Mehdi Karoubi in response to the Ayatollah Nouri-Hamedani’s interview with Keyhan newspaper, issued an open letter to him to offer him some friendly reminders.
In this letter Karoubi, after thanking Ayatollah Nouri-Hamedani for his efforts during the Islamic Revolution and since then, mentions: “As you are aware and know better throughout the history the great religious scholars and Marajeh (the highest ranking clergymen in Shia), as the trustees of the religion, have always defended justice and fairness, and as a religious duty have always been the supporters of innocent people and not only issued religious rulings but also during the times that the governments and authorities were abusing people’s rights, have defended the people”
In his letter, Karoubi reiterates that the Shia scholars and Marajeh have always confronted tyranny and oppression and have always been the allies of innocent and suppressed people
Karoubi adds that unfortunately the position of Ayatollah Nouri-Hamedani in the recent years and especially after the presidential election has been occasionally in contradiction to those of the great religious figures and this could create doubts regarding Marajeh’s stature and could cause people to believe that there is link and collaboration between him and the authorities and this could cause them lose their trust and faith – as in the clashes after the election Nouri-Hamedani not only didn’t support the people but even objected to the people whose rights were violated and denied
Karoubi adds that according to the law, four people were approved by the Guardian Council as candidates for the election and one of these candidates in front of millions of audiences from the state-run television insulted and falsely accused some of the other candidates who were of the country’s religious and revolutionary figures; and all of the public resources and tax payers’ money and even many authorities in the governments were bluntly utilized to promote this certain candidate; and even some of the members of the Guardian Council who are supposed to oversee the election clearly broke the law and in favor of that candidate and expressed their support publicly in interviews. On the other hand the executors of the election were all members of that candidate’s cabinet or his supporters and this is how the election fell to fraud and was questioned
Karoubi further points out that on the Election Day unprecedented violations happened and during counting the ballots there were clear injustices, therefore the other candidates and the people became angry over the fraud in their votes and took to the streets in a spontaneous move to demand their votes. He reiterated that no political movement, group or party has the ability to bring millions of people peacefully to the streets and it was in fact the people who made the leaders and the political parties to join their cause. He added that the government, while talked about laws were clearly violating the most basic of the laws and illegally detained people and politicians, and had armed forces and militia to brutally attack people who were peacefully and without any provocative slogans demanding an unbiased and serious investigation in the election fraud and illegal actions. Karoubi added that some of the protesters were injured or killed in these attacks and many were arrested, imprisoned and assaulted
In continuation of his letter, Karoubi regarding the Nouri-Hamedani’s remarks in his recent meeting with the personnel of a radio station, adds that these remarks have been cause for appall since according to Shia’s history, Marajeh have always been supporters of innocent people and therefore people expect them to follow on their denied rights as many have already showed their supports for the people. By pointing out Nouri-Hamedani’s silence after the election, Karoubi adds: “No matter how much we sought we didn’t find any news of you until recently that your remarks were on the news, and of course not in the condemnation of the oppressors but rather in the condemnation of the people. It was suitable if you had some people to seek the truth, investigate the claims, meet with the protesters and those who suffered in the recent events and prepared a report for you, so that you could express your opinion based on the facts instead of demanding the protesters and complainants to ask for forgiveness by disregarding the normal and political doubts”
After reminding that judging in an argument based on just the claims of one side is not according to Islam or even Ayatollah Nouri-Hamedani’s own Islamic rulings, Karoubi reiterates that he as well as Mousavi and Rezaee (the three other presidential candidates) have always been trusted figures in the government and especially during the crucial time of the imposed war of Iran-Iraq, they all had very sensitive and important responsibilities; and asks that considering the fact that a public inquiry is impractical for Ayatollah Nouri-Hamedani, wouldn’t it be wiser and closer to the teachings of Islam that at least he, as a Marja, would have asked them for their views and had listened to their side of the story before making any public announcements, so that people would not say that some senior clerics are ignorant about the fate of the Muslims; and also wouldn’t it be better if he had not made any comments without adequate information so that the damaged beliefs of the people who had trusted the senior religious figures with their lives and fate would be reinstated?
Speaker or Agency: Mehdi Karroubi
Title: Letter to Ayatollah Nouri-Hamedani
Language: Persian
Western Date: 17 October 2009
Persian Date: 25 Mehr 1388
Physical/Electronic Location: http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=159761482605&ref=mf
Citation or official document code:
Translator: Facebook (Unknown)
Date Translated:
Tags: Karroubi, letter
Date Last Updated: 21 January 2010