Sunday 20 July 2014

Protests in the University Will Result in Overthrow

Rooz Online

Even though the efforts of right-wing representatives in Iran’s parliament, the Majlis, to summon and impeach the minister of science did not succeed, pressure on the ministry continues to increase. Even influential ultra-conservative ayatollah Janati, the secretary of the Guardians Council and Tehran’s provisional Friday imam publicly complained about Majlis’s decision to postpone for a month the summoning of the minister to be questioned by representatives. “I do not understand the Majlis’s decision on this. This issue must be pursued It is said that they have made some pledged and the deputies that had voted for the summons have accepted this. I hope it does turn out that way, but I personally do not believe it will,” he said. He continued, “Returning the perpetrators of the 2009 sedition to their posts after they had been removed by authorized authorities or accepting their resignations as a way to escape trials or removing dedicated people from universities or letting those who had been voted out by the Cultural Revolution Council to stay at their jobs are all actions that mock the Majlis and the Cultural Revolution Council.”

Mohammadreza Tabesh, a Majlis deputy from Ardakan immediately objected to Janati’s words and said, “I do not agree in using an official public forum in this manner, particularly forums that have a reach that goes beyond political and social factions. ”Speaking about the summons of the minister of science which is pursued by right-wing members of the Majlis, he said, “Today a member of the education committee of the Majlis revealed that there are many Majlis deputies among the 3,000 individuals who receive education scholarships. Mentioning these issues in public is not in the interest of the Majlis and this should be stopped because the minister of science will then raise issues in his defense which will not be in Majlis’s interest. I hope summoning the minister will not result in the repetition of issues that came up when Nabavi was summoned on two occasions during which he was forced to reveal the list of cars, motorcycles and other items that Majlis representatives had received.”

Tabesh’s reference was to the remarks made by cleric Darvishpoor, another Majlis representative who had told IRNA news agency that “The list of individuals who had unlawfully received scholarships included names of a number of Majlis representatives which resulted in pressure to summon the minister to the assembly. If the minister is summoned, then we will reveal the names of those who have unlawfully received education scholarships, which will include names of some individuals in the Majlis.” And in this manner, he suggested to those who were pursuing the summons to retract their call.

While various reasons have been officially cited for summoning the minister of science, political analysts believe the key reason is the revelations of the unlawful scholarships granted during Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s administrations. One Majlis deputy, Zohreh Tababizadeh who was among those calling for the summons, however, believes that the students who had the scholarships constitute another reason for the summons because “3,000 students had been given a commitment that they would be put on scholarships by the regime, not the administration. The minister of science believes that the scholarships were political graft money given to specific individuals and so we have asked him to explain. We have also asked the minister to confront this if there was political corruption involved.” In addition, she said that star-marking students, the use of individuals who were controversial and the manner in which the presidents of universities were selected were among other reasons for the summons of the minister.

Allowing “star-marked students” to return to schools has been an issue ever since the new minister of science assumed his post. Even though right-wingers have denied the existence of star-marked students, they have announced their anger at their return to universities!

Sometime ago, Ghasem Jaafaari, a right-wing representative in the Majlis defended denying higher education to some students. “Security and political issues may one reason why students may be stopped from continuing their education. The removal of this ban without the views of the judicial courts may be create disturbances at universities. This is so because other students may come to believe that if political students are not confronted, then they too can disrupt the university,” he said.

The minister of science has been summoned by the education committee of the Majlis to explain the issue of the return of banned students. In one instance, as reported by the official IRNA news agency, “Zohreh Tabibzadeh questioned the minister about the return of some Bahai students who had been expelled before to the university.”

But the most intense pressure on the ministry of science comes from no other than Iran’s leader seyed Ali Khamenei. Speaking to a group of officials from the ministry he said, “I request that the managers and various officials of universities not to allow universities to be turned into political fields for the activities of political factions. The danger of scientific work is that universities turn into political clubs, something that had taken place at one time.”

These and similar words have in fact weakened the standing of the minister and have served as suggestions by right-wingers to remove the minister. The fear that universities will again become political, as suggested by Khamenei, is the most important concern that the regime fears regarding universities in Iran.




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