Warning Against the Consequences of the Confrontation Between 'Authoritarians' and the 'Student Movement'

The newspaper Bahar, in a note titled 'The Student Movement and Social Action', has warned about the confrontation between 'authoritarians' and the student movement, emphasizing that if the 'authoritarians' do not change their perspective towards students and academics, 'the confrontation between authoritarianism and the student movement will again enter a military phase in the future, creating further disasters.' On Student Day, Bahar published photos of Mohammad-Reza Aref, Masoumeh Ebtekar, Hamid-Reza Jalai-Pour, and Jafar Tofighi on its front page, describing the speeches of prominent reformist figures in various cities as 'the return of vitality to the university.' The newspaper reported that Mohammad-Reza Aref, in his speech at Sharif University, stated: 'The student movement should activate for another 92.' Bahar noted that Ali Motahari at Allameh Tabatabai University said that 'restrictions have increased,' while Masoumeh Ebtekar at Yazd University mentioned that 'the government is trying to lift restrictions.' Hamid-Reza Jalai-Pour, a sociologist and reformist figure, emphasized in an interview with Bahar that 'the student movement today is not in a state of movement,' and Jafar Tofighi, former head of the Ministry of Science, stated that 'the effective approach of the eleventh government has pushed the student movement to the margins.' The newspaper Kayhan attacked the speeches of several reformist figures on its front page, stating that the reformists 'have mistaken the university for a beauty salon while beautifying America.' The newspaper Shargh, in a report on 'the gender composition in the student movement in Iran', wrote: 'A brief look at the gender composition of student organizations shows that despite the expansion of civil activities of women and the increase in women's share of seats in universities across the country, we do not see a prominent presence of girls in this area.' The newspaper Etemad dedicated its front page to important dates in the electoral process for the Assembly of Experts and the Islamic Consultative Assembly, stating: 'Important electoral days for the country have been announced leading up to the most important day, March 7.' Etemad also published a report on Ali Motahari's speech at Allameh Tabatabai University, quoting the parliament member as saying: 'Some create artificial red lines.' The newspaper Qanoon published a report about 'the stitching of a child due to lacking 150,000 tomans in a hospital in Isfahan,' referring to the day of this incident as 'a black day for the medical community in Iran.' The newspaper Shargh also published a note titled 'Professional Integrity in Times of Economic Recession', referring to the consequences of the recession and financial problems of the government, including the necessary credits for the health and treatment sector, stating that this event may 'display the dissatisfaction of part of the medical community in the country.' This newspaper emphasized that 'the doctors or nurses who acted in this manner have acted irresponsibly in terms of professional integrity, but this behavior should not be generalized to the medical community.' The newspaper Farhikhtegan published a report about the outbreak of swine flu in Kerman, stating: 'Winter has not yet arrived, but seasonal flu has already claimed the lives of 22 people in Kerman province, putting the treatment centers in this province on alert, and there are concerns that the epidemic of this disease may spread from this province to other parts of the country.' The newspaper Javan, on its front page titled 'A Dangerous Game with Currency', wrote: 'Economists of the eleventh government believe that by increasing the price of currency, they can cover the government budget deficit caused by global oil price drops and reduced oil exports. Therefore, since the beginning of the second season of this year, the price of currency has increased, despite being set at around 2,850 tomans in the 2014 budget, currently reaching nearly 3,100 tomans.' This newspaper noted that economists close to the government have reacted negatively to the belief that 'the budget deficit can be overcome by increasing the price of currency,' describing this action as playing with the lion's tail. The warning from Bahar regarding the consequences of the confrontation between 'authoritarians' and the 'student movement' states that the author Ali Reza Kafayi wrote in Bahar's note that 'it is not expected that the actions of the authoritarians against students will be met with positive judgment from the academic community and consequently the general public, and thus, the confrontation between authoritarianism and the student movement will again enter a military phase in the future, creating further disasters, unless the authoritarians recognize the rights of students and parties and enter the field of social action with a reformist approach and acknowledgment of the rights of opponents.' This newspaper pointed out that 'soldiers, employees, workers, and others are each obliged to perform a specific duty determined by the government or employer, which may even conflict with that duty, but they must perform it.' It stated that 'students occupy a position that goes beyond this closed circle, in addition to their academic duty and adherence to norms, they also have the duty of leadership, guidance, freedom, and flourishing of that soldier, worker, employee, and others.' Therefore, 'student organizations define one of their duties in this regard and are thus trusted and welcomed by society, and the public's expectation from them revolves around this axis of trust to find a way and alleviate the pains and sufferings of society, and if a student is committed to this, they will be a leader and guide for society towards freedom and liberation.' Bahar emphasized that 'it is clear that organizations like the student Basij cannot genuinely fulfill the role of a purely student organization, but rather have the mission of preserving the regime based on the rulers' directives and are more concerned with executing orders than thinking and providing solutions to social deadlocks. If they do propose a plan, idea, or action, they first consider the regime.' The writer of Bahar's note emphasized that 'in social action, to convince others, the more important and fundamental the issues raised are, the greater the sensitivity, and on the other hand, the more resistance to change and the harder acceptance will be, and if faced with people of thought and intellect like students, the difficulty of the task is doubled.' He wrote: 'So far, governments have not been able to implement their inhumane goals in universities and have faced stiff resistance from thoughtful and contemplative students. However, they have never lost hope and continue to seek to influence students' thoughts and try to take this fundamental base for themselves, whether through cadre-building and parallel organizations or through threats or bribery. However, their results throughout history, at least in the last hundred years in all societies, have been negative.' Bahar pointed out that during three periods: the era of Mohammad Mossadegh, the 1979 Revolution, and the Second