economic institutions.
> Criticism of their functioning is very often valid because efficiency and
> honesty are not exactly the hallmarks of their style. But no critique of
> their mode of functioning is depicted as critique of religion and the
> revolutionary ethos. The contradiction was brought out in the testimony of
> the accused playwright, Mr. Ali Abbas Nemati who told the court, ``I did
> what I did only because I wanted to serve the interests of religion. I
> beseech the Imam, why is this happening to me.'' Mr. Nemati is reportedly
a
> product of a rigorous religious education.
> While the prosecuting judge, Mr. Saeed Mortezavi has indicted the four
> accused on charges which could justify the imposition of the death
penalty,
> it remains to be seen whether he possesses the will to do so. Soon after
the
> news about the play in the obscure journal became public, some of the
> well-known hardliners demanded that the death penalty be imposed. At that
> point, Ayatollah Khamenei made a surprising intervention and warned that
he
> would not permit emotionalism to condition the verdict. More
significantly,
> a representative of the Supreme Leader appeared as the last witness before
> the court and told the judges that he personally knew some of the accused
> and doubted that they had any intent to insult the religion. He also asked
> the court to act with utmost compassion.
> A more politically potent and intense challenge to the conservatives'
claim
> to a monopoly over religious doctrine has been mounted by the former
> Vice-President and Interior Minister, Mr. Abdollah Nouri. A court which
> exercises jurisdiction over the clergy has accused Mr. Nouri, himself a
> cleric, of having defamed the late Imam Ruhollah Khomeini, insulting
Iran's
> religious leadership and advocating an improvement of relations with the
> U.S. and Israel. The accusations pertain to articles written in Kordad,
the
> newspaper which he publishes. Mr. Nouri relied on the teachings of Imam
> Khomeini and other religious tracts to espouse social, political and
> theological reforms.
> One remark made by the prosecuting judge in this case revealed the core of
> the dispute between the conservatives and the moderates. ``How can you who
> consider yourself a follower of the Imam introduce his eminence as a
source
> of innovation'', the judge was reported to have remarked. The core issue
> then is that the conservatives' claim that their rigidly doctrinaire view
is
> unchallengable. With a monopoly over doctrinal interpretation they can
> retain their control over the country's establishment. Mr. Nouri, who has
> emerged as the most doughty fighter on the moderate side, has refused to
> recognise the court's right to judge him.
> While the course of the struggle between the conservatives and moderates
> will probably be more directly affected by the outcome of these two
trials,
> the third case appears to have attracted the attention of international
> human rights watchdogs. This case pertains to the riots which took place
in
> July. The conservative judge of a revolutionary tribunal claimed in
> September that four persons had been convicted and sentenced to death for
> their part in instigating the riots. None of the names or other details
has
> been disclosed. However, at the last monthend, the revolutionary court
said
> it had sentenced an economist, Mr. Manuchehr Mohammadi, to 13 years
> imprisonment for his involvement in the riots. It was not clear whether
Mr.
> Mohammadi was one of the four said to have been sentenced to death.
>
>
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