Response to President Khatami’s Norooz Message.

This message was emailed to the president Khatami the day after he delivered his Norooz message in the Majles.

Dear Mr. President 

I read part of your Norooz message and have these comments to make. 

When you were elected, you gave a lot of promises and raised the hopes and expectations of the majority of Iranians who voted for you. You spoke of freedom of speech and of democracy. Your talks were sweet and our expectations were high. Sadly you failed to deliver what you promised. 

Today our people are being imprisoned for whispering anything against the Velayate Faghih. Today chain killings are taking the lives of our intellectuals, writers and thinkers. Today your own supporters are behind the bars and some are accused of being enemies of God and may face execution. Today the best sons and daughters of our nation are being tortured, hanged and vanished. Today poverty is so rampant that many are forced to traffic drugs, sell their bodies and in desperation use heroine. Today depression has taken the place of hope and many are committing suicide. Today we are in the darkest moment of our history of the last 1400 years. 

What did you do to counter this Mr. President? Who do you think is responsible for that? Don’t you know that Velayate Faghih is behind all these killings, and injustices? 

In your speech you said, “Those who do not understand the nation's genuine and historical demands for freedom, independence and progress, those who sow the seeds of hatred and violence have chosen an ill-fated journey.” 

Who are “those”? Who are you talking about? We the wronged people of Iran point our fingers at Ayatollah Khamanei, Mr. Rafsanjani and their gang and accuse them to be the culprits. We think they are responsible for suffocating freedom in our country and sapping the blood of our aggrieved nation. Who are YOU blaming? 

In your speech in the Parliament you defended the infallibility of the Velayate Faghih and condemned speaking against him. You have frequently praised Rafsanjani and eulogized him. So you don’t think they are the culprits. Please tell us who are these “they” you are holding responsible for not “understanding our genuine demand for freedom”? 

Dear Mr. President. I sense hypocrisy in your words. I sense lack of honesty in you and I feel disappointed. When you promised freedom, millions of Iranians supported you. They shouted in the streets hemaayatat mikonim. You had the power to change the status quo. You had people behind you. You could stand for them and demand change. But you failed; you failed miserably. You never stood against the real enemies of freedom and never faced them like a man. You kept giving lip service to democracy and serviced your masters on the top. 

You had a unique historic opportunity to rise as a star and become another Mossadegh. You could side with the people; the same people who sided with you and trusted you. You could become the father of democracy, the liberator of our nation and be remembered forever. You had the opportunity and the possibility to put on the apron of Kaveh and lead your people to freedom. But you failed Mr. President. You failed the trust that we put on you. You failed your own promises. 

Please don’t say that your hands were tied. When you stand in front of the nation and support the very system that kills them, it is not because your hands are tied but because you have misplaced your loyalty. It is because you have turned your back on people and are ingratiating your self to their enemy. 

In your Norooz speech you said ``The Iranian nation will say no to them all''. That is true Sir. And if you do not stand on the side of the people and call for change, you are part of  “them” too.   

The people have deserted you because you remind them of the choopane dorooghgoo. We don’t trust your words anymore. We don’t believe you when you talk of democracy and freedom. We cannot trust a man who tells us of freedom and praises the very thugs that have taken away our freedom. How can you remain silent when your own friends and supporters go to jail for applauding what you said? What an irony!   

Mr. President. It is not too late. Stop giving those speeches and act. You still have time to salvage your reputation and become our hero. Stand for your people. Face our enemy with strength and call for a referendum so people can vote for or against the Velayate Faghih. We will support you Mr. President once more. We will back you and hale you as our leader and our hero. Save our nation, save our democracy and save your name. 

The days of this regime are numbered. We have had it and we are not going to take it anymore. Define your position, Mr. president. You are either with us or you are against us. Tell us where you are standing. If you are with us, now you are in the position of command. Take advantage of this opportunity and shine like a hero. Lead like Kaveh and crush the head of this Zahhak. The nation is with you. Sense the power behind you and fear not for we are determined not to stop at anything until we get our total freedom. We will protect you. This is your golden opportunity to free your people and be remembered by generations to come, to be eulogized as the savor and the father of the nation. Fail to seize this opportunity and we will crush you along with our enemies and you will go down the history as a weak president who lied and was a hypocrite.  

Stop lying to us Mr. President. What is madomsaalaari-e dini? (religious democracy) This is a contradiction in terms. Can we have a round square? Is there a seeing blind? Is there a country that has been able to mix religion and democracy? The more power goes to the priests and akhoonds, the less power goes to people. Stop treating us as if we were stupid idiots Mr. President. There is no such thing called mardomsaalaari-e dini. We have either theocratic dictatorships or we have democracy. Which side you are?  

Call for an end to theocratic dictatorship. Call for a referendum and let people choose between velayate faghih and democracy. Let people choose between religious dictatorship and secular government. Religion must be private. It is between you and your God. Religion should be guidance for you to be a better person, but it should not be allowed to meddle in the affairs of the politics. Call for a referendum and let people have their say. This is the essence of mardomsaalaari.  

Mr. President the history has been kind to you. It has given you a chance that no one has had before you. We are at the darkest moment of our existence as a nation. The whole country is a prison, and you are the gatekeeper of that prison. Open this door and let us be free. Be our hero; be our savor and be remembered. Otherwise we will crush this door and you will go to the dustbin of the history. The choice is yours.  

Payandeh Iran. Farkhondeh Norooz   

Ali Sina  

Humor:

Professor Khatami, as a dance instructor??? Sure! why not?.....here he is teaching few fun and graceful steps for Islamic-Macarena-dance to fellow colleagues.