Dr.
M. HOSSEINBOR
A Presentation On The
Challenges of Pluralism in Iran
June
15, 2016
National
Press Club
Washington,
DC
It is a great honor to
appear before you to present the case of the Iranian Baluch, one of the most
persecuted, oppressed, and neglected peoples of the Middle East. On behalf of
over 7 million Baluch people in Iran, I would like to thank the Ibn Khaldun
Center and Ahwaz Human Rights Organization for organizing this very important
and highly timely conference.
Iran:
A Multi National State
Iran is a heterogeneous state
comprised of six distinct nationalities including Arabs, Baluch, Kurds,
Persians, Turks, and Turkmens. Although there are no accurate data as to the
population of Iran’s various national groups, the recent scholarly literature
tends to agree that non-Persians are a majority comprising at least 55 percent
of Iran’s estimated population of 70 millions. The five non-Persian
nationalities have one other important feature in common: They live along the
state’s international borders, which cut across their ethnic homelands, thus
dividing them between two or three states.
Baluchistan: A Historical
Perspective
Until the advent of British
Colonialism and division of Baluchistan in Mid- 19th century, Baluchistan
maintained its independence, for the most part, from the surrounding empires.
This is reflected in the fact that the pre-division era is known by the Baluch
as Baluchi Doura which is a term synonymous with Baluchi era, signifying a
period (approximately 1440-1948 A.D.) when the Baluch political and military
institutions as well as Baluchi culture and language were paramount throughout
Baluchistan. The Baluchi Doura is best
identified by the Baluch Tribal Confederacy (approximately 1487-1511 A.D.)
established by Mir Chakar Rind, stretching from Kirman in Iran in the west and
Indus River in the East which constitute the boundaries of present day
Baluchistan. The most powerful independent Baluch state during Baluchi Doura
was Khanate of Kalat established in 1666 A.D. and lasted nearly 300 years until
the advent of British colonialism.
Under the British Empire, the land was divided
into three parts. The Goldsmid Line drawn in 1871 and demarcated in 1896 gave
Western Baluchistan to Persia, while retaining the larger eastern part for
British India. The Durand Line, drawn also by the British in 1894, further
divided Baluchistan between the British India and Afghanistan, assigning to the
latter a portion of Northern Baluchistan. The eastern Baluchistan was
forcefully annexed to Pakistan in 1948.The Western Baluchistan was invaded and
incorporated into Iran by Reza Shah, the founder of Pahlavi Dynasty, in 1928.
The smaller northern part remains part of Afghanistan.
Currently divided among
Iran, Pakistan, and Afghanistan, Baluchistan-meaning the Baluch homeland-
covers about 240,000 square miles with a coastline stretching 1000 miles from
the Strait of Hormuz to Karachi in Pakistan. In addition to a common ancestral
homeland Baluchistan, Baluch speak their own language called Baluchi, an
ancient Indo-European language, have their distinct culture, share a common
history, and adhere to a moderate form of Sunni Islam.
Ever since the division and forceful
incorporation of their homeland into Pakistan and Iran, the Baluch have
struggled to regain their lost freedom, to reassert the Baluch control over
their homeland Baluchistan, and to preserve their language and culture within
Iran and Pakistan. The Baluch never accepted or recognized either the Goldsmid
Line dividing the Baluch between Iran and Pakistan or the Durand Line
separating northern Baluchistan. This is reflected in four insurrections by the
Baluch against Pakistan in 1948, 1958,1973, and 2005 Divided among Iran, Pakistan,
and Afghanistan,
Baluchistan-meaning the Baluch homeland- covers more than 240,000 square miles
with a coastline stretching 1000 miles from the Strait of Hormuz to Karachi in Pakistan.
Under the British Empire, the land was divided
into three parts. The Goldsmid Line drawn in 1871 and demarcated in 1896 gave
Western Baluchistan to Persia,
while retaining the larger eastern part for British India.
The Durand Line, drawn also by the British in 1894, further divided Baluchistan
between the British India and Afghanistan,
assigning to the latter a portion of Northern Baluchistan.
