IRANIANS MARKED NEW YEAR WITH CLASHES WITH AUTHORITIES
PARIS 13 Mar. (IPS) As expected, the celebration of the traditional Chahar Shanbeh Soori, that marks the last Wednesday of the Iranian year by jumping over bonfires, was marred by wide spread disturbances, after young boys and girls clashed with security forces, particularly the Basij volunteers.
Newspapers reported three killed and 22 seriously hurt in Tehran during the "Festival of Fire", held on the night of 12 March, while other sources reported 20 arrests made in Tehran and 70 in the north-eastern city of Mash-had.
Hundreds of thousands of firecrackers and other pyrotechnic devices exploded through the night, while fires burnt in city streets, to celebrate this millennia-old festival.
Ever since the victory of the Islamic revolution in 1979, ruling ayatollahs declared an open war on the Iranians traditional festivities, most of them pre-Islamic, like the Iranian New Year, No Rouz (New Day) that heralds the first day of spring, or the Chahar Shanbeh Soori etc..
But they had to retreat, defeated by the stiff resistance put up by the population, mostly the young ones, who defied bans imposed by the clerical authorities.
Aware of the people’s determination to go ahead with the celebrations despite persistent demands from the clerics to avoid joyful festivities during the mourning days of Muslim Shi’ites in the Islamic month of Moharram, which runs from 16 March to 13 April, the ceremonies were brought forward by a week.
One reason for the violence might be Ayatollah Ali Khameneh'i and the ruling conservatives decision to stop newspapers issuing special New Year editions.
According to the popular Iran website "Gooya", the office of Ayatollah Ali Khameneh'i has ordered all Iranian newspaper not to edit any special Norouz issue.
"Journalists at the daily "Iran" who had prepared a special issue for the New Year, had been told by the board of directors to drop the edition, citing opposition from the office of the leader, even though they had also in mind the sensibility of the coinciding of the mourning month of Moharram with the New Year", Gooya quoted informed sources in Tehran.
In recent speeches, Ayatollah Khameneh'i and other clerical officials had warned the population about celebrating the coming new year on the pretext it is coinciding with the Shi’ites mourning days.
The celebrations gave a new opportunity for young Iranians, many of whom are out of work, to let off steam under the repressive Islamic regime, and dozens of arrests were made.
The disturbances rang alarm bells in the semi-official "Iran" daily, which warned Thursday "Political factions and parties to avoid politicising the issue or capitalising on the turmoil".
"There could be grave consequences for the nation since 70 percent of the population is below 30 years of age and they were the main sponsors of the noise and fireworks".
The paper referred to previous street clashes between young Iranians and the police, during Iran's unsuccessful football World Cup qualifying campaign in October and November last year.
"Violence has escalated on any pretext of celebration (or even defeat)", it said.
"We must implement an effective plan for our youth in order to help them celebrate our national festivities without venting out their anger and frustration in explosions of violence".
It observed that the occasion became one of protest for the youth in Tehran, adding that the "younger generation has distanced itself from the joyful aspects of the occasion, transforming the event into an inexplicable violent affair."
Describing Tuesday night's events, it said: "Many parents and young children fled home for safety on Tuesday and abandoned the streets to the whims of the rebellious youth. The situation augurs an unknown crisis."
Iranians love to celebrate national events, but what "we saw and heard on Tuesday requires careful and scientific appraisal so that we can evaluate the events in light of our social vulnerability," it suggested.
Iranian psychoanalysts explained the violence by saying the Iranian youth have inherited the violence from the Islamic regime itself, "a system that had imposed but violence, limitations, tears and hate on the people", one analyst told Iran Press Service. ENDS NEW YEAR BAN 15302