IS
SHARGH INNOCENT INDEED?
The
publications of the Sharq Newspaper, known to have reformist
opinions in Iran, were banned as of September 12, 2006 in
line with the directives of the Press Inspection Committee.
“Warned
70 times by the Committee, the publication of the paper was
terminated since it has not appointed an editor in chief
within the given period,” indicated the Iranian authorities.
Suits were filed against the directors of the newspaper on
the pretext that “they incited ethnic discrimination among
Iranian people”.
Meanwhile,
the reports published on the Shargh Newspaper both in Iran
and in the external media keep the public opinion busy. Most
recently, issuing an announcement on the Shargh Newspaper,
the Press Inspection Committee stated that the true reason
why this newspaper was shut down was “the publication of a
cartoon, containing insults”. The Committee did not clearly
mention which cartoon it commented on. However, everyone
living in the country knows that it was the cartoon
published on the last page on September 7 Thursday,
depicting a white horse and a donkey on a chess board. When
the Southern Azerbaijanis, who have frequently been insulted
in the country, reacted to the cartoon, the managers of the
newspaper had to make a statement.
“Although
we constantly impose “self-censuring” in line with our
publication policy, we have repeatedly faced criticisms.
Most recently, the cartoon we published did not aim to
insult Southern Azerbaijanis, to offend this nation nor to
create ethnic turmoil. It merely aimed to criticize “the
incompetence of the President” and his false policies. Other
than that, we did not want to hurt Southern Azerbaijanis,”
expressed Mahdi Rahmanian, the founder and the managing
director of the Shargh newspaper, aiming to appease the
reaction of people.
“The final
ban on our newspaper clearly reveals that the decision
makers in Iran have no patience for even the slightest
criticism. Behind the lack of tolerance of the Iranian
Leadership and their impatience even to such limited
criticisms lies the awareness of the Regime that very tough
days are lying ahead in the near future. For this reason,
they have been trying to silence all opposing voices in the
country, tending to keep communication and interaction under
a monopoly,” said Rahmanian, trying to appease the rage of
Southern Azerbaijanis. Rahmanian also mentioned that the
Iranian Leadership is concerned about people’s interest in
the Shargh Newspaper that has been published for three years
and giving place to reformist views for a year. He said that
the Leadership has chosen to close down the Shargh Newspaper,
concerning that it might negatively affect people prior to
“the Experts Council Elections” that will be held in the
coming days.
Claiming
that the reactions against the cartoons are not included
among the duties of the Press Inspection Committee when he
was defending his newspaper’s publication policy, Mahdi
Rahmanian failed to persuade the Southern Azerbaijani people.
Having given place to a serial, containing insults on our
national hero Sattar Khan last June, the managers of the
Shargh Newspaper tried to defend themselves in a similar
manner then. When the Press Inspection Committee announced
that it filed a suit against the Shargh Newspaper “for
publishing discriminatory articles and insulting national,
religious and political figures and heroes”, the managers
and writers of the Shargh Newspaper reacted in the same way
and stated that “the ban on their newspaper would mark the
beginning of a new era in Iran when pressures would increase
again”. These statements failed to convince Southern
Azerbaijanis, neither. Since, people believe that Mahdi
Rahmanian, who served as “the Deputy Director of the
Intelligence and Security Organization of the Golestan
Province” in 2002-2003, should pay more care to his articles
published by the Shargh Newspaper.
In the
recent period, people frequently ask similar questions to
the following ones: “Is Shargh really innocent? Or, is it
trying to create a new turmoil in the country, making use of
the sensitivities of people? It is also mentioned that the
managers of this newspaper, being in a manner against the
Iranian Regime, create uneasiness through their publications
reaching to the level of insulting the Southern Azerbaijani
people.