Baluch and Iran: A
historical Perspective
The Iranian Baluchistan was
invaded and incorporated into Iran
by Reza Shah, the founder of Pahlavi Dynasty, in 1928. As the dominant power in
the region at the time, the British supported Reza Shah’s annexation of
Baluchistan in order to strengthen Iran
as buffer state against Bolshevik Revolution in Russia. Today, Iranian Baluchistan
is divided into three parts to expedite its integration and assimilation into Iran.
The largest part constitutes the “Province
of Seistan and Baluchistan”.
It covers more than 181,578 square kilometers, which is in itself the largest
province in Iran.
The second part of Iranian Baluchistan is officially known as the Province of Hormuzgan
for its location on the Strait of Hormuz. The
third and northern part of Iranian Baluchistan is included in the neighboring
Persian-speaking Provinces of Kerman
and Khorasan. All three parts combined cover around 280,000 square kilometers.
In addition to their
ancestral homeland Baluchistan, Baluch speak
their own language called Baluchi, an ancient Indo-European language, have
their distinct culture, share a common history, and adhere to Sunni Islam while
Persians follow Shi’ate Islam, the official state religion of the ruling
clerics. As a result, Baluch have been subject of constant ethnic, religious,
cultural, and economic discrimination and political and military repression
ever since their forceful incorporation into Iran in 1928. In turn, the Baluch
have been striving to preserve their language and culture and to secure a
degree of self-rule within a secular, democratic, and federal Iran.
The Human
Rights Violations and Discrimination against the Baluch and Sunnis
Both Iranian constitutions
of 1906 and 1979 failed to recognize the non-Persian national groups or to
protect their political and cultural self-rule in their own respective
homelands. Consequently, the Baluch and other non-Persian groups have been
marginalized and subjected under both monarchial and clerical regimes to
blatant discrimination in all spheres of their daily lives. The discrimination
is institutionalized and systematic and is geared to the ongoing state policies
of Persianization of non-Persian nationalities and conversion of Sunnis,
Baha’is, and other religious minorities to shi’ism.
Political
Discrimination and Oppression
The core policy of the
Persian –dominated governments, both clerical and monarchial, has been to forcefully
assimilate or Persianize Baluch and other non-Persian nationalities. In this
context, the current clerical regime like its predecessor, refers to all six
nationalities comprising Iran- namely, Arabs, Baluch, Kurds, Persians, Turks,
and Turkmen’s- as constituting a single nation called Millat-e Iran or the “the
nation of Iran”. As embodied, interpreted, and implemented in the first Iranian
Constitution of 1906 as well as in the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of
1979, the concept of “Millat-e
Iran” is a
manifestation of Persian nationalism which is equated with Iranian nationalism.
Aside from its theocratic
color and content, “the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran” hardly
differs from the Constitution of 1906 in respect to preserving the unitary
state system in the country. Like its predecessor, the new constitution ruled
out the question of autonomy or any other form of recognition of national,
cultural, and religious rights of non-Persian nationalities. It declared in
Article 12 that “the official religion of Iran is Islam and the Twelve
Ja’fari School of Thought and this principle shall remain eternally immutable”.
Similarly, Article 15 recognized Persian as the official state language, while
prohibiting the use of non-Persian languages in schools, offices, or for any
other official use in their respective homelands.
Moreover, the rights of
Baluch and Iranian Sunnis in general were further restricted by the provision
of Article 115, which excluded Sunnis from holding the office of the Presidency
of the Republic, thus reducing Baluch and Sunnis to the status of second-class
citizens. In addition, the provision of Vilayat-e Faghih (governance of
religious jurist) in Article 5 had no base in the tenets of the Sunni branch of Islam and as such it was
not acceptable to Sunnis. According to Article 5, the Valii-e Faghih or
governing jurist, who is not elected, is the commander-in-chief of the armed
forces and has ultimate authority over all the three branches of the
government. As the non-elected supreme leader, he is empowered to dismiss the
elected president, to dissolve the parliament, and to remove at will the
supposedly independent judicial authorities. Obviously, the concentration of
such broad and unchecked powers in the hands of one unelected individual has
been strongly opposed by Baluch and other national groups as well as by secular
opposition.
