MS student and the PR head of the student Daftar-e Tahkim-e Vahdat (Office for Student Solidarity) Ali Nikoonesbati, discussed recent arrests of student activists in an interview with Rooz. Nikoonesbati claims that recent confrontations are fueled by the administration's desire to seek revenge from the student movement following the latter's recent victories in several universities across the country. Below is the text of this interview.
Rooz (R): Given the increasing confrontation of student activists in recent months and our proximity to the month of Mehr [September-October], what changes may take place in the relation between regime's officials and the student movement and its members?
Ali Nikoonesbati (AN): The students achieved several victories in spring regarding their demands and it was immediately after that, in summer, that they were confronted. I can say that in a way certain plans were devised to suppress the "feeling of victory" among students. Certainly, such a crackdown has never been successful, and students continue to press for their demand their rights regardless. On the other hand, we must not overlook a different aspect of confrontation of the regime with the students and that is the presidential elections slated for next year. Keyhan newspaper published a piece a while ago about the university's influence and raised the issue that reformists are planning to use students in their activities. You saw that when a piece from Mr. Abdollah Nouri was published in the papers yesterday the autocrats reacted very harshly, indicating that more confrontations with the student movement will be forthcoming in the coming months.
R: Wouldn't such actions negatively impact the chances of conservatives' victory in the elections?
AN: It has been a while since the country's officials have made their decision. Look how the police treat people on the streets. These violent confrontations show that they are not thinking about people's votes at all. The government has a loyal minority following that it keeps loyal by using various tools. There are people who would lose their rents if this government is not in power and have to leave many posts that they have unfairly occupied. The government views these groups as its supporters. Therefore, instead of relying on votes of university students, it relies on organized votes of this minority (which has a higher percentage of participating in elections than others).
R: Do recent arrests of Bahareh Hedayat and Mohammad Hashemi fit into this analysis as well?
AN: The arrests of Mohammad Hashemi and Bahareh Hedayat were a continuation of confrontation of civil activists, and university students in particular. Aside from the revenge-seeking aspect of the issue, which is particular to the ninth administration officials, there are other important aspects to the issue as well. On the one hand, university students have achieved numerous victories in the past few months in various universities such as Sahand, Tarbiyat Moalem, Zanjan, Shiraz, …, and this has made them even more determined to pursue their rights with the beginning of the new academic year. As a result, the gentlemen have reached the conclusion that they must resist the urge to make such demands by creating obstacles, are as they like to say it, with an offensive policy. Another issue is that, while the gentlemen are retreating on the international stage, they are attempting to create terror and fear in society by harshly confronting activists in various fields and even conducting group executions, so that they can, as they claim, demonstrate their might.
R: After the coming to power of Ahmadinejad a period of decline in activities among students was seen that seems to have been put to rest with the increasing activity of student groups in the past several months. Now, we once again see the suppression of student groups. Would this issue cause renewed decline in student activism?
AN: During Khatami's reformist administration, student groups developed a dependence on public resources and budget and adapting away from that situation and accepting a new paradigm of activism in universities required some time. But now we see that in most universities fully independent student groups are active and new ways of communication among students have emerged. These things give us hope and aided in recent victories in universities. It seems like that initial vulnerability was due to problems and repercussions of student groups not being fully independent under the Khatami administration and changes and adaptation to a new environment took some time. I believe it is a good decision for students to adapt themselves to the new environment so that they can behave more independently in the future and preserve their versatility.
