Thursday, March 28, 2024
HomeMaryam RajaviMARYAM-RAJAVI-MESSAGEMessage by Mrs. Maryam Rajavi to the Conference of Pioneering Women in...

Message by Mrs. Maryam Rajavi to the Conference of Pioneering Women in the Struggle against Fundamentalism

Distinguished Parliamentarians,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

Greetings to your conference, and I wish you all the best in your endeavors. I must once again thank the Italian people and their elected representatives for their invaluable solidarity with the Iranian Resistance and the Iranian people. I am also grateful for your efforts in defending human rights in Iran and for underscoring the need to ensure protection for the residents of Camp Liberty.
Less than a month ago, Iranian cities were the scenes of a heinous wave of attacks where regime-affiliated gangs splashed acid on women’s faces who they deemed were in contravention of the ruling mullahs’ compulsory veiling rules. This atrocious crime provoked anger among the Iranian people and despite the extensive web of suppression and the regime’s attempts to thwart protests, extensive rallies were held in various Iranian cities. In these protests, the Iranian people chanted in defense of the victims of the acid attacks, asking “what happened to the eyes of my daughter?” They demanded that the culprits of this crime be brought to justice.



The groundwork for this heinous crime was laid some time ago with the ratification of a law by the mullahs’ Parliament, the rhetoric of Khamenei himself, and the threats issued by the regime’s suppressive gangs. These criminal mobs even left voice mails on women’s phones in the city of Isfahan, threatening them with acid attacks.
Their objective was to instill fear and terror in society in a bid to intensify suppression and curb social protests. The religious dictatorship ruling Iran has been gripped by major international and domestic crises. On the one hand, it is trapped in its nuclear program because it does not want to abandon the path towards producing a nuclear weapon; and on the other hand, it has mustered all its energy to preserve its position in Iraq and in Syria. But, the regime’s most important battle line has been drawn against the Iranian people, who feel they have faced enough suppression, terror, and hunger. They are using every opportunity they can to voice their opposition to the regime, and to rise up and protest against the religious tyranny. This is the fundamental cause of the clerical regime’s enduring instability.
Dear Friends,
The religious dictatorship ruling Iran is a fundamentalist regime with inherent medieval characteristics, but one that has emerged in the 21st century. That is why in order to preserve its rule, before all else, it needs to continue suppression at home and export terrorism and fundamentalism beyond its frontiers. The sharpest edge of the regime’s suppression is its misogynist character. The perspectives and rhetoric of the regime’s leaders, its laws, state institutions, and its treatment of the Iranian people are all bursting with misogyny. Misogyny represents the core of fundamentalism and reactionary ideology. Since its inception, the regime’s gangs launched attacks against women, chanting “either wear a veil or get a slap in the face.” By instituting compulsory veiling, by humiliating and insulting women, by launching an extensive campaign to purge women from government positions, by prohibiting women from becoming judges, and by passing discriminatory laws, they have tried to push the Iranian women back as far as they possibly can. By suppressing and terrorizing women, they seek to bring the entire society under their control and force it into submission.
In recent years, too, new misogynist laws have been introduced, including the following: the atrocious bill allowing men to marry their adopted daughters, quotas and gender segregation in universities, prohibition of young women to study 77 university degrees, among many other restrictions.
But, Iranian women have refused to accept being purged; they refuse to be wiped off the annals of history; and they have not accepted the mullahs’ desire of being forced to stay at home. On the contrary, Iranian women have become the flag bearers of resistance, inspiring perseverance, struggle and resistance among other sectors and classes in society.
The women of Iran have positioned themselves on the frontlines of the struggle against the misogynist mullahs’ regime. In recent uprisings and acts of protest against the regime, women can be seen as playing a critical role and leading the charge.
Of course, the PMOI and activist women who are at the forefront of this struggle have not had an easy road. They have conquered every step of this struggle by paying a very heavy price, from their participation in the political struggle during the mullahs’ first years in power to their celebrated resistance in the regime’s prisons and torture chambers, to the women of Ashraf who, thanks to their presence in all aspects of the struggle for liberation, have been and still are the source of inspiration for all Iranian women.
These brave women have led the struggle for the overthrow of the religious tyranny ruling Iran while enduring some of the most vicious attacks against Camp Ashraf and Camp Liberty, such as 27 assaults in over eight years, including six massacres. Now, by introducing and electing the PMOI’s leadership council, comprised of a thousand heroic women, the women of Camp Liberty have become role models for the courageous women of our homeland in their struggle against the misogynist regime of velayat-e faqih (absolute clerical rule).
Yes, these women are the pioneers of the struggle against fundamentalism. And that is why supporting PMOI women at Liberty, beyond its humanitarian dimensions, is to embrace the promise of triumph over the monster of fundamentalism, which threatens not only the fate of the Iranian people but also that of the peoples of the region. And it is this campaign for which I urge your support.
Since fundamentalism and reactionary forces have focused the greater part of their attacks against women with the intension of forcing them into submission, they have to realize that it is women who will eventually lead the way against all reactionary and fundamentalist forces, uprooting them from Iran and the Middle East. We seek a new order and are determined to fundamentally overturn the old and reactionary one. To help us forge ahead, we count on the support of you freedom-loving women and men around the world.
I thank you all.


24 November 2014

RELATED ARTICLES

Selected

Latest News and Articles

Most Viewed

[custom-twitter-feeds]