Rape in Iranshahr, Assassination in Khash; Is Bread Better than Security?

After the revelation of the rape of girls in Iranshahr, the assassination of a well-known scientific figure (dentist) and religious (Mawlawi) and a morally upright athlete, as well as an accountant and advisor to the seminary of Makhan al-Uloom in Khash and the head of the board of trustees of its main mosque, named Abdulshakur Kurd Turshabi, in front of a mosque in Khash (150 kilometers north of Iranshahr), once again exposed the bitter truth that Sistan and Baluchestan has neither bread nor security, and remains entangled in violence rooted in internal and external factors of the traditional society of Sistan and Baluchestan. On the morning of Thursday, July 5, 2018, unknown individuals shot Abdulshakur Kurd in front of the Tawhid Mosque near the Martyrs' Square in Khash. Immediately after the sound of Dr. Abdulshakur was silenced forever, the market of rumors and speculations about the motives and identities of his killers began to flourish, with each person attributing it to 'the other' or 'outsiders' or 'enemies of the Baluch.' Unbeknownst to them, one of the deadliest harmful factors lies within the distorted traditions of the traditional society of Sistan and Baluchestan, which can suddenly claim seven innocent victims in bloody tribal conflicts, like a seven-headed dragon. According to some analysts familiar with the issues of the province, violence and a form of tribal animosity have become institutionalized in at least part of the community. Over the past few decades, there have been numerous instances where a simple street altercation or a verbal dispute accompanied by anger and animosity between two individuals from different tribes or clans (and even between two branches of the same tribe) has sparked a series of retaliatory events resulting in the deaths of many innocent people. Innocent! Meaning truly innocent, who had no direct or even indirect involvement or knowledge of these types of conflicts, but were simply attacked in a fanatical and dark-minded revenge due to belonging to the 'hostile tribe.' In such an environment, the cycle of blood and bloodshed expands and unfortunately, the fire of this tribal animosity and revenge sometimes appears so illogical and unbelievable that it may be incomprehensible to a rational person. In most cases, the main killer usually escapes, and there is no access to him for revenge. In such circumstances, agitated and impatient avengers typically identify an elite, educated individual from the so-called hostile tribe and target him to make the revenge even more 'grievous and heart-wrenching,' even though that individual had no involvement or knowledge of the initial murder and conflict. Even if the innocent and unaware victim lives peacefully and without pain hundreds of kilometers away in a distant city and location. Unfortunately, the policy of distributing countless weapons among various tribes by the Revolutionary Guards and the Basij of Sistan and Baluchestan and other security institutions, under the guise of 'ensuring security,' in practice results in something akin to 'divide and rule'; which unfortunately may be one of the main factors promoting violence in the province due to the abundance of weapons in society. Last year, the Fars news agency reported under the title 'Tribal Conflicts in Sistan and Baluchestan Continue to Claim Victims/ What is the Responsibility of Officials?' that 'Tribal conflicts, the existence of weapons in the hands of unqualified individuals, certainly if illegal weapons were not available to people, we would never witness the killing of tribe members during disputes. Individuals with weapons, some of which are even from certain military organizations, easily kill several people and even after being arrested, are easily released.' This report explicitly adds that 'Officials pay no attention to these murders and their impact on the flight of capital from the province. Our officials are merely observers of these serial killings, and their silence is a green light for individuals to commit any crime in complete security, which is truly regrettable.' Of course, such tribal conflicts also occur in some other parts of Iran. However, the approach of the Revolutionary Guards, the judiciary, law enforcement forces, and other security institutions appears to be different. For example, after the conflicts between the Mohammadi and Mousavi tribes of the Bakhtiari clan that occurred in the Baghamalak and Ramhormoz regions over several years, resulting in a total of 16 deaths from both tribes, based on a resolution from the Supreme National Security Council and with the prosecutor's office of Baghamalak, 200 individuals from both sides of the conflict were arrested, and prison sentences and two-year exile sentences were issued for them; and ultimately, the matter was somewhat resolved. However, unfortunately, in Sistan and Baluchestan, due to numerous reasons, including the geostrategic position of the province, the religious, ethnic, and tribal fabric, and the