In addition, the Baluch
have been totally excluded from all the decision-making positions at local,
provincial, and central government levels. Almost all provincial governors,
city mayors, and the heads of all provincial departments are non- Baluch
appointed by the central government. The Baluch and Sunnis were never
represented in decision making positions in central government. No Baluch or
Sunni ever served as a minister of cabinet or as an ambassador. Even the number
of the Baluch in the provincial administration is hardly more than five percent
of the total civil servants.
Similarly, the
Baluch-speaking areas have been arbitrarily divided administratively into three
parts to expedite the Baluch assimilation in accordance with the clerical
government’s Persianisation and Shiazation policies as mentioned earlier. This
policy towards the Baluch is in no way distinct or different from that pursued
toward other non-Persian national groups including Arabs, Kurds, Turks, and
Turkmen’s. The differences, if any, are merely in degree not in kind. Although all these national groups possess
historically defined geographic homelands, none has been constituted or
recognized as a separate administrative unit let alone as a self-autonomous
province. Each ethnic region or homeland has been arbitrarily divided into
several parts and incorporated in different provinces at different times. Like
Baluchistan, Kurdistan and Azerbaijan
have been arbitrarily divided into several parts to facilitate their
Persianization and to prevent any threat that may arise if Kurdistan,
Azerbaijan, or Baluchistan were reconstituted to incorporate all parts
of their respective historical homelands.
Mass Executions
of Baluch Prisoners
Baluchistan had the highest numbers of
executions under both Ahmadi Nejad and Rouhani administrations. Shahin Dokht Molaverdi, Iran’s Vice President
for Women and Family Affairs under President Rouhani, acknowledged in an
interview last year that such mass executions have taken place. In her words “
We have a village in Sistan and Baluchistan where all the men in that village
were executed.” http://www.bbc.com/persian/iran/2016/04/160404_nm_molaverdi_sistan_court
Although the Baluch, with an estimated population of seven million, constitute
less than 10% of Iranian population, the number of Baluch executed under Ahmadi
Nejad in 2009 exceeded more than half of total executions in Iran. As an example
of cold-blooded mass murder by the clerical dictatorship, thirteen young Baluch
were hanged in Zahedan prison on July 14, 2009 followed by three more
executions the next day. They were accused of membership in Popular Resistance
Movement of Iran, also known as Jundullah, that is fighting for the rights of
Baluch and Sunnis against the Shia't clerical regime in Iran.
They were charged with medieval crimes of waging war ageist God,
corruption on earth, and the fabricated charge of collusion with the so-called
enemies of the Islamic Republic, namely the US and Israel referred to as
"Zionist Entity". The US and Israel have vehemently denied these
charges and Jundullah has rejected them also as baseless fabrications similar
to the Islamic Republic's attempt to attribute the on-going mass protests
against the election fraud in Tehran and other major cities to
foreign powers.
The Islamic Republic ignored the
repeated calls by Amnesty International and other human rights organizations to
halt this mass execution and to accord the accused fair trail and due process
of law as require under international law. Subsequently, the EU also condemned
this mass execution in Zahedan last.
According to local Baluch
sources, the 13 young Baluch executed, including four students of Baluchistan University, had participated in
peaceful anti-government demonstrations during and after the presidential
election in Zahedan.
One of the main reasons for their
execution was to suppress a growing uprising and insurgency among ethnic
Baluch, who adhere to Sunni Islam, against the Iranian Government run by a
Shia't clerical dictatorship. The mass killing of the Baluch was also
intended to send a strong message to other non-Persian ethnic groups-
including Iran's
Kurds, Arabs, Azeri Turks, and Turkmens- to prevent similar uprisings among
them.
Under the -called reformist Rouhani,
the pace of executions has accelerated dramatically. The number of executions
during the first six months of this year is close to 970 as reported by various
human rights organizations. Again the Baluch
were on the top of the list of thos executed. It is time to warn the
world that Iranian Baluchistan is well on its way to become the Islamic
Republic’s Darfur unless the international community acts to stop it before it
is too late. The actions of the Islamic Republic against the Baluch certainly
constitute crimes against humanity meriting investigation by the UN and
international tribunals.
Cultural
Discrimination:
The use of Baluchi
language, Baluchi schools, and Baluchi publications have been strictly
prohibited even in their own homeland Baluchistan.
