The Iranian Experience: What can Nepal Learn?
The 20th century is full of case studies in which the vaccuum left by
the monarchy has been filled by radical elements almost all the time
resorting to dictatorship rather than democracy
By Preeti Koirala
Iran serves as another good example for Nepalis to take lessons from,
international powers to realize from their mistakes and regional
players not to underestimate the powerful inertia of fundamentalism
and totalitarianism that can offset the whole regional power dynamics.
A shining modern society, aiming to be the fifth power of the world,
relatively moderate, secular and a pro-west Iran under the Shah has
now turned into an axis of evil, headache for the whole of the
middle-east, an oppressor of its own people, a preacher of violent
Islam and a supporter of terrorist organizations such as the
Hezbullah.
Young Iranians who took to the streets against their monarchy in 1979
today don't have a right even to evaluate the performance of their
government. In fact, they don't even know what the outside world
possibly thinks about them or their country except what their national
television and government owned newspapers tell them. Iranian women
who used to wear jeans to college in the mid-seventies today play
basketball in their burkas. Those who used to advocate for free and
fair elections during much of the Shah era, today shake their heads
when they see the entire government ruled by an un-elected and
illiterate clergy who know nothing about politics and economics than
what their understanding of Quran told them. What went wrong in Iran?
Who is to blame? And what lessons can Iran's modern history offer to
Nepal and to the Nepalis people as we find ourselves in the midst of a
takeover by another variety of extremists in our own country?
In 1925 a specially convened assembly deposed Ahmad Shah Qajar, the
last ruler of the Qajar dynasty, and named Reza Khan, who had adopted
the surname "Pahlavi", as the new Shah. Reza Shah had ambitious plans
for modernizing Iran. These plans included developing large-scale
industries, implementing major infrastructure projects, building a
cross-country railroad, establishing a national public education
system, reforming the judiciary, and improving health care. He
believed that a strong, centralized government managed by educated
personnel could implement his plans. He sent hundreds of Iranians
including his son to Europe for education and technical training.
During 16 years from 1925 till 1941, Reza Shah's numerous development
projects transformed Iran into a modern country. Public education
progressed rapidly, and a new social class emerged. Iran's political
system also opened up. Political parties were allowed, and in 1944 the
Majlis polls were held which were the first genuine competitive
election to take place in the country. In fact, Iran was the most
"democratic" country in the whole of the region at that time. The
Anglo-Iranian Oil Company owned by the British government, continued
to produce and market Iranian oil. In the beginning of 1930s some
Iranians began to advocate nationalization of the country's oil
fields. After 1946 this became an increasingly popular political
movement as the oil gave Tehran much needed revenue for modernization
drive.
His son, Mohammed Shah Pahlavi, popularly known as the "Shah of Iran"
was even more modern and pro-American. So much was Iran's prosperity
in comparison to other Gulf states during his reign that even the
royalty of other countries used to look upto Iran's wealth with
aghast. The King named himself the "Shahenshah" and also the "Light of
the Aryans". During the Cold War, the Shah established himself as an
indispensable ally of the West. Domestically, he advocated reform
policies, culminating in the 1963 program known as the White
Revolution, which included land reform, granting of voting rights to
women, and elimination of illiteracy. He made major changes to curb
the power of certain ancient elite factions by distributing large and
medium-sized estates for the benefit of more than four million small
farmers. However, these modernization measures, including extending
suffrage to women, met the discontent of the Islamic clergy. Unafraid
of the clergy and their outdated theories, he instituted exams for
Islamic theologians to become established clerics, which were widely
unpopular and broke centuries-old religious traditions. In less than
two decades of his reign, Iran became the undisputable major economic
and military power of the Middle East.
On the foreign policy front, the Shah maintained cordial relations
with the Gulf states and established closer diplomatic ties with Saudi
Arabia. With Iraq, he signed the Algiers Accord, which granted Iraq
equal navigation rights in the Arvand/Shatt al-Arab river, with the
Shah also agreeing to end his support for Iraqi Kurdish rebels.
He built good relations with Israel and the United States which turned
out to be sufficient reasons for Islamic fundamentalist groups to
attack his policies. Nepal had also established diplomatic relations
with Iran and late King Mahendra participated in the grand coronation
ceremony of the Shah. Kathmandu opened its residential mission in
Tehran with late Ishwori Raj Pandey serving as the first (and the
last) charge d' affairs a.i.
In 1949, an assassination attempt on the Shah, blamed on the
pro-Soviet Tudeh Party, resulted in the banning of that party and the
expansion of the Shah's constitutional powers. Furthermore, he passed
a controversial bill that allowed municipal officials in the country
to take oaths of office on whatever holy book they preferred. This and
other reform policies angered religious zealots, the most prominent
among them being Ayatollah Khomeini.
Khomeini held beliefs of an extreme form of the Shi'a creed. From
exile, he developed the concept of a theocracy, which significantly
altered what had largely been a non-political branch of Islam. He was
able to exploit contradictions of the Iranian society and garner
support from the communists, the liberal democrats and students for a
revolution against monarchy. The then Soviet Union had hoped that the
fall of monarchy would bring down a pro-west regime in Tehran and
perhaps erect another Stalinist republic. The United States and its
European allies although supportive of the Shah from a regional
perspective, regarded Islamic fundamentalists as a bulwark against
communism. As long as the Shah was not overthrown by Communists, the
regime change seemed ok to Washington and London. The marginalized
sections of the rural areas thought that they would get a pro-poor
government rather than an urban centered regime of the Shah. The youth
desired to see an end to centuries' old feudal rule that would bring
in a youthful leadership capable of driving the nation forward. The
secular forces hoped that the fall of absolute monarchy would usher in
a truly secular, more modern state with full democratic credentials
such as periodic elections, freedom of speech, guarantee of human
rights and a free press.
