Poletik 31 - مهمان هفته مهرانگیز کار

Tonight, after warm greetings, Poletic will say no to... ... the heavy sentence brought down on a student activist ... ... under the government of Hasan Rouhani... In this program we will discuss our options on the table... ... and from Putin, Obama, Rouhani and others and we will reveal their secrets... In this program we will talk about "resistance economy". What is it? ... Who should resist what? People standing in queues, holding coupons, baskets, monetary handouts... ... communist games, what is this mess? Women's rights activits Mehrangiz Kar is with us today. She will tell us about efforts in defense of women's rights in the Rouhani era. At the end of the program we will reveal to the world ... ... who played the biggest political trick of the week. This program's positive message comes to you from Radio Farda's ... ... visual channel broadcast via Hotbird Satellite to Iran and the region. People! Poletik's 31st show begins right now with greetings and blessings. Poletik: A program from the dugout... ... with your host Kambiz Hosseini. Hello I'm Kambiz Hosseini and, people, this is Poletik! A program for the Hasan Generation and after the Hasan Generation. The generation sitting in the dugout, shouting orders. "Poletik says 'No' to the seven-year prison sentence... "... issued against student activist Maryam Shafipour..." "Poleik says 'No' to judges who issue tyrannical verdicts... "Poletik says 'No' to Judge Salavati and the hundreds of verdicts... "... he has issued without faireness." "Poletik says 'No' to the heavy sentencing of a student activist... "... under the Hasan Rouhani's 'moderate' administration." "Poletik says 'No' to the silence, indifference and normalization of ... "... imprisoning students and the lack of response from officials." People! Those who have options on the table have lots of options and... ... every once in a while, if they are strong enough, they will impose... ... these options on people. The option-holders have to clarify their strategy. For instance, these are our options on the table. They are not here right now, they are on their way. We have two options on the table. One is this mug... please zoom on it. This is a mug as you can see. It contains warm water so that I can talk smoothly. And the second option is these papers which we through towards the camera ... to pretend that we are anarchists, different and better than others. But the option-holders of the world are not all like us. In fact, just last week, one of them thrusted his option into the nation of Ukraine. Headline: "Putin Calls on Russian Parliament to Deploy Military Forces in Ukraine." In the middle of winder the people of Ukraine go to the streets and things start to change. At the time this was the president of Ukraine. This is Vladimir Putin the Russian president. This woman is the leader of the opposition who is in prison. These are the people, once again. This is the Ukraine parliament. These are the people again. This is Putin. This is when the president is impeached in parliament and everyone is happy. This is Putin again. This is the people of Ukraine. This is the presidential palace of the ousted president of Ukraine. This is the people in the presidential palace. This is Putin, again. This is Putin's choice. This is the choice of the majority of the people of Ukraine. This is Putin's option. On the table. And this is our option which I lifted from the desk. I will drink from it because my mouth is dry. I have received urgent news that Putin has used his option on the table... ... and invaded the Ukraine. Why? Because he can. Right or wrong, Mr. Putin has more tanks and helicopters... ... and nuclear bombs on the table than the Ukraine and therefore... ... he can be a bully and tell the people of Ukraine "I can crush you" as we... ... raise our glass and say "Nasdarovje!"... Poletik condemns Putin's action and stands by the people of Ukraine. To show our support, we will show the goal scored by Ukraine ... ... against Russia in 1999. The truth is that Russia is the second largest military power in the world. And when you put Russia against the Ukraine, which is... ... the 21st military power, obviously the Ukraine is going to be in a bad situation. So any smart person, any reasonable politician in the Ukraine who wants... ... to save his country will not try to provoke the Russians into military action. Instead he will use Ukraine's strength -- the people -- as a leverage along with diplomacy... ... to solve the crisis. With help from the Americans, Europeans and this and that. Now as far as we are concerned, we are the 22nd military power in the world. And the United States is the first. Even though our country will be wiped out if the Americans... ... launch a military attack, there are certain officials and others in Iran ... who use every outlet, like the microphone, to say certain things. Ali Khamenei: "They say all the options are on the table..." Ali Larijani: "You made an agreement..." Ali Khamenei: "Options? Like what?... We have options too and we will... "... in time use them when necessary, God Willing." State TV Analysis: "How is Iran able to claim that it can confront America?" Revolutionary Guard