Education under fire

Photo property of Ariana Salvo. May not be reproduced without permission.

I took part in a teleconference today with people all over North America. A number of "speakers" presented on various aspects of the Education Under Fire campaign, and the denial of access to higher education that young Baha'is in Iran continue to be confronted with today. Education Under Fire is a campaign to raise global awareness about the plight of young Baha'i students who graduate from high school only to be denied access to higher education solely because of their religious beliefs, and to encourage individuals, organizations, institutions and governments to speak out against the Iranian government's consistent denial of access to education to Baha'is.

The denial to higher education has been going on so long now that the Baha'i community of Iran, recognizing the importance of finding a way to educate its young people, created the Baha'i Institute for Higher Education (BIHE). The BIHE provides Baha'i youth with a means of obtaining higher education, and as such is seen by the government of Iran as being an illegal institution. The Institute has had its classrooms and labs raided more than once, and its faculty and students are regularly arrested, imprisoned and tortured.

This semester, for example, the BIHE began its semester with two of its faculty in prison. The first day of class the students were given an orientation that included an overview of the laws concerning imprisonment, and guidance for how to behave if anyone should be imprisoned or tortured during the semester. Can you imagine living in a country where you are confronted with the very real possibility of being imprisoned and tortured for pursuing your education? I certainly can't, and do not believe anyone should have to risk their freedom and life to pursue their education.

A global campaign is under way to make sure that no student in Iran -- Baha'i or other faith -- is barred access to higher education because of their religious beliefs. A documentary film has been made in which former BIHE students are interviewed about their experiences before they left Iran. The documentary will be launched in January, showing on university campuses across the United States. The film will be followed by a discussion with a group of panelists, the hope being that the documentary will encourage audiences across the continent to speak out against the denial of this very basic and yet so very important human right to the young people of Iran.

The campaign also includes a letter written by two Nobel Laureate winners speaking out against the current policies of the Iranian government towards Baha'i students in Iran that the public is being encouraged to endorse and share with others who they think might be interested. The producers of the film are trying to get 25,000 people to endorse the letter by May 2012. If you would like to read and endorse the letter, you can do so here. 

The topic of the teleconference today was synergy: that two or more people working together generate a power that is much greater than the sum of each of their individual abilities. The point being made is, of course, that denial of access to higher education to the Baha'i youth in Iran has implications for access to higher education globally. This is not just an issue confronting the Baha'i community of Iran. This is an issue of access to education for people everywhere around the world. The more people talking about the plight of the Baha'i youth of Iran--the more people standing up and taking a stand--the more powerful the call for an end to denial of education to anyone based on their faith will be. People can only continue to treat a minority unjustly as long as the majority is content to stand by and allow it. Injustice cannot persist when the majority is demanding justice.

Listening to the conversation today made me reflect on my own education. It is not often that I have thought about higher education as a right, but nobody ever tried to take access to a university degree away from me. I also did not often think of access to higher education as a privilege, but hearing about students whose desire to learn is so great that they are willing to risk their lives to obtain their education makes me realize that it is indeed a privilege to have had such easy access to university when I pursued my Bachelor's and Master's degrees. All I had to do was focus on my studies. My life was never threatened.

I am working with some friends to make sure that when the documentary Education Under Fire is released this January, it is shown on the Sac State campus here in Sacramento, and I would like to encourage you to visit the Education Under Fire website and find out about showing the documentary in your community--at an academic institution or a community centre or private home. There is great power in lending our voices to support human right in Iran. There is tremendous strength in synergy.

Guilty as charged

  

I want to use today's entry to talk about justice. I spent this past weekend with over 1,500 other inspired and inspiring folks at the Association for Baha'i Studies Conference on Changing Patterns of Thought in San Francisco. I will write more about the conference later this week. What I want to focus on today is something that most of us take for granted: the right to obtain a university education. Growing up I never once doubted that I would go to university. The only thing between me and a higher degree was hard work to get into the school I wanted to go to. 

Young Baha'is in Iran are today, in 2011, being denied access to higher education. Not because they are not good students--many are actually some of the highest achieving students coming out of Iranian high schools. No. The reason these students are denied entry into university is their religious beliefs. Those of you who have been following my blog for some time will know that I am also a Baha'i. My faith is founded on the principle that all religions come from one God; on the essential truth of the equality of men and women; on the oneness of science and religion; the belief that all races and people are one family, and that human beings should devote their lives to the service of humanity, the elimination of the extremes of wealth and poverty, to educating our children, taking care of the environment, and eliminating injustice. It is true that I may be slightly biased, given that I am a Baha'i, but when it comes down to it, there is nothing that the Baha'i community is doing that is negatively impacting the world -- in reality, the global Baha'i community helping to build a better, more tolerant, just world for everyone. 

You might wonder, therefore, why a community with such universal beliefs is being denied such a basic human right as higher education. This question is one that international governments and the United Nations has been asking the Iranian government repeatedly for many years now. The answers have varied, but have generally been based on ludicrous claims of espionage, dishonesty, and heresy among other things. None of these claims have been backed up by any concrete evidence by the Iranian government. 

In the meantime, barred from public education, the Baha'is set up their own university in an attempt to provide for themselves what the government was denying them. This university has been raided, books and materials confiscated, and professors arrested and thrown into prison before. With few other options however, the Baha'i community of Iran re-established it, and continued to educate their youth. Recently the university was again attacked, and its faculty arrested and imprisoned. 

The thing about injustice that is as true today as it was 100 years ago is this: it can not be perpetrated without the compliance (or silence) of ordinary people like you and me. Not speaking up against injustice is, in reality, condoning it. 

This past weekend at the ABS conference a couple of initiatives were brought up. One is Called "Conspiracy to Educate: Guilty as Charged." This is a facebook initiative in which ordinary people (like you and me) can go to the website, "like" it, take a mug shot of ourselves holding a sign that lists the university we went to and the words: "Guilty as charged," and upload it as our profile photo, tagging it appropriately so that the group administrators can keep track of how many people are supporting this initiative. It may seem like a small thing, but when it comes down to it, every small effort each of us makes to highlight injustice in the world is a huge step towards eliminating it, and the more people join in this effort, the more media attention it will get.

Another initiative that is happening is that people are sending postcards to Mr. Kamran Daneshjoo, the Minister of Science, Research and Technology of Iran, stating clearly that they do not agree with Iran's policy to discriminate against the Baha'is of Iran; that the Baha'i Institute for Higher Education "prisoners" should be released immediately; that Baha'is should be able to enter universities as faculty and staff and as students who can get a degree, and urging the Minister to instruct all schools in Iran to respect freedom of religion or belief, including the Baha'i Faith, and take specific measures to reprimand any individuals who are intimidating or discriminating against Baha'i schoolchildren.

I want to invite you to join me in either joining this facebook initiative or sending a postcard to the Minister of Science, Research and Technology (or both). It does not matter what our religious convictions are, or where we live in the world. If injustice persists anywhere, it is impossible everywhere, and denying a person access to education is effectively denying him or her a place in the global community. 

You can send your postcard to the following address:

Minister of Science, Research & Technology, Mr. Kamran Daneshjoo

Piroozan Jonoubi Avenue, Hormozan Street, 

Khordin Street, Sanat Square

Shahrak Ghods

Tehran

Iran

Thank you for listening, friends. I hope you will join me in supporting one of these worthy causes, and thereby support the right to higher education for all people, everywhere in the world. I wish you all a superb week!