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KurdistanObserver.com
Are All Iranians Persians and
Are They All Equal?
By: Hiwa Nezhadian
Kurdish American Education Society, USA
June 22, 2005
In response to one of the our member’s article on promoting Kurdish cause and
generally for Kurds having established an organization to promote Kurdish
culture, few Iranian readers wrote some very critical comments. Because of the
style of their language it would be very inappropriate to mention the content of
many of them. However, here is a sample of an argument: …”there is no such
word as minority in Iran and that we are all brothers and sisters with absolute
equal rights and as an Iranians anyone can reach to the highest position in the
state. As an Iranian you can teach your children any language. Iran have been
called Iran since 3000 years ago and no one should mention anything but Iran and
Iranian because all inhabitants of Iran consider themselves Iranian first and
then Kurds, Turks, Arabs, etc”… I wish the above statements were true but
they are not.
The purpose of this article is not meant by any chance, to ignite and emphasize
the differences, but rather I hope to make the readers be more aware of the
facts from the eyes of a non-Persian in and out of Iran and especially Iranians
in Diaspora, and maybe these kinds of dialogue open doors to a better
understanding and see each more other eye to eye.
There are some historical facts that the peoples of Iran need to know about.
Persia name was changed to Iran in 1935 during Reza Shah to signify the land of
Aryans since there are more than just Persians in a small part of the Iranian
plateau that is called Iran.
In fact Persians comprise no more than %37 of the whole population of Iran, but
yes Iran was used to be called Persia only because the Persians got control of
the land some 2500 years ago from the Medes (Kurds) and ever since they had the
absolute authority and political, economic and cultural rights, off and on, and
it has remained as such up to today. So those Iranians who speak Farsi
are called Persians (and of course Iranians too, or Iranian Persians to be
exact), the rest are Iranians or more precisely; Iranian Kurds, Iranian Turks,
Iranian Baluchis, etc…. But Iran has made such an atmosphere for the
national and religious minorities that many members of minority groups would
rather call themselves: "not Iranians, but from
Iran".
The
minorities are not allowed to practice their cultural, economic and political
rights, they are not allowed to express themselves and participate actively in
the economic and cultural development of their own region and prosper from the
civilization and scientific breakthroughs of the 21st century. In
other words their rights are not respected to say the least. The ruling system
have annihilated all sorts of democratic and freedom quests and labeled them as
agitators of foreign powers and agents of imperialism, communists, or atheists
who break the unity of Muslim brotherhood (!), all in the name of "protecting
motherland”. These super-nationalist Persians don't understand that these
minorities have different "mothers".
If you are not belonging to any one of the minority groups in Iran, you have
no idea how the feeling is when you just finished six years of age and go to
school for the first time in your life and the teachers speak with you in a
foreign language (Persian) and they even expect you to understand!! You have no
idea when the parliament representatives of many cities with hundreds of
thousands of population and many educated and responsible individuals, are
assigned from Tehran or any other non-local who can’t even speak the language of
the local people. You don't even comprehend what it means when local university
grads are repelled from a job opportunity in their own hometown and some
people from other parts of the country are brought in to work. This corrupt
phenomenon is especially prevalent in Kurdish provinces.
Throughout all of Kurdistan of Iran and I mean West Azerbaijan (mostly Kurdish),
Kurdistan, Kirmashan and Ilam/Luristan, there is not a single descent factory or
industrial complex to feed the population and introduce technology and if there
is a mediocre one, the bosses and high paying positions are for non- Kurds.
Throughout the history of Iran off and on there have been some non-Persians
dynasties that ruled Iran, but they have not been able to serve their ethnic
cultural heritage. An an example Turkish never became official language, not
even a recognized language in spite of the fact Turks (Azeri speaking) have held
high ranking positions in Iran.
