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Maryam Kashani
m.kashani@roozonline.com

Akbar Ganji is an internationally acclaimed Iranian journalist who spent over 6 years in ‎prison on charges of threatening national security by participating in an academic seminar ‎in Germany in April 2000 – which was deemed to be an anti-state event – and for ‎publicizing state criminal activity against dissidents, writers and journalists. He was ‎finally released from prison on March 18, 2006 after an 80+ day hunger strike that ‎brought wide international support for his cause and plea.‎

On his way to Canada to receive the John Humphrey Freedom Award, he spoke with ‎Rooz Online about his recent activities. Read on the details.‎

In McGill University, Canada, I spoke about militarism and human rights. I showed in ‎detail how the governments of Iran, the US and Israel have pushed human rights and ‎democracy to the periphery of human concerns by making security-military issues the ‎core of their policies. In Iraq and Afghanistan, the US and Britain have violated human ‎rights in the name of fighting terrorism. The government of Israel has imposed a harsh ‎form of apartheid on the Palestinian people. Palestinians have not only been deprived of ‎their land and homeland, but are also suffering from hunger and malnutrition. In that ‎same talk, I also spoke of the policies of the Canadian government regarding Iranians ‎‎(stringent visa requirements for Iranian students and nationals, double standards on ‎human rights issues, etc). At the same time I also spoke with key newspapers in Montreal ‎and Quebec in all of which I have spoken vigorously against a military attack on Iran, ‎critiqued US and Israel’s policies, described widespread and systematic violations of ‎human rights by the government of Iran, called on Canadians to participate in the anti-‎war rallies and opposition to a military attack against Iran, and explained that power in ‎Iran rests with the Supreme Leader and not president Ahmadinejad. ‎

I questioned the utility of these programs, to which he replied in these words:‎

My goal is to present a realistic picture of Iran to the outside world and show that while ‎the democratic forces in Iran are battling a suppressive regime, they do now want war. ‎They are against any military attack on their country. This is the reason why Iranian civil ‎society must participate with the international and global civil society, and particularly ‎the anti war movement. In fact, being pro-democracy is the essence of being pro-peace. ‎While we want democracy and the respect for human rights in Iran, there must first be an ‎Iran so that these ideals may be achieved. If Iran is destroyed because of war mongering, ‎then following these ideals becomes irrelevant and insecurity and possibly disintegration ‎of Iran may threaten the country.‎

I asked him about how to follow this battle with war mongers while at the same time ‎struggling for democracy and human rights.‎

We must pursue peace and democracy simultaneously. These are intertwined. We do not ‎want a Hobbesian peace. That kind of peace is attainable in a Leviathan state. We on the ‎other hand want a peace that is the product of democracy or its source. In my talks, I have ‎stressed that there are those who overlook the threat that is looming over Iran because of ‎their animosity with the Islamic regime now in power in Iran. All they emphasize is the ‎removal of the Islamic regime from power, even if this is attained through war and ‎destruction. On the other hand there are others who are overlooking democracy and ‎human rights because Iran is currently under intense international pressure and threat. ‎They only advocate participation in the anti-war movement. Some have even argued that ‎one can fight imperialism by siding with dictatorship. These are wrong paths, in my view. ‎Because the security that a despotic regime provides is in fact a life-less security. ‎Furthermore, such a regime does not allow even anti-war demonstrations to be organized. ‎This is so because it seems to be believe that the notion of the possibility of a war is ‎merely a psychological game by itself. At the same time, the government believes that if ‎necessary, it will hold anti-war rallies itself. The same is true for holding 13 Aban rallies ‎‎(student day commemorations). And finally, regime knows well that if anti-war rallies get ‎organized with the participation of vast social groups, they will eventually become ‎independent of the government, which can then also engage in other activities not ‎necessarily to the liking of the government. This is not something that any despotic ‎regime would welcome or let happen.‎