commander: "We can fight unequal enemies with our capabilities." Defense Minister: "The Americans cannot weaken our missile power... "... with thousands of bombs." Ahmad Khatami: "Attacking Iran will result in threats to American... "... interests around the world." Ali Khamenei: "What damned thing can they do against the Islamic Republic?" Defense Minister: "The Americans truly cannot do a damned thing." Ahmad Khatami: "You couldn't and cannot do a damned thing." Ali Khamenei: "The enemy cannot do anything regarding any issue." Ali Larijani: "Undermine the agreement if you dare... "... and you'll see what we'll do to you." On the other hand Iran has a president who says these kinds of things: "You have no intention to go to war. Or even worse... "... you may not be prepared for war and yet you provoke others for no reason... "... so much so that the other side thinks you want to attack... "... this by itself will constitute a threat." That's common sense. We have talked about Hasan Rouhani a thousand times ... ... as representatives of this generation. He's talking common sense and I say he's right. You can think of me as an enemy of Iran, or an imperialist stooge... ... making propaganda from Radio Farda. But this man is talking sense. The others who spoke before him and are provoking Dr. Strangelove inside Iran, who are they? Poletik: A program from the dugout for the Hasan Generation. Hosted by Kambiz Hosseini. Three, two, one... Action! Number 10 News headline: "Rouhani: Resistance economy will define our economy... "... in the coming years." Now no one knows what this means and who is supposed to resist what. Should officials resist the temptation of pocketing oil revenues or... should people resist the temptation of having three meals a day and... ... having a normal life? None of this is clear. All we know is that we have to resist. Number 9 As soon as Rouhani spoke about "resistance economy"... the price for electricity went up. New headline: "Energy Minister announces 25% rise in electricity rate." This clarifies who should and shouldn't be resisting. If you receive your electricity bill and notice a sharp rise... ... do not resist! Pay the bill! Don't be upset if they didn't tell you about the rise before hand. This is a Resistance Economy. They're not supposed to tell you everything. Number 8 In a Resistance Economy we shouldn't be paying attention to our cultural heritage. Therefore who cares if the home of Mirza Kashefolsaltaneh, ... the father of Iran's tea industry, has been vandalized in Shemiran with shovels and axes? As you can see, all the mirror work, mosaics, windows and... have been looted. Of course this has no impact on the Resistance Economy. In fact some of our compatriots, with or without official approval... ... have been unable to resist destroying this example of our cultural heritage. It's a shame. It should have become a museum instead. Number 7 This Resistance Economy has so many benefits that ... ... political strategist Hasan Abbasi blurted out that Mr. Khamenei is the Father of Modern Iran because he's not only handsome ... ... but also wise and has kept the enemy at bay for 25 years. From now on I will try to be as handsome as Mr. Khamenei... ... with a shawl and maybe more hair if we knew what's going on under his turban. We had heard everything about our wise leader except his good looks. And there's no one to ask the question, whether he kept the enemy... ... at bay for 25 years or he locked up the people inside the country for 25 years... ... so that they could not reach out to the world. That's OK. Abbasi makes a living saying this kind of stuff and we do our own thing. Number 6 Even though we have a Resistance Economy and our treasury is empty and ... ... our missiles are photoshopped and our leader is handsome... ... still our biggest asset is our nerve. And no one has more nerve than Sardar Naghdi, the commander of the Basij. News headline: "Basiji forces are awaiting orders from the Leader to liberate Jerusalem." So the other guy in government is busy negotiating and then ... ... this Naghdi guy is trying desperately hard to say things like Ahmadinejad... ... what used to say -- things that would create enemies for Iran. Ahmadinejad had said he wants to make Israel disappear and now... Naghdi says the Basij are ready to attack Israel. Number 5 As we were thinking about how to manage a Resistance Economy... ... with an empty treasury, a group of Majles deputies... ... from the Cultural Committee, led by MP Salek, traveled to South Africa. They didn't meet anyone important since the president and industrialists had said they have no time for them. They didn't go there to hold meetings. So why did they go at all? There were no meetings. So what happened? The South African deputies had said they have no time. Our honorable deputies knew this but since they already had free tickets. You can't resist that! So they got on the plane and went to ... what's the name of the city? Pretoria? And had a successful visit to the lions' park. Just imagine the deputies there... ... couldn't see any politicians so they went to the lions' park! Did they also go to the Montecasino? Yes, and that's that. Number 4 Former presidential candidate