April 14, 2008

Bahai bombers in Shiraz?

Two nights ago, an explosion in a Hussaynieh (religious center) in Shiraz, one of Iran's largest cities hosting second largest community of Bahais in Iran, killed at least 10 and injured more than a hundred. Few hours after the attack, I received a bunch of emails suggesting that explosion was the result of a bomb smuggled into the Hussaynieh so as to frighten the people who used to hear 'anti Bahai propaganda' there. In other words, such analysis implied that Bahais should be held responsible for the disaster.

Last night, however, police declared the most probable scenario identified by investigations: all around the country, many exhibitions feature War Memorials, including showcased maps, samples of remaining war materials (mines, guns, etc.), and martyrs' photos and handwritings. And in that Hussaynieh, ceremonies as well as anti Bahai speeches were held along with one of these unsafe exhibitions, a rocket of which might have been exploded unexpectedly and the rest of the story. Police, however, stressed that this is not the final result. Meanwhile, deputy of state ministry in national security affairs was quoted as saying that "Shiraz explosion is certainly accidental."

As I know, there is not even a simple case of Bahai terrorist (or just even violent) act in past decades, though some argue that bloody conflicts with majority Muslims (with attacks from both sides) followed the advent of this sect in Iran. By the way, whether this contemporary mildness is the result of a historical evolution or, as opposed to above mentioned historical accounts, just the continuity of the past trends, I feel that today Bahais are not a danger to the security/safety of Iranian society. Therefore they may live their life as do other minorities (not only Sunni Muslims, Jews, Christians and Zoroastrians, but also Sufis and even few Sikhs who live in Iran).

By the way, I have not heard of any official spokesman accusing Bahais of being associated with this event. On the other hand, I received many emails accusing Bahais of this 'crime'. With regards to the fact that email plays the role of modern graffiti, i.e. the media of unheard voices, I have to wonder why such a strong Bahai-phobia does exist in Iranian society.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

سلام. اين تصوير اول وبلاگ مربوط به حلقه اصفهان است؟
از نظرتان استفاده كردم، ممنون.كاش همه به همين شفافي تذكراتشان را مي دادند.
از اينكه انگليسيم به خوبي شما نيست و ناگزير فارسي كامنت مي گذارم عذرخواهم.
ما آخر نفهميديم دراين قضيه شيراز حق با چه كسي است ، به قول يكي از همكاران در قضاياي خيلي واضح تر هم گاهي ابهامات حل نمي شود چه رسد به اين موضوع كه ....

Anonymous said...

سلام
سال نو با ناخیر مبارک
نشنیده بودم ایرانی ها از بهایی ها بترسند !
کارگردان بهایی برایمان فیلم می سازد و هورا هم می شنود !

Mina said...

I liked your post. Hope you'll visit mine. We pretty much think alike on this difficult issue, which is nice.

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