That is also the case with other non-Persian languages. Only Persian history is
taught as “Iranian’ history, never the history of Baluch or other national
groups. No cultural institutions or activities are tolerated among the Baluch
or other non-Persians. Even the Iranian census data do not reflect the nature
of its ethnic heterogeneity. Instead, it uses religious designation to
emphasize Muslim homogeneity and to distort the multi-ethnic nature of the
country.
Among many instances of
cultural oppression against the Baluch was the arrest of six members of the
Voice of Justice of the Young People’s Society, a Baluch cultural association
registered under Iranian law, in early May 2007. This NGO was primarily
involved in organizing concerts, arts exhibitions, and educational courses for
young Baluch. Subsequently, the head of the organization, Mr. Ya’qub Mehrnehad,
a student, Journalist and civil activist, was tried in secret and convicted to
death for an unknown offence in early February 2008. He has allegedly been
tortured. He is currently on death row without access to his family members or
a lawyer. His brother, Ibrahim Mehrnehad, is also in jail and has been also denied
access to his family or to a lawyer. Sakhi Riggi, another prominent Baluch
blogger and activist, was charged with anti-state activities and sentenced to
20 years. He was sent into exile and is
being held in Ahwaz jail for eight
years.
Economic Discrimination
Based on statistics published
by Iran Press News this week, more than 50% of the population of Iranian
Baluchistan live under poverty line as defined by the Islamic Republic. Based
on this report, of Baluchistan Province’s
population of 2.5 million, 1,352,000 people live under absolute poverty.
According to the same report, The total number of people living under poverty
in Iran is 9.4 million. http://www.iranpressnews.com/source/198131.htm.
Economically, centralization of power has led
to a pattern of an uneven economic development whereby all trade, industry, and
development are concentrated in central Iran to the total exclusion of other
regions such as Baluchistan and Kurdistan. As a result, Baluchistan is one of the least developed parts of Iran.
This is in spite of the fact that Baluchistan is the largest Iranian Province
constituting 15 to 18 per cent of the Iranian land mass, is rich in natural
resources, is on major trade routes between Central Asia, South Asia, and the
Middle East, and has a 700-mile coast line stretching from Strait of Hurmoz
to Pakistani border.
Iranian Baluchistan is one
of the poorest, least developed, and neglected provinces in Iran. According to the UN Common
Country Assessment for Iran
( www.undp.org.ir/reports/npd/CCA.pdf
), Baluchistan has the worst indicators among
Iranian provinces for life expectancy, school enrollment, adult literacy,
infant mortality, and access to drinking water and sanitation. All major
economic activities are concentrated in central Iran where the dominant Persians
live. Although Baluchistan is known to be rich
in minerals including gas, oil, gold, and marine resources, the province is
characterized as the “forgotten land”, implying a prolonged economic and social
neglect. In spite of the province’s vast resources, there are no major
industries in Baluchistan, the Baluch have no control over their resources, and
have no say in running Baluchistan’s economy.
Literally speaking, the land is being looted by Baluchistan’s new colonial
masters in Iran and Pakistan.
The Baluch’s lack of
control over their resources is the main cause of underdevelopment of Baluchistan. As a result, there is a growing economic and social gap between Baluch and
Persian-dominated regions of Iran,
a fact that makes Iran
a prime example of uneven development in the world. Under both monarchial and
clerical governments, most of the development expenditures in the province were
and are geared towards the expansion of the military-related infrastructure
such as roads, military bases, and facilities serving Persian bureaucrats and
settlers, thus hardly benefiting the Baluch masses. In addition, as far as
non-military projects are concerned, they are planned behind closed doors in Tehran, due to the highly centralized nature of economic
planning in Iran,
and implemented through the Persian-controlled provincial bureaucracy. The
needs and wants of the Baluch population are not taken into consideration
because the Baluch are not represented in economic and political decisions at
the provincial level, let alone at the national level.
