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We begin tonight’s edition of A Window to the Fatherland with Dr. Alireza Nourizadeh reading one of his poems from the book of his collected works.
Dr. Alireza Nourizadeh:
We continue the program with watching a few video clips about the Muharram mourning processions and then speak to our specialguest of every Thursday, Dr. Mohsen Sazegara, who would share with us his expert views of the latest Iranian news and current affairs.
Dr. Alireza Nourizadeh:
Do you recognise the way Muharram is remembered in the Iran of today?
Dr. Mohsen Sazegara:
We have this historic event that happened centuries ago some 60 years after the death of Prophet Mohammad. His grandson Imam Hossein who was in today’s terms a freedom-lover and would not acceptrepression got involved in inter-rivalries among the clans who followed Mohammad’s new religion.
Hossein gets killed in pursuit of his ideas andmany of his followers and close associates became slaves of their enemy whoalso set fire on the tents of Hossein’s family members.
In the history of Islam this event led to the insurrection of the Umayyad Caliphs over the Abbasids and later the Iranians who had their own mythical fables mixed them with the events of Karbala andImam Hossein’s martyrdom and we are where we are now after many centuries later.
However, since the establishment of the Islamicrepublic regime the significance and meaning of the Muharram has been contaminated with the reactionary ideas of the mullahs who only promote ignorance and sadness as a business for their own financial gains and justifying their religious rule over the country.
Dr. Alireza Nourizadeh:
The vulgarity of the acts of those who mourn the Ashura in centers run by the Iranian regime can be seen in scenes of Pakistani Shias who are slitting their forehead with machetes while young men and women in punkish customs and make up are watching over them and date with each other!
On another subject, Mr. Karbaschi has told Rouhani to wake up before too late.
Dr. Mohsen Sazegara:
I think Mr. Karbaschi is quite right in saying so. It is a fact that Rouhani is now circled with many opposing politicians and interest groupings but he is so immobile and ineffective that one can say that the most useless member of his cabinet is Rouhani himself.
And that is true because he just does not know what to do as he is being bombarded with crisis after crisis and whichever way that you look he is facing a major economic and political problem that he is unable to solve.