Khordad of 1997, the student movement aligned with the political spectrum seeking transformation led to 'national victory.' It stated: 'Students found in the character of individuals like Mohammad Khatami and his associates in 1997 that reformists understand the people's pain and strive to alleviate the community's suffering. Therefore, in this social action, they were convinced to support the reformists. After this, the authoritarians realized that they either had to separate the university and students from their freedom and inherent duty or prevent their actions through pressure and threats.' This newspaper emphasized that what the 'authoritarians' did not understand and 'authoritarianism will never be able to comprehend is that creating threats and restrictions is not a solution, and of course, there is no solution to convince students to join the regime because the nature of studenthood and the essence of the student movement is to uphold rights and defend the people, not the regime, and it does not tolerate encroachment on freedom and independence of itself and the people and reacts.' Bahar noted the use of 'threats and restrictions against students and universities' by authoritarians, stating that 'the military approach' will not cure their ailments, advising 'authoritarians' to 'once again turn the pages of history to become aware of the harms of their actions and free themselves from this dangerous predicament,' as 'it is not expected that the actions of authoritarians against students will be met with positive judgment from the academic community and consequently the general public, and thus, the confrontation between authoritarianism and the student movement will again enter a military phase in the future, creating further disasters.' The attack by Kayhan on the speeches of reformists in universities: The newspaper Kayhan attacked the speeches of several reformist figures on its front page, stating that reformists 'have mistaken the university for a beauty salon while beautifying America.' This newspaper wrote: 'While the reasonable and appropriate expectation is that the university authorities and those involved in Student Day should turn December 7 into a day of exposing the crimes of imperialism and awakening students as the flag bearers of oppression and justice-seeking, on Sunday, some universities in the country witnessed the presence and speeches of individuals and currents that not only do not step in this direction but also reverse the narrative and, by turning the university into a beauty salon, have beautified America.' Kayhan referred to the speech of Ebrahim Asgarzadeh at Tarbiat Modares University, stating that he 'expressed regret over the fact that the Islamic Revolution of 1979 occurred under the leadership of the clergy' under the pretext of the acid attack incident in Isfahan and a conflict in Rajaei City Prison. While Mustafa Moein, who went to the University of Arak for a speech, 'the university officials created a highly security atmosphere with disruptions in mobile phones and strict control of student entry and exit to the ceremony hall.' This newspaper particularly criticized Mustafa Moein for emphasizing the need to 'lift the house arrest' of Mir-Hossein Mousavi, Mehdi Karroubi, and Zahra Rahnavard, while simultaneously attacking Ali Motahari for reiterating the demand to lift the house arrest at Allameh Tabatabai University in Tehran. Kayhan also severely criticized the invitation of Ebrahim Yazdi to speak at Tehran University, stating: 'Tehran University, in a strange and noteworthy move, invited Ebrahim Yazdi for the December 7 ceremony. This, too, with titles like advisor to the Imam, while members of the Freedom Movement have openly and even to this day always referred to Mr. Khomeini and have never used the title Imam for the founder of the revolution.' This newspaper described the invitation of Ebrahim Yazdi to speak at Tehran University and the use of the title 'advisor to the Imam' for the Secretary-General of the Freedom Movement as 'hypocritical and deceitful' and even stated that the students' invitation to Ebrahim Yazdi 'indicates the influence of the anti-revolutionary Freedom Movement within the Ministry of Science and Education.' A look at the gender composition in the student movement in Iran: The newspaper Shargh published a report on 'the gender composition in the student movement in Iran', stating: 'A brief look at the gender composition of student organizations shows that despite the expansion of civil activities of women and the increase in women's share of seats in universities across the country, we do not see a prominent presence of girls in this area.' This newspaper wrote: 'In Iran, over the past two decades, women have been able to outperform men in academic and scientific competitions and have a larger share of universities. However, the gender composition in student organizations has not changed much from what was observed in the 1990s,' indicating 'reluctance' and 'passivity' among young female students to engage in political and social activities. Arzu Farshid, the reporter for Shargh, reviewed student activities in three periods: 'from 1943 to 1968, from 1968 to 1976, and from 1995 to the present', stating: 'The first wave of political activities of Iranian students began in 1946. At that time, the Tudeh Party, although experiencing schisms, remained powerful at Tehran University. Its youth organization was recognized as the main student union supporting the Tudeh Party in Iran and organized a strike at Tehran University to protest the ban on political activities in universities, which can be considered the first effective student strike until that time.' However, 'the share of women in this organization and the strike that took place was very minimal, to the extent that no woman's name can be seen among the members of the Tudeh Youth Organization or even the Democratic Youth Association of Iran, which was later created under the pressures of the Pahlavi regime.' This report noted that in the 'second wave of the student movement from 1968 to 1976', which 'includes the final decade of the Pahlavi regime, we witnessed an increase in women's presence in universities and consequently their political activities.' It referred to the guerrilla activities in the years leading up to the revolution, stating: 'Groups adhering to armed struggle often recruited members from within universities, turning universities into a field for transforming students into guerrillas, among whom girls were also seen, albeit in fewer numbers than boys.' Shargh also noted: 'The presence of women in political struggles leading to the revolution and the first decade of the revolution, including the occupation of the US Embassy, clearly shows this change and transformation in the country's political and social context.' However, 'the decrease in the number of female students after the cultural revolution caused women to not follow this path with the same initial speed and face ups and downs along the way.' This newspaper also referred to 'quantitative and qualitative developments in higher education in Iran', stating: 'The development of general literacy and secondary education and the increase in university capacities increased women's presence in universities between 1956 and 1976.