Religious
Discrimination
Overwhelming majority of
the Baluch adhere to Sunni school of Islam as are Kurds, Turkmens, people of
Talesh region in the Gilan Province along the Caspian Sea, Persian-speaking regions of Khorasan Province
bordering Afghanistan, and the population of southern coasts and islands in the
Persian Gulf. Together, the Iranian Sunnis constitute more than a quarter of Iran’s
estimated population of 60 millions. In spite of its claim to the leadership of
the Islamic world, the Islamic Republic of Iran has subjected its Sunni
population to religious discrimination and, in some instances, to forceful
conversion to Shi’ism. As a matter of fact, the Sunnis have not been allowed to
build a mosque in Tehran
where several million Sunnis live. This
is in spite of the clerical regime’s claim for leadership of the Islamic
world. If fellow Muslims are treated so
harshly by the Islamic Republic, the fate of Baha’is and other non-Muslim
religious minorities should be of great concern to international community.
Numerous Sunni clerics from
Baluchistan, Kurdistan, Turkmen Sahra and
other Sunni regions have been arbitrarily arrested, tortured, and assassinated.
As documented by Amnesty International in its report cited above, “A number of
Baluchis, including Sunni clerics, have been killed in suspicious circumstances
both in Iran
and Abroad. Similar suspicious deaths of members of other religious minorities
or of those opposed to the Iranian authorities point to a pattern of
extrajudicial executions by the Iranian authorities”. The said report names only few of the victims
including moulavi (religious title used by Sunni clerics) Abdolmalek
Molaazadeh, Moulavi Abdolnasser Jamshid Zahi, Moulavi Ahmad Sayyad, and Moulavi
Aman Naroui. The author personally knew Moulavi Habibullah Hosseinbor who was
summoned to the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence in 1984 when he disappeared.
Since then, no one ever heard from him and it is believed that he died under
torture. Hundreds if not thousands
members of the opposition groups and minorities have suffered a similar
fate.
The arrest, torture,
execution, and extra judicial killing of Sunni activists and clerics have
continued unabated in Baluchistan, Kurdistan, Ahwaz, Turkemen Sahra and other
Sunni areas to this day. During 2015 and based on published reports, at least 9
Sunni activists were executed. Of these six were executed on March 4, 2015,
including Jamshid Dehghani,Jehangir Dehghani,Ahmad Hamedi, Kamal Mollaie,
Sayyed Mohammadi, Sayyed Hadi Hosseini. During 2015, three Sunni activists were
also hanged
in Zahedan Prison in Baluchistan, including Jiand Riggi on February 2 and Ghani
Riggi and his unnamed friend on December 21.
Currently, there are 27
Sunni Kurds on death row in Rajaie Shar Prison in Karaj, Iran. In addition, there
are 74 Sunni youth and activists arrested in 2015 and are currently held in
various Iranian jails. They include 33 Baluch youth from Nasir Abad, a small
town in Baluchistan. Of these, 10 still remain in jail while the rest were
freed on bail. Other Sunnis arrestees include 12 Kurds arrested in the city of Mahabad on January 1, 2015, 20
Sunni Kurds imprisoned in the city of Saghez on March 24, 2015, three Sunni
Kurds arrested in Mahabad on May 20, seven Sunni Arabs from Ahwaz arrested on
July 1, three Sunni Arabs imprisoned on
July 12, and seven Sunni clergy arrested in Turkmensahra on November 7,
2015.
A practice widely used to
discriminate against Baluch and other minorities is Gozinesh meaning selection,
an ideological test requiring applicants to universities and candidates for
government jobs to demonstrate allegiance to Shia Islam and the Islamic
Republic of Iran including the concept of Vilayat-e Faghih (Governance of
Relious Jurist), a concept not adhered to by Sunnis. This practice has been
used to exclude Baluch from admission to universities or employment by
government ever since the establishment of the Islamic Republic in 1979. As
observed by Amnesty International in its report titled “Iran: Human Right
Abuses Against the Baluchi Minority”, dated September 17, 2007, “ In law and
practice, this process (i.e. Gozinesh) impairs- on grounds of political
opinion, previous political affiliation or support or religious
affiliation-equality of opportunity or treatment in employment or occupation
for all those who seek employment in the public and parastatal sector ( such as
the bonyads) and, reportedly, in some instances in parts of private sector.”
The
Solution: Self-determination
The
repressive and discriminatory policies of the successive Iranian governments
towards the Baluch have given rise to Baluch nationalism seeking
self-determination and statehood for the Baluch. The Baluch are united on
self-rule, but divided over whether to seek outright independence or to strive
for self-rule within a federal structure.