presence of armed groups, this policy may practically resemble pouring gasoline on the fire of tribal conflicts. Although some religious forces attribute these kinds of killings to the decline of virtue and morality and the fading of faith and fear of God in society, the bitter truth is that the killer and the victim, as well as subsequent killers and victims, are all praying Muslims who justify revenge under various titles, including 'Qisas' (retribution) and distrust in the law and lawmakers. Although the case of Dr. Abdulshakur Kurd has not been closed and even the identity of the killer or killers has not been determined, according to existing evidence and based on credible and valid statements, this murder is rooted in common tribal conflicts that unfortunately innocent elites of the Baluch tribes are sacrificed in the slaughterhouse of fanaticism and violence. According to a report two years ago by the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting, in recent years, about 18 tribal conflicts in Khash County that resulted in the deaths of dozens have led to peace and reconciliation, which is just a small part of a grim picture. Mawlawi Abdolhamid, the Sunni Imam of Zahedan, who attended the funeral of Dr. Abdulshakur in Khash, expressed regret and condemned tribal killings in the region during the funeral, stating: 'Unfortunately, the signs of pre-Islamic ignorance still exist in our society; our people kill the father, brother, and relatives of the killer, while these are related to the ignorance before Islam that was rejected and condemned with the advent of Islam.' He further emphasized the need for 'enlightenment' in society, saying: 'We all must fulfill our duty in the direction of enlightening and guiding the people. What will scholars, elders, and influential people answer to God on the Day of Judgment when an innocent person is killed instead of the killer?... Killing a person who has not committed murder and has no role in it is a very dangerous act and has dangerous consequences.' The Telegram page of the Makhan al-Uloom seminary in Khash, founded by the father of Dr. Abdulshakur, where the deceased was an accountant and advisor, writes: 'The last time we visited His Excellency Sheikh al-Hadith - may God have mercy on him - at his home, he said he had been threatened. That same day, he went to visit Sardar Khobyar (the chief of the Shahnavazi tribe and its sub-tribes, which previously had conflicts with the Shahli tribe) and emphasized that the issue should be pursued. After we returned, he said: 'One of the foolishness of some Baluch tribes is that they eliminate their elites in their conflicts. And how foolish were the killers of this great man, who cared for them and did not know.' The province of Sistan and Baluchestan faces various disorders and anomalies. The performance record of the Islamic Republic in Sistan and Baluchestan in various fields, including poverty, disease, discrimination, addiction, murder, execution, kidnapping, armed robbery, lack of security, shootings, assassinations, tribal conflicts, and rape, shows that it was a flower that was adorned with greenery. Many of these anomalies are embedded in the fabric of the traditional and backward society and are even introduced and reproduced by various official and unofficial 'value' and 'honor' structures. From a sociological perspective, the solution and liberation from them require a very strong political, social, cultural, religious, and security will in a long process. Collecting the weapons of the Revolutionary Guards from the hands of various tribes can be a necessary prerequisite and a positive initial step, so that at least the tools of easy killing are not easily and abundantly found. Many questions arise in this regard. For example, how can it be accepted that the Revolutionary Guards, which claims to confront the armies of the world and establish security throughout the region, is unable to ensure security in a province and has resorted to both good and bad individuals (sometimes with criminal records) of the Baluch tribes? More importantly, the society of Baluchistan must undergo a social, economic, and cultural transformation that allows for growth and emergence from the collective mindset of 'Zahi and Zahi's' to an enlightened individuality with individual characteristics as an independent citizen with a sense of social responsibility and freedom in a law-oriented civil society. As long as the Baluch people consider the current laws of the country as unjust and against themselves, as long as the law and judiciary cannot prevent crime and enforce justice in society, unfortunately, many nervous and angry individuals who also hold the weapons of the tribal Basij act directly outside the law they do not trust and believe in, resulting in chaos and rampant violence. This is among people who are told that if you do not have bread for the night, at least you have security. Unfortunately, in Sistan and Baluchestan, despite the erroneous thinking and claims of officials, there is neither security nor bread.