Mr. Haddad Adel, whose daughter... ... is married to the Leader's son,... ... said Westerners have confined religion to the church... ... and they don't allow the Pope to discuss political and social issues. Yes Mr. Haddad Adel! This is one of the fruits of 500 years of Western Civilization. Just imagine if the Pope sat and offered solutions to problems in... ... America, France and Britain, solutions such as Resistance Economy. Or gave opinions about the nuclear crisis. Or edited poems written by people. Or stuck his finger into every crack. Just the thought of that makes my hair stand straight. I'm glad it's just a thought. Number 3 We do not lock up religion in the mosque and therefore ... ... we have people like Ayatollah Mesbah who comments about every thing. He has said citizens' rights do not include equality between Bahais and Muslims. He has not said anything new. If you read the news about imprisonment of Bahais, closure of their schools,... ... banning them from universities, setting fire to their homes, and other ... acts of abuse, you will know that Mr. Mesbah is actually talking about Iran. And when he speaks about "citizens' rights" it's totally different from the... version in the West, where "religion is locked up in the church". They are different. They are really different. Number 2 In response to the annual human rights report on Iran published by by the US, Iran's Foreign Ministry said Washington is not in a position to... ... lecture others on human rights. Yes. No one in the world is in a position to lecture you. No one can even talk to you. Just as we don't need to import carpets, pistachios and saffron... we have no need for lectures. We have thousands of preachers and clerics who are busy... ... night and day giving lectures on TV and other places. Thank God we have no need for lectures. Our human rights situation is so good that we can export it to other places. Meanwhile we can execute 500-600 people. We can deny the rights of Bahais, Sunnis and other minorities. They have no equal rights. That's OK. Instead we have tens of thousands of people who go and watch public executions. Number 1 The Interior Ministry spokesman has said that it is "to some extent" aware of... ... the whereabouts of the Iranian soldiers taken hostage in Sistan-Baluchestan. To some extent! Of course they have not said to what extent they are aware. To what extent? They haven't said. So until further notice we say we know "to some extent". As you know, "to some extent" in Persian means "I have no clue." And we have discovered that the Interior Ministry is -- to some extent -- clueless... But we hope the officials will take certain action to free these five soldiers. Your guest this week is Mehrangiz Kar. She is a women's rights activist. Here's her brief biography: Mehrangiz Kar, born in 1944, worked as a lawyer in Iran for 22 years. Most of the cases she accepted were related to violence against women. Kar was arrested after returning to Iran from a political conference in Berlin ... and was sentenced to four years in prison. She has published 15 books in Iran and seven others abroad. Kar has been living in the U.S. since 2002 and carries out research on women for an international organization. She is also the founder and editor of irandarjahan.net Hosseini: You're very welcome to the show. Kar: Thank you. Hosseini: Mr. Rouhani has appointed Ms Mollaverdi as his adviser for women's affairs. She has been active in women's rights affairs in the past. How hopeful are you that she can bring about change? Kar: She can never do anything on her own. She needs help from the government as well as the judiciary and the legislature. For instance, the government recently proposed a bill to insure housewives. The bill was rejected by the Council of Guardians because they said... ... no budget had been allocated for this measure. So if the Rouhani government wants to do something to help women it must... ... consider all the angles including the budget... ... so that this matter does not become the subject of propaganda. They say Mr. Rouhani wanted to help housewives but the Council of Guardians... ... did not allow it to happen. Hosseini: So you are not hopeful. Kar: No I'm not. Hosseini: You are not hopeful towards Rouhani at all? Kar: I am hopeful about Hasan Rouhani's government in foreign affairs... but in regards to women's issues, I am not hopeful. Women's issues are tied to free speech and the right to ... ... form organizations and hold gatherings. Hosseini: Regarding women's issues, where's the biggestl problem? Is it in... ... the judiciary, in the Leader's office, or the government or...? Kar: The problem is in all of them. But the most obvious is the Cultural Revolution Council which ... has passed regulations regarding the hijab or women in the labor force. These have to be implemented, even by the Islamic Guidance Ministry... ... even if there are no censorship laws. This Council is essentially an illegal entity. It does not exist in the Constitution. Hosseini: Recently there have been a lot more executions in Iran. There's been a record number, even after the election of Mr. Rouhani. And lots of people go and watch. As a lawyer, why do you think they are executing