THE SUFIS
IN IRAN ARE COMPLAINING ABOUT THE OPPRESSION
The people
are still talking about the incidents, which took place
regarding the claims that “Sufis insulted El Nebi Mosque” on
November 10 in Burucerd city of Lorestan province located in
western Iran, and its aftermath. The house of prayers, which
is named as “Khaneghah” and located in many urban areas
primarily in big cities and used by the Sufis who are known
by the people as the Dervishes of Gunabadi, are still being
closed down under the pretext that “they form a public
opinion against the government”.
Within the
framework of the above-mentioned implementation the security
forces wanted to evacuate the Gunabadi Tekke (Khaneghah)
(Convent of dervishes) on November 10, 2007 located in the
city of Burujerd. 500 people were taken under custody, most
of which are university students, in the incidents that took
place because most of the city residents are of Sufi origin.
100 people who were injured were hospitalized, 20 of which
were under serious condition.
Journalist
Murtaza Burbur stated that the Sufis threw stones at some
clergies who called on to demolish the tekkes and then the
security forces and Basij attacked the tekkes and as a
result of the conflict with stones and clubs the tekke was
burned down from the inside. The Governor of Burujerd,
Moharrem Ali Tohidi stated in Cumhuri Islami newspaper as
follows: “All the sinners were taken under custody.
Approximately 180 people were sent to the tribunal”. The
imam of the Al Nebi Mosque claimed that the Sufis threw
stones at the mosque during the Friday prayer. The residents
of Burujerd stated as follows: “4 people most of which were
probably university students were killed in the incidents;
the government did not make any statement on this subject,
but the students, who were among the ones taken under
custody, were the ones who were released at first to calm
down the situation.”
The
spokesman of the Gunabadi Tariqat, Sherman Azmayes told
regarding the incidents, that their members did not attack
the Shiite clergy men and they did not retaliate upon the
request of the Tariqat Leader Nurali Tabende despite the
attack against Gunabadi Tekyye (Convent of dervishes). He
continued that the attacks increased on November 12 and
their Tekyye (Convent of dervishes) was demolished, 111
Tariqat members were injured, 14 of which were under serious
condition, and the security forces took 150 Tariqat members
under custody.
The
reformist leader Mahdi Kerrubi, who is originally from the
Eliguderz city of Lorestan Province, made a statement on
November 17 after the incidents and criticized the stance of
the government against the Sufis. He emphasized his
reiterate regarding the above-mentioned Tariqat’s being
devoted to the Islamic Republic and being in the Shiite sect
of Islam and despite this the government acts discriminately
against this Tariqat. He continued that his aim is not to
defend the Tariqat but the security and freedom of the
members of the Gunabadi Tariqat must be taken under
guarantee as like the other ones, the contradictory
implementations means you are giving an upper hand to the
enemies of Iran.
Despite the
Sufism is not officially forbidden in Iran the Mullahs show
the Sufis, who prefer the Sufi interpretation of Islam, as
targets by often calling them “perverted”. In the last May
in northeastern Iran and in the last February in southern
city of Qum more than thousand Sufis were arrested under the
pretext of disrupting “order public” and some of them were
imprisoned, whipped and paid fines.
