Kamangir (Archer)

Iranian Militia and Hotel Rwanda

Kamangir | February 12, 2006 | Category Iran

He is 22 years old and if there was not the help of some nice teachers he could barely have his diploma. Then, he started a bachelor in a university in his hometown. Although, universities are overloaded nowadays in Iran and students fight over few percents in the national exam to enter them, he won the seat with no major effort. After a few terms, he got expelled from the school because the teachers were not that nice to accept his level of illiteracy. Was it a total ruin for him? Obviously not, he found a good job, well very good for his expertise, in a government ruled agency which works for increasing Iranians awareness to Islamic thoughts. Then, he got married and managed a nice life. I had a meal at his home, where his wife, all covered, treated us kindly. Thanks to the Islamic Republic, my friend, Ali, has got a good life.
When he boarded the Air France plane to return from exile, Iranians were day dreaming about their prestigious future. They had a list of complaints from the Shah. Though, with a rapid look you would realize that all problems related to one single topic, they needed freedom. When the Shah, in his best days, wanted to impress the world watching Iran for the Asian soccer games, he built a huge monument a few kilometers away from the stadium were the event was held. He called the tower, king’s memory. The people who were shouting “down with Shah” called the same building the freedom tower, when they ended the Pahlavi dynasty. Iran watched Khomeini stepping down from the plane as the one who they assumed is coming to make them free.
The first days and months after Shah’s regime was rolled over, Iran was on total chaos. Hence, probably nobody may have really asked Khomeini about his promises. However, after a while people were unable to talk to Khomeini very freely. Claimed to be because of the bombings and assassinations, he went to hidings guarded by armed men. Though, who may have gone to Khomeini asking him about his promise to not only to give the people a good life in the heaven but a precious one on the earth, back then? You had to be very brave to talk to the man whose tribes were doing a real massacre in the prisons.
The Islamic Republic soon realized that they need people like Ali. They needed sincere militia to take care of situations when the “nation” should have come out and shout in the streets. And what is the best way to make people very friends with you? Buy them. So, there is a so called army of volunteers who are not “paid” for what they do. However, as a member of Basij, the voluntary army, you would officially have a priority to be accepted to any university nationwide. Also, there are certain financial supports for the members of Basij and they are off six months of the army service. So, it really is worth to be a Basij guy.
Do I think members of Basij are betrayers to the nation? Will I go chase them the very moment Islamic Republic collapses? Do I think they all should be executed immediately? No, I think they show the parasitic side of a human being. Is there one single man who thinks he objects being paid for something that he could easily be convinced is not bad? They tell you that you are defending your country. Also, you are told to be opposing people who offend the Islamic values. Which 18-year-old boy would hesitate to go stop that handsome fashionable boy who is strolling in the streets with a sexy girl? What tastes better than stopping the couple and asking if they are married, while you are sure they just met a few blocks away. And then the actual joy begins. They are put in custody. Their parents, who are maybe other handsome guys, are called for intervention. Look how their faces turn red and how they can not say a word. How they beg for their children. That’s fun! At least that’s kind of fun Ali could not afford if not being a member of Basij. Basically, I think members of Basij are magnified caricatures of all of us, the human beings.
I have to mention that there are many other Iranians who do not think likewise. A poor youngster living in a desperate situation in a suburb has a very different idea about a member of Basij than me. He would call Ali with names which are seriously impolite and adult-rated. Basically, the typical Iranians that I know see Basij members in two very different ways. They look at Basij as a legitimate group of innocent brave youngsters that also benefit a reasonable living, if they have a close family member in Basij. In contrary, others see Basij members as a bunch of mean people who are ready to sell everybody down the river.
I was watching Hotel Rwanda last night. It’s a movie about a native westernized man who manages a Hotel owned by Belgium chiefs in Rwanda. The story is about his and his family’s fate when the genocide begins. Through the breathtaking scenes which show people butchering people, I was seeing Iran’s past and future. The story is about Rwanda genocide which was inspired by Hutus murdering Tutsis. The reason was that when Belgium occupied Rwanda, they used taller people with larger noses, called Tutsis, whom they assumed to be more delegate. When the occupation was over, the power was given to Hutus. The massacre followed when Hutus started to revenge for their desperate past.
I see the same creature, when I look at a member of Basij or a Tutsi. Likewise, members of Savak, the Shah’s security agency, managed good lives before the revolution, when they were mostly killed or forced to leave the country. So, it seems that not everybody agrees with these people who take the advantage which is given to them, something they have no serious reason for benefiting from it. The moral conclusion is that there are always consequences. These consequences are exactly what I am afraid of. When people start to kill people, there is always revenge which is always followed by more blood.
At the end of the movie we understand that the main role and his family move to Belgium. They also have their niece and nephew, who have lost their parents, with them. I was thinking, is the ultimate answer for escaping the circle of revenges, to abandon your country? To my understanding, yes it is. Azadeh seems to be in the same boat.