It is a division between nationalists versus federalists.
The federalists
argue that the only viable solution to the chronic political crisis in Iran is
democracy, devolution, and federalism. Such a democratic system of government
is best suited for a multinational/multi-ethnic state like Iran that is
home to Persians, Arabs, Baluchis, Kurds, Turkmans, Turks, and other religious
and ethnic minorities. They add that
federal system is designed to protect against dictatorship and absolute power,
ensure political participation at local, state, and federal levels, and create
a more even system of economic development. As it is said, we do not need to
reinvent the wheel. To federalists, The federal system has functioned
reasonably well and has a successful track record as demonstrated by the
examples of the US, Switzerland, India, and many other countries. The federalists
envision a federal state whereby the central or federal government will be
responsible for national defense, foreign affairs, currency, and national
planning. All other powers will be preserved for the federating units or
states.
The
federal constitution shall treat all Iranian citizens, regardless of gender,
race, color, or religion, as equal under the law and shall protect and
guarantee freedom of speech, freedom of opinion, freedom of association,
freedom of religion, and free and fair election. The federal constitution shall
also ensure that all national groups constituting Iran will have equal
opportunity to develop their respective cultures, languages, histories,
economies and homelands. The federal constitution shall also protect the rights
of religious minorities including Baha’is, Christians, Jews, and Sunnis. The constitutions of the federating units or
states shall also guarantee the same rights for their respective citizens.
Federal and state constitutions shall mandate that federal and state
governments be based on elected legislative and executive branches and
independent judiciaries
The Baluch nationalists seek independence and see no future
in Iran. They cite occupation of their homeland, exploitation of its natural
resources, systematic oppression and discrimination, the threat posed to their
language, culture, and religion, and the threat posed by government sponsored
settlers uprooting the Baluch as major threats to the survival of the Baluch as
a nation.
The Baluch nationalists
have been gaining momentum in recent years as seen by recently launched Campaign
for Independent Baluchistan. This has led to a growing demand for an
internationally supervised referendum whereby the BalUch nation can freely
exercise its right to self-determination and statehood under international law.
The demand for such a referendum is certain to strengthen the Baluch movement
internally and to ensure the international legitimacy and recognition for the
Baluch cause. According to the Baluch nationalists, they are committed to the
promotion of democracy, rule of law, human rights, equal rights for women,
protection of the rights of minorities, pluralism, and social justice for all Baluchistan
citizens. They believe that the future of Baluchistan as a modern and
progressive state could be guaranteed only through participation of all its
citizens, with equal voice, in running their affairs.
.
Conclusion
In spite of its large and diverse
population, its rich natural resources, and its strategic location, Iran has
failed to develop its full potentials and to occupy its rightful place in the
international community. It lags far
behind economically as compared to the emerging economic powers in Asia
-Pacific. In contrast to the growing spread of democracies in Asia, Latin
America, and Africa, Iran is in the grip
of a clerical regime ruling by an iron fist. The backwardness of the Iranian
political systems, whether monarchial or clerical, is clearly evident from the
relegation of Iranian women, more than half of Iran's population, to second
class citizens as compared with other regional countries such as Bangladesh,
India, and Israel, where women have been repeatedly elected as prime ministers.
The only vision guaranteeing the
future of Iran as a modern, stable, and unified state in the community of
nations is to establish a genuine secular democracy whereby Baluch and
other nationalities can peacefully exercise their rights to self-determination.
The choice for Iran is clear: either the UK model where the Scotts exercised their
rights to self-determination freely or the former Yugoslavia model where
repression let to total disintegration.
Otherwise, the Islamic Republic of
Iran will collapse from within and will face the same fate suffered by the
former Yugoslavia and
ex-Soviet Union.
The Iranian nationalities- Baluch,
Kurds, Arabs, Azeri Turks, Turkmen, and Lurs- will never willingly accept their
status as second class citizens within Iran. Should the Iranian state fail
to address their quest for self-rule, its future remains uncertain.
Dr.
M. HOSSEINBOR
A Member of the Bar of the District
of Columbia and Author of Iran and Its
Nationalities: The Case of Baluch Nationalism, Pakistani Adab Publications,
2000.
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