Bassidji and Me
Oct 27th, 2009 by pedestrian
This movie was made before this summer. Before the word ‘basiji’ came to equal ‘filth’ and ‘violence’ not only in Iran, but throughout the world. But I will NEVER be able to equate that word with derogatory terms. My province, Khuzestan which was where the war began and where Saddam was to suddenly invade without warning, was freed because of these basijis. Literally, young kids who left home to protect their homes, their families, their country … and many never came back. I may not agree with their worldview or their politics, but I don’t believe the real basijis were the ones to brutalize the public this summer. I have many times spoken to those old basijis of the war, who never look you in the eye and who always keep an uncomfortable distance. But their voice is soft, and their tone nonthreatening.
One of my favorite chants of these past few months was: Basjiyeh vagheyi Hemmat bood o Bakeri [The real basijis were Hemmat and Bakeri.] I’m content that people remember. I hope they will never forget.
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“In 2000, 16 years after my arrival in France, I decided to go back to live in Iran for a while to gain a better understanding of my country. In 2002, a combination of circumstances gave me an opportunity to attend a ceremony of national mourning in honor of Imam Hussein, the third Shiite imam who died as a martyr at Karbala 1300 years ago. I found myself spending several hours under a tent with some Bassidjis who had gathered for the ten nights of traditional mourning. The Bassidjis originated amongst veterans of the Iran-Iraq war (1980-1988) who fought against the enemy while hoping to die as martyrs. All around the room were martyrs’ photos, battle reconstitution maps and a few objects belonging to dead soldiers.
I was both surprised and upset: 14 years after its end, the war was still omnipresent. It is found everywhere, in official speeches and public spaces, on Iranian television, for example, or in the frescos of the martyrs in the streets of Tehran….
That night, I had a long discussion with one of the Bassidjis who was my age. I was intrigued and tried to get to learn more about the Bassidjis’ background. Within a few months, I developed a relationship with some of them. I visited them and they came to see me, and they had the opportunity to get to know my world and meet some of my friends.
I kept meeting other Bassidjis even more dedicated, more devoted to the cause of the Islamic republic, and I realized that no one can comprehend today’s Iranian society without truly understanding who the Bassidjis are.
The Bassidj literally permeates the whole of Iranian society. It is present in every part of the capital and in provincial cities, especially around mosques, and symbolizes the omnipresence of government authority, which is deeply rooted in everyday life. This presence in the smallest city neighborhoods both demonstrates and maintains its popular support. Through its pervasive presence and extremely well organised structure, the Bassidj can get 100% of children under 6 vaccinated in a single day. It can also intervene quickly and everywhere at the government’s request in order to suppress trouble or public unrest and at the same time pass on information thus gleaned from the base.
As outside perspectives are often radical, rigid and abstract, I chose to penetrate the world of the Bassidjis to get a better understanding of the paradigms that guide them. In order to achieve this, one must dare to listen to what the other has to say.
This film is an attempt to bring together individuals who are totally different (the most radical elements of the Islamic Republic and myself, an Iranian of the diaspora, an intellectual, atheist, and living in France) but are part of the same society so that they can meet and exchange their ideas. This film is both a social and political project and at the same time an individual quest, which I hope to share with the audience.”
From Bassidji and Me.
Watch two clips from the film here.
In the Rose Garden of the Martyrs.
[Thank you so much to my dear friend who sent me the link.]
I read all your posts with a growing admiration for the difficulties that the people of Iran meet in their ongoing struggle to breath.
But I think that a review of the movie about the bassij, is not very diplomatic after reading this: http://advocacy.globalvoicesonline.org/2009/10/21/iranian-revolutionary-guard-corps-launch-40-irgc%E2%80%99s-blogs/ and its sublink: http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/idblog/2009/01/08/irans-revolutionary-guards-take-on-the-internet/
Christina,
Thanks for the links.
IRGC (sepah) is different than basij, and both were instrumental and helping us fight the war. Maybe they should have been dismantled after the war. Maybe, we need them now to protect us as well – think of an attack by Israel or … I don’t know. All I know is that out of every 5 people I meet in my town, 1 was in the basij and they have absolutely nothing to do with the gargantuan scale of what both organizations have morphed into today.
Ped, terrific post. Last week I commented at Tehran Bureau that they seek out an article from a Basij perspective. Of course, it would be you to do so. Thank you.
We had a similar reaction to our armed forces by political demonstrators here in the US during the VietNam war. My favorite American cousin volunteered for the Marine Corps when he was 16 (he apparently fudged his birth certificate and my aunt signed for him). He served two tours in VietNam. Upon his return, at the airport, protesters spit on him and yelled in his face he was a baby killer (this was actually common at the time). Anti-establishment protesters back then hated the US military. In 1970, US National Guard troops (a rough US equivalent to the Basij) had shot to death student protesters at Kent State University. But you know what, Ped? A couple of decades later, American attitudes changed back, to where today practically everyone respects and admires our men and women in uniform. (My little nephew is now a Marine.)
What the Basij did for Iran during the Imposed War will never be forgotten, no matter the temporary state of politics. And yes, there is a political divide right now in Iran, and for most of us in the West the Basij lie on the other side of it. Still, the Basij view definitely counts. It should not merely be dismissed as something bad and ignored. You can disagree with it, you can object to their defense of the Islamic Republic, you can condemn them for their security measures. But you must also acknowledge that from their perspective, they are performing their duty to God and country.
Thanks for the film tip. I’ll try to get my public library to order it.
I haven’t seen the film either! I’m really excited about trying to get my hands on it.
Pirouz, I can disagree with it, I can object to their defense of the Islamic Republic, I can condemn them for their security measures … But I will NEVER understand the way the public was brutalized by their hands this summer.
That is the same for me, I read about why Iran thinks they need a Basijforce and this summer I saw what they did to innocent people. And I was shocked.
In 1910 the election fraud of the then President Porfirio Diaz led to the overthrow of his government and via the “Mexican Revolution” finally in 1929 the Institutional Revolutionary Party (Partido Revolucionario Institucional PRI) came – elected – to power.
During the afternoon and night of October 2, 1968, in Mexico City a government massacre of student and civilian protesters and bystanders took place a massacre took place. It happened ten days before the 1968 Summer Olympics celebrations in Mexico City. The government called itself “revolutionary”. In power was still the Institutional Revolutionary Party (Partido Revolucionario Institucional PRI). The death toll remains controversial: official government estimates place the deathtoll at 30, while some estimates place it in the thousands. While at the time, government propaganda and official media in Mexico claimed that government forces had been provoked by protesters shooting at them, much later official documents were found showing that the snipers had in fact been members of the Presidential Guard.
Accused many times of blatant fraud, the PRI’s candidates continually held almost all public offices until the end of the 20th century.
In 2000, after seventy years, the PRI lost the presidential election to the candidate of the National Action Party (PAN — Partido Acciòn Nacional).
Postscriptum
My guess: in contrast to Mexico, the development towards more democracy won’t last that long in Iran, I am definitely convinced.
I sure hope not German!
But how would Mexico fare in the development towards democracy today?