The first lesson that Iran's predicament teaches Nepal is not to act in haste and repent in leisure. Young Iranians protested for about three months before the downfall of monarchy in 1979. But they have been repenting and dreaming for a just, equitable and a free society to re-emerge for the past three decades. |
But after the Iranian revolution, Khomeini betrayed everyone and
embraced only those who agreed to his vision of a radical Islam. He
appointed himself Supreme Ruler, with a "parliament" made up of
clerics, instituting a strict regime of Islamic law, ordering women to
wear veils and suspending the criminal justice system. In November
1979, a group of student radicals overran the U.S. embassy and took
American embassy staff including diplomats, intelligence and military
personnel hostage, as per Khomeini's orders.
The rest is history. If there was no Islamic revolution in Iran, there
would not have been the Iran-Iraq war in which the Reagan
administration had to aid Iraq's Saddam Hussein regime. Had their been
no mullahs ruling Tehran, there would have been no or little support
to terrorist organisations such as the Hezbullah and Hamas. Khomeini
was the first to use radicalism in Islam and tint it with
anti-American flavour which encouraged other people like him such as
Bin Laden and groups like the al Qaeda to use the same tactics of
terror. It was Khomeini who first issued fatwa calling on Muslims
everywhere to kill Salman Rushdie for writing a book The Satanic
Verses. The proclamation became groundbreaking in the politicization
of fatwas. Khomeini had previously abused the fatwa to deliver death
sentences to thousands of his domestic political opponents. In later
years, Osama Bin Laden used the same fatwa against the United States
for the 9/11 attacks and continues to do so to terrorize the
democratic world. Had the monarchy remained in Iran, the history of
Middle East would have been totally different and the world certainly
would have been a much safer place to live in.
It is thus an irony of history that in the land of Cyrus The Great,
the birthplace of the first charter of the "Rights of Nations" and the
"Declaration of Human Rights" over 2500 years ago, there is today
hardly any semblance of civil rights. According to official Iranian
estimates, more than 200,000 Iranians lost their lives in the
Iran-Iraq war that ended without any political or geographical change
of either country. It is a regime that has executed over 120,000
political prisoners in two decades. Torture is rampant and corruption
is collosal. Since the inception of the mullahs' rule, hundreds of
women of various ages have been and continue to be stoned to death
throughout Iran. So much so that Iranian dress codes prohibit the
country from fielding women teams for Olympics in events including
swimming, track and field, and other sports that expose woman's toes,
head or arms.
It has been 27 years since the fall of the Shah yet theorists are
still struggling to understand what happened then. Today Iranian
people are demanding civil and political freedoms, separation of
religion and government, equality and justice (especially for the
Iranian women) and immediate freeing of all political prisoners. But
their government is more interested in building nuclear weapons. The
world continues to watch helplessly as a bunch of radical clerics make
a mockery of human civilization.
The first lesson that Iran's predicament teaches Nepal is not to act
in haste and repent in leisure. Young Iranians protested for about
three months before the downfall of monarchy in 1979. But they have
been repenting and dreaming for a just, equitable and a free society
to re-emerge for the past three decades. Lesson number two: The want
for more freedom, more democratic space, freedom of press, bigger role
for the civil society, devolution of power, etc. is not a crime but
people must first make sure that even the little that they already
have isn't lost in the procss of yearning for more. Lesson number
three: The 20th century is full of case studies in which the vaccuum
left by the monarchy has been filled by radical and sinister elements
almost all the time resorting to dictatorship rather than democracy.
They have killed far more people in the name of "new democracy" or
religion than under the previous "totalitarian" regime. Lesson number
Four: Just by having a republic, hoping that all the country's
problems would suddenly vanish away is a sheer nonsense. Most of the
time the country's problems have nothing to do with the monarchy and
can exasperate with the collapse of law and order situation. Lesson
Number of Five: Just two Kings ruled Iran under the Pahlavi dynasty
yet the impact of its downfall has been devastating for the people of
that country and for its neighbouring countries. Nepal was not even
born as a nation until a King of the Shah dynasty unified the country
as a single entity. There is very little basis to imagine that Nepal
will be truly "democratic" once it turns into a republic.
It is true that history never looks like history when one is living
through it. But it is also true that those who cannot remember the
past are condemned to repeat it.
An insurance executive based in the United States, Ms Koirala writes on contemporary political and social issues and can be reached at preeti72koirala@hotmail.com
(Editor’s Note: Nepalis, wherever they live, as well as friends of Nepal around the globe are requested to contribute their views/opinions/recollections etc. on issues concerning present day Nepal to the Guest Column of Nepalnews. Length of the article should not be more than 1,000 words and may be edited for the purpose of clarity and space. Relevant photos as well as photo of the author may also be sent along with the article. Please send your write-ups to editors@mos.com.np)
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