With especial thanks to Dr. Faride Farhi
For Whom My Eyes Await
Report of the Meeting of the Association of Iranian Journalists for Emadeddin Baghi
It had been a long time since the Association of Iranian Journalists had seen such a crowd. By mid-day of Thursday 15 November 2007, the reception area and yard were full. Ezzatollah Sahabi, Abdollah Nuri, Ebrahim Yazdi, Ahmad Haj Seyed Javadi, Mohammad Maleki (who had come from hospital), Mohsen Kadivar, Seyed Hashem Aghajari, Babak Ahmadi, Khashayar Deyhimi, Sussan Shariati, Hassan Yusefi Eshkevari, Mohammad Bastenegar, Mohammad Tavassoli, Issa Saharkhiz, Fariborz Raisdana, Mohammad Ali Amuyi, Ali Mazrui, Kambiz Noruzi, Seyed Mohammad Seifzadeh, Keyvan Samimi, Abolfatah Soltani, Hossein Ghazian, Mohammad Javad Mozaffar. Alireza Rajai, Saeed Madani, Hoda Saber, Reza Alijani, Yussef Azizi Banitaraf, Ali Akbar Mussavi Khoeini, Abdollah Momeni and many other social, civil, and journalism figures came to honor Emadeddin Baghi and say how hard it is to separate civil and political activity in Iran. Under conditions in which everything is considered political, is it possible not to be political? Of course, everyone bore witness to the fact that Baghi’s efforts to promote independent civil, social, and human rights activity had not only been not futile but had also been fruitful. And this was not only evident in the discussion but also in the meeting’s atmosphere that included a wide array of people that had gathered together with little political and factional commonality. From radicals to liberals, from Persian to Arab sat together without any difference and talked about human rights as strategy and tactic (Abdollah Momeni), spoke of workers rights (Fariborz Raisdana), warned against the repetition of historical conditions (Hashem Aghajari), expressed concern about global conditions (Ibrahim Yazdi), spoke of the situation of the student movement (Bahareh Hedayat). One asked about where to find protection (Yusefi Eshkevari), another was finding protection in the Declaration of Human Rights (Seyed Mohammad Seifzadeh). Words at times took the form of a legal report (Saleh Nikbakht), at times the tone was one of a political speech (Ezatollah Sahabi) and emotional at other times. A piece of memoir was read penned by Baghi in which he had mentioned all his friends; friends, who were imprisoned when Baghi was free, now that he is imprisoned and they are free and few years after the events of the past years, heard what their detained friend said and thought about them. Civil society representatives were many in the meeting, from the Association of Iranian journalists to the Association for Defending the Rights of Prisoners, Association for the Defense of Free Press, Defenders of Human Rights Center, and Alumni Association for Fostering Unity.
Mid-day Thursday ended when, after the words of Emadeddin Baghi’s daughter, a poem from Nima Yushij (whose birthday was around these days) became the occasion for the meeting’s ending:
Whether remember me or not
I do not ease your memory
My eyes await you
Night time
When shadows take on black tint
My eyes await you
Source: Shahrvand-e Emruz
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
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