Members of the Baha’i faith have been faced repression in Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Hundreds have been killed, tortured, and imprisoned. Since 2005, more than 700 Baha’is have been arrested, and more than 100 are currently imprisoned, include seven leaders of the community serving 20-year sentences.
The Baha’i also face economic and educational discrimination, with students excluded from university. The Baha’i Institute for Higher Education, established to fill the gap, has been periodically harassed with raids, closures, and arrests of staff.
So what happened when a talented Baha’i student, citizen journalist Raha Bushehri, approached 3 MPs to ask if she could get into an Iranian university? Iran Wire reports:
MP Zohreh Tabib-Zadeh Nuri
Hello Ms. Tabib-Zadeh. I have a problem and I wanted to have a short talk with you.
Please, but make it short because I must attend a meeting right now.
I am an Iranian student and all my teachers hope that I will be in the top ranks of next year’s entrance exams. But there is no guarantee that I can go to university.
How come?
Because I am a Baha’i.
How did you get my number?
I got your number from a friend who’s a reporter. I was told that you would do whatever you can.
Look, my daughter. You Baha’is are hostile to Islam and we cannot allow the enemies of Islam into Islamic universities. You get into universities and start to try to convert others. Right now as a result of carelessness by the former management team of the Science Ministry a number of Baha’i students have gotten into universities and Baha’i promotional booklets have been distributed. Of course the Muslims would not be deceived by these booklets, and Baha’is know it too, but they do such things because of their animosity towards Islam.
You mean you cannot do anything?
Look my dear. Go and study the Koran and learn more about Islam and try to decide for yourself. I promise you that if you study it carefully and decide with wisdom you will choose the religion of Islam and your problems would go away by themselves. If you need resources to study you can contact my office. Write down the number for my office and call me. God be with you. I have to go my meeting.
MP Mehdi Koochekzadeh
Hello, Mr. Koochek-Zadeh. I am a good student and my teachers hope that in the next year’s entrance exams I will pass near the top of the rankings.
Well, God willing. What can I do for you?
I can’t get into college because I am a Baha’i.
[Laughs.] You don’t need our universities. You have your own university and organization and what not. Go to your own secret university and don’t waste our time.
Mr. Koochekzadeh, whatever my religion, I am an Iranian and you represent all Iranian people. Is that your only answer?
You can do something else. You can go to America or Israel and appeal to them. Tell them you are one of them and you can easily get into college and get a degree. Why do you stay here and create problems both for yourself and for us?
But I want to live in my own country.
Then obey the law. [His mobile rings.] I have no more time for this discussion.
