Dariush: 'Ain' Says No to Denial and Obsolescence

Dariush Eghbali is a well-known and beloved singer for many Iranians. Since 2000, he has been promoting social empowerment through the non-profit foundation 'Ain.' Recently, Ain's radio has become more serious in its work, starting a trial broadcast with six hours of daily educational programming. I spoke with Dariush about Ain, its message, and his recent work in response to the recent protests in Iran. What led you and your colleagues at the Ain Foundation to think about launching a 24-hour independent educational media outlet to raise awareness about social harms and human rights concepts? We felt the need for an independent educational media in our society. I believe Ain's voice might be the first fully educational media outlet. The Ain Foundation is a non-profit organization whose only goal is to raise awareness and empower the community regarding social harms. Currently, we have six hours of programming daily, dedicating Saturdays and Sundays to rebroadcast the best programs from the week. Given the activities of the Ain Foundation, this volume of programming requires production and people to pursue these educational goals. How many experts collaborate with you, and how do you manage this work considering existing obstacles like financial barriers and other issues? This organization is run by passionate and dedicated volunteers who work without financial expectations, driven by their love for service. We invited several human rights organizations, including an American organization that produces programs and volunteers to execute their shows. All staff, experts, psychologists, and sociologists working at Ain are engaged in service voluntarily. There are friends who are interested in Ain's goals. Over the past fifteen years, Ain has been scrutinized without those involved wishing to be highlighted, yet they are present and help shape this organization. Daily, we invite people to participate in our six-hour live programming, dedicating an hour to their own programs to contribute to raising awareness in our community within a clear and lawful framework. The content of the programs produced specifically focuses on social harms, particularly addiction. What other areas of social harm do you address? We raise awareness and provide assistance regarding child labor, street children, refugees, etc. For example, in relation to children, we have managed to provide 850 books through a campaign called the 'Book Play Campaign.' We invite people to collect their books and donate them to our friends so we can deliver them to interested children in child labor and street organizations. We have also prepared about 3,900 school supply packages for children. In another part of the campaign, we have a tree-planting initiative, and so far, 7,500 trees have been planted by children in recovery centers... We encourage everyone to participate in creating a healthy community. The role of the people and volunteer activities is very effective. We have invited media to collaborate. We invite non-profit organizations to create a health triangle, with the foundation of this triangle based on the voluntary presence of the people and the other two sides being the media and non-profit organizations. In fact, it seeks to empower the community, but is the relationship between abroad and inside Iran easy? Do you easily connect or transfer messages and see feedback? Many serve, passionately and bravely present in Iran, and cooperate in all ways. My intention is that raising awareness about social harms should be separate from other issues. It is true that everything is intertwined with political issues, and alongside harms, human rights violations are also prevalent, but many work for us with the intention of service from within. Some are anonymous, while others are well-known. We collaborate passionately, and my focus has been more on Iran, where so many harms have arisen; we must raise awareness among the people, inviting them to come out of secrecy, denial, and obsolescence and recognize their rights. Given the sensitive situation in Iran these days, especially recently with the increase in harms due to rising economic pressures, which you may have heard in the news, and the widespread protests that followed, as well as human rights violations, is your focus also on fundamental human rights concepts or just on harms? Exactly, you are right. I believe in a principled approach and think that most young people are alien to history. The only way we thought could be effective is to give them a nudge to revisit history. Revisiting history through reading, with audiobooks of historical texts like the stories of Gandhi, Mandela, or South Africa, or the story of Babak Khorramdin... with existing documentaries, we convey this message. A nation that does not know its history is doomed to perish. It is condemned to repeat history. We must learn from our history. I believe more in this method. This method is also more aligned with the Ain Foundation's charter. We want to inform and educate our community to learn history. This approach to addressing harms is a new one. Aside from social activities, what new work do you have in music for the needs and voices of the young generation that is now being heard loudly from Iran? I have always believed that music and artists can play a constructive role in society, especially artists inside the country who are at the center of these pains, and it should be among their goals, so that I, sitting abroad, can come and send a message from a place where I am quickly judged, even though I have no qualms about this issue. I believe that artists must play an important role in their homeland's difficult and critical conditions. In particular, in Iran, the artist serves as the trumpet of society and must be present, and song and music have played a very important role in political and social conditions, from the Constitutional Revolution to today. I always say, listen to me, do not listen to me; I consider it my duty to work hard for a cause, but the most important issue is thinking, which is something that has been imprisoned in that land. We are in the month of Bahman, a special month in our homeland's history. This history always reminds us of the loss of our youth, the transformation of our land, the revolution of our land, and for this, I have chosen a song that I recently sang called 'Thought is Not to be Killed,' and I dedicate it to the people of Iran and their voices. I hope my compatriots, especially the youth, can look at the world from another perspective. I hope they accept with awareness what existence is, what life is, and that the old beliefs of the people change, and I also think that not just one song, but other songs and other artists must play a role. I will also do my part. I hope to see the victory and happiness of my compatriots as soon as possible.