TEHRAN - All of the people I had scheduled to meet in the last week have either been put in prison or are at risk of being arrested. They have gone into hiding, as it is too dangerous to cross borders. We cannot meet, not now. Anyone who is at all connected to the “Green” movement is under threat. Even though it's legal to do so under Iranian law, some friends have been arrested for merely contributing money to Mir-Hossein Mousavi’s campaign.
To the mandatory Islamic dress code we now have added a color code. Green must be avoided, as it is too political. And so we shop for clothes -- brown, black, or tan are safe and conservative. We watch conservative mullahs on Iranian television insist on enforcing a dress code consisting of a black manteau (overcoats) and chador (an additional covering) worn during the 1979 revolution.
We put all our emotions into screaming “Allahu Akbar” into the night from the rooftops. We must stay under the radar during the day but the night brings a small sense of freedom. The streets are quiet and the heat has subsided so we can breath and use our voices. The calls that begin around 10 p.m. each night have gained strength since last Friday. There are more voices -- both desperate and defiant -- from young and old, men and women. It is the way we remind each other not to give up all hope, and it is our call for a leader.
Following a half-hour of this nightly freedom, we whistle and clap for each other to congratulate us all on a job well done. In this way they cannot take the night from us.
Ayatollah Rafsanjani's Friday sermon at Tehran University called for the release of imprisoned protesters and a relaxation of press freedoms. Former President Mohammad Khatami also announced yesterday that Rafsanjani’s recommendations were merely the minimum. Not only do they need to gain back the people’s trust but they should have a referendum to confirm the people’s opinion. When all other voices of reform have been silenced, a few religious leaders protected, for now, by their political and religious authority, can speak.
A couple of days ago, Grand Ayatollah Saanei, a reformist cleric, announced that working with this authoritarian regime is against the principles of Islam. It might seem surprising to outsiders that the loudest voices of dissent are coming from the religious seminaries and Muslim clerics in Qum, but this is not unusual for Iran. Since the revolution, human rights activists, feminists, and even left-leaning politicians have found their greatest ally in Islam. Hence, the use of the color green -- the color of Islam -- for this resistance movement. It is as if to say to the conservative clerics who rule the country, “You cannot suppress us with religion. The martyred Imam Hussein is our example and Islam is our religion. It protects us, gives us a voice, and compels us to be compassionate for all humanity.”
These are difficult and frustrating times for those who wish to reform the government. Mousavi, while supporting the reformists for many years, is considered a pragmatist or centrist. But as the legitimacy of Khatami and Rafsanjani is tarnished, he is the only hope for the reform movement. With so many reformist leaders in prison, is he capable of leading this movement?
For many, this movement is about reclaiming the spirit and intent of the Islamic Revolution -- even if most of us were born after it. We want to fight for the principles our parents fought for thirty years ago -- the right to be free from tyranny, the right to choose, and the right to a voice. We see Khamenei and Ahmadinejad moving the Islamic Revolution away from democratic pluralism and towards authoritarianism.
The Islamic Republic, founded by throwing out a dictator, is becoming a dictatorship. Parliamentary representative Ruhollah Hosseinian proclaimed on Iranian television that this government will do whatever is necessary to maintain control of its population. My friend Roksana’s mother is a high school principal and has told me that the government will fire 11 principals in the next few weeks because of their political beliefs -- and put in their places will be pro-regime personnel.
We hear of proposals for new structures to monitor the population's "moral behavior." We hear they are trying to disband the independent lawyers' bar restricting all lawyers to work for under the judiciary controlled by Khamenei. It is the consolidation of a dictatorship.
They can control all of these things -- the government, the press, the economy, our public lives -- but they cannot control our minds or our will to resist. We will dance, even if it is in the car. We will support each other, even if it is from the rooftops, at night.
We will hope.
“Laleh Azadi” is the pseudonym of an Iranian woman writing from Tehran.
Copyright © 2009 Laleh Azadi
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