so many people? Kar: What's certain is that they have been able to fortify themselves... ... by carrying out executions. It was impossible to strengthen the Islamic Republic without spreading fear. The regime was popular for a very short time and people... .... sincerely supported them. But later on, the spread of intimidation became a part of the security apparatus. Hosseini: But why have the executions increased? Kar: Because they feel more insecure. They are trying to resolve the nuclear issue. We don't know whether they will succeed or not. But they are trying and... Mr. Khamenei is supporting them even though he does not say so in his speeches. But it seems Iran's economy is on very shaky foundations which... ... will not be fixed with this shortage of money. Removing some of the sanctions and releasing some funds... ... is not going to help them, especially considering high levels of corruption. Lt's say some 80% is stolen and 20% is left for the people. They are completely aware that the potential for a revolution is increasing. It's possible that the Iranian people won't copy the Arab Spring, for instance. But on the other hand they might pick up ideas from the Ukraine. Hosseini: You think so? Kar: Yes, because Iranians feel closer to the Western world rather than the Arab world. This is based on history. Iranians have accepted [Islamic] religion and made some strange fundamental... ... changes to it. But in their nature and character, [they are closer] to the West. Going back to your question, they execute people because they are scared. The executions are to intimidate people so that they will not rise up. Hosseini: You mentioned that the people like to be Western. But why do they go an watch executions? That's not a Western thing to do. These things have not happened in the West since the Middle Ages. In America and other places there have been illegal acts such as racist lynching... ... of Blacks, for instance, but public executions have stopped ... ... in the West in a legal sense for a long time. So why do our people do this? Kar: First of all not all people watch these executions. We should not exaggerate. Hosseini: My mistake. I should say a group of people. Kar: No, you didn't make a mistake. A section of the population watch executions. Even perhaps if the American government wanted to do something... ... crazy and decides to execute terrorists in public for the 9/11 attacks... ... then some Americans might go and watch too. It depends on the propaganda against those who are being executed. Even during the Shah's era there was an Execution Square where people ... gathered for something like a public picnic and watched these executions. I don't believe this can be used as an excuse to allow these events ... to take place. A government cannot justify these actions. A true government will not follow the most backward layers of our culture. Let's assume those who watch executions are from the most backward layers. I don't know if you have watched the video clips... Hosseini: I cannot watch them at all. Kar: I have watched a couple of times. You see members of the public... ... who are watching and crying. It is up to psychologists and sociologists... ... to figure out what it means. Our problem is that we do not have ... ... freedom of speech to be able to open up and discuss this matter. You can be sure if experts could look into it and information could be exchanged... ... and people could discuss it, then this problem could naturally subside. The West allows for such a discussion. Hosseini: Are you satisfied with your life in America? Kar: No. Hosseini: Seriously? Why not? Kar: I don't know. Hosseini: Are you depressed? Kar: No. Hosseini: I see you a couple of times a year and every time you look better and more beautiful. So why? Kar: I miss Iran a lot. I have always wanted to be in Iran under any circumstance. After the revolution, there were many waves against those like me. But I liked to stay in Iran, and so did my husband,... ... even though he should have ran away from the very beginning. But he did not leave Iran. He had many many problems with the Islamic Republic and the revolution. But he did not leave. And neither did I. I stayed there for 22 years. Because I love that place a lot. Political Trick of the Week The political trick of the week came from Ayatollah Seyed Mohammad Mousavi Bojnourdi. He was a member of the Supreme Judicial Council during Khomeini's reign. Bojnourdi told the Jamaran website that Khomeini was against... ... executing those who were "corrupt on earth" and had even said that... ... drug dealers should not be executed if they did not carry guns or commit sabotage. Bojnourdi is trying to fool people who know all about the executions... that took place after the revolution, especially in the 1980's. Bojnourdi is trying to wash the blood of all those executed in the past but ... ... he cannot, with or without these tricks. This was this week's Poletik. I'm Kambiz Hosseini and I believe in intelligent and respectful politics, not tricks. Until next week be optimistic because the world is not a place for sorrow... ... neither is it really really really worth it. Poletik airs every Friday night right here at 10 Tehran Time.