Pedestrian

The school [university] is alive.

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When I wrote that the next group meeting would likely be in late December for Ashura, I had totally forgotten about 13th of Aban (November 4th) and 16th of Azar (December 7th).

13th of Aban is the day the students raided the American embassy, the day the hostage crisis began, and the day that a year earlier in 1978, the police had attacked (killed?) students in a demonstration.

16th of Azar is celebrated as Student Day in Iran – a day when three University of Tehran students were killed by the Shah’s police forces in 1953 (I have an old post about that I will re-post, I’m in a hurry now and can’t seem to find it.)

That’s one reason they are terrified of universities: many of the formerly pro-establishment events of the year are all centered around the student movement throughout the decades – from 1953 (16 Azar) to 1979 (13 Aban) which have always been state-supported events to 1999 (19th of Tir) which the state itself caused … to 2009 (25 Khordad) when sadly, once again, the students were a target of nightly violence and brutality.

As a student in a relatively quiet period in Iran, these days still mean a lot to me and I have memories of each ceremony.

Mowjcamp’s website rightly says: “these are days which belong to the students and we will take them back, from the hands of the despots who have violently confiscated them to serve their own interests.”

Keep your eyes and ears open.