When Qajars, Zands, Afshars and etc. came to power, the idea of nation state and
nationalism were not so prevalent as now and in fact at those times the Kurds
were a lot stronger and had a lot more say in their own affairs than now for a
number of reasons: 1. The ruling elite was not so sophisticated and
nationalistic likes nowadays, 2. International politics was weak and
communication was slow, and 3. The technology and the army destruction machine
were not so advanced and therefore the ruling group were more equal to the
minorities especially those of the Kurds, in terms of power, so they could not
suppress them as now they do. (Nowadays of course the ruling group has always
have a better chance of getting a hold of the new technology since they control
the economy and the military organization)
As a matter of fact, in Rowandoz (today's Northern Iraq), Kerend in Kermashan
region and Dyarbakir (Amed) and Kars, in Northern Kurdistan (Turkey), to name
just a few, there were major weapon factories of high quality hundreds of years
ago so the balance of powers were kept much more equal then now. But thanks to
the Safavid dynasty when technology was spreading in Europe, which could have
had a major positive affect in Kurdistan due to trades and geographical
proximity, they ignited the Shiia animosity against the Ottoman dynasty and
between 1512 and 1635 they fought 20 wars with the Ottomans. All of these wars
took place in the heart of Kurdistan, which brought nothing but destruction,
looting, disease and poverty to the people of and to the land.
The Iranian reader insisted that when Kurds, Baluchis, Turks, etc…have other
last names that are different from their ethnic language, it is an indication
that there is no minority than the fact that they are all Iranians! Who in Iran
chooses last name and for that matter first name? Naming a child in Iran does
not represent his/her ethnic background or parent’s chosen name necessarily.
There are very few cases of having ethnic Kurdish names, which later in their
lives they have been haunted, discriminated and prevented from college entry or
job opportunities. Especially during Pahlavi regime hardly any one could choose
a Kurdish name because it would endanger the “motherland”.
This gentleman indicated in his email:”An Iranian
in and out of Iran is free to
teach his or her child as many languages as they please."...You are right.
German, English, French, etc.anything but Iranian languages (other than Farsi)
but you dare ask the state institutions to make accommodations to teach Kurdish,
Azeri, Baluchi...you are tried for treason because you endanger the
“motherland”.
Throughout recent history the Iranian policy makers have tried to assimilate the
minorities into Persian language and culture. You cannot assimilate 15 million
Kurds or 20 plus million Azeris and millions of other minorities into a single
language and culture not in Iran and not anywhere else, and frankly it’s not
necessary. We in Iran might be a minority, but in Kurdistan we are the majority
and by the same token Persians are minorities in Kurdish or Azari provinces.
Having multiple official languages does not hurt a nation or a mosaic of nations
within a boundary, rather it strengthens it. Example is Switzerland with
German, French and Italian all having been equally recognized, a country the
size of a fraction of Kurdistan of Iran. So I believe there should be a balance
of power and respect to maintain the integrity of a society. A country is like
a family, if equality and respect is not maintained it will break apart.
Serving one’s cultural heritage and trying to benefit the riches of ethnic
traditions and cultural experiences only helps the society and humanity in the
long run. As a matter of fact I respect those who are proud of their heritage,
these are common individuals who respect their heritage. Often this group of
people respects others as well and they can be trusted. Promoting an ethnic
culture and cultural and economic rights only strengthens the integrity, bond
and unity of a society.
Many Persians claim all Iranians are equal and happy with the status quo. Let’s
see the facts in and out of Iran; right here in California there are tens of
radio and TV stations belonging to Iranians, but are they really?!…Or they
belong to Persian community?! These stations have thousands of hours of
programming weekly combined, but do they even have one hour of Kurdish, Turkish,
Baluchi, or Arabic language programming in a whole week or month? Inside the
country there is not a single learning school in any one of the minority’s
ethnic languages for school children. When it comes to the distribution of
wealth, in minority provinces, i.e. most border areas, the rate of unemployment
is double and triple than the provinces with mostly Persian population, which
predominantly are central provinces. It is almost impossible to locate a good
hospital, university, industrial complex, state run institutions that
facilitates a better life to be in a non-central province, they almost always
are located in Tehran, Shiraz and Isfahan and their suburbs. When someone
speaks of Iran, they should think of a country with a mosaic of minorities.
Iran should have a number of official languages; a single official religion does
not serve anyone. We supposedly are in the 21st century, its time
for Iran to take some drastic changes to better serve the people, and I mean
everyone regardless of ethnic background.
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