Unravelling? - Students in Teheran

Unravelling? - Students in Teheran are demanding the release of a university professor sentenced to death for apostasy. According to this NY Times story (free registration required):

In a statement, protesters declared that the death sentence against Mr. Aghajari was an insult to university students and professors and demanded an apology from the judiciary. "The death sentence for Mr. Aghajari is punishing him for his opinion, which is against the Constitution and human rights," the statement said. The director of the humanities department at Modaress and several professors resigned in protest over the sentence.

In the meantime, the rule of the mullahs is being challenged in Iran's parliament as well:

Parliament continued with its reform agenda, passing a bill on Sunday that was aimed at limiting the judiciary's suppression of activists. It was the second such bill in two weeks; a measure passed last week was aimed at limiting the power of the Guardian Council, the hard-line body that regulates elections in Iran and has barred hundreds of liberal politicians from ballots.

Here's the part that especially grabbed my attention:

After their rally in Tehran, students marched through the vast university campus, holding hands and singing "Ey Iran," the national anthem before the 1979 Islamic revolution.

The watching police did not intervene.

Maybe I've watched too many movies, read too many books. I can read stories of protests, and of a Parliament starting to push the authorities - and that's well and good.

But when I hear of students singing pre-revolutionary, Pahlavi-era anthems ("Ey Iran", Farsi for "Hey, Iran"), and police standing around letting it happen - well, I could be wrong, but that seems to me to be the sign of a nation that's lost its stomach for radical theocracy.

What do you think?

Posted by Mitch at November 12, 2002 10:32 AM