Mawlawi Abdolhamid: If Detaining Us Solves People's Problems, Then Imprison Us

Mawlawi Abdolhamid, the Friday prayer leader of Zahedan, on Tuesday met with scholars from Iranshahr and a group of scholars from Khash, referring to the increasing problems faced by the people, said: "The situation of the people is dire, and they are struggling. If the officials cannot solve our problems, at least they should address the issues of other people." He added: "If solving the people's problems depends on detaining and arresting us, then let them arrest all of us and imprison us. If the people's problems can be resolved by detaining protesters and politicians, I urge them to turn themselves in to prison so that the people's problems can be solved. But the reality is that the problems of the people cannot be solved through imprisonment and repression; rather, they should sit down with the people." In another part of his speech, he stated: "To avoid being accused of representing Islam, I have said that there are various interpretations of Islam, and in the interpretation we have of Islam, political prisoners, insults to prisoners, torture of prisoners, and forced confessions do not exist, and the voices of those who have political criticisms should be heard. I can confidently say that if these words were acted upon, the problems would be resolved." The Friday prayer leader of Zahedan also commemorated Labor Day, saying: "We regret that today dear workers are struggling even for their bread. They have now said that the workers' wages have been increased to eight million tomans, which is less than one hundred and fifty dollars, while in our neighboring countries, the minimum wage for a worker is about four hundred dollars." He concluded by noting: "Workers who protest do so because of problems and hunger."