Friday, December 4, 1998
Baha’is plead respect for human rights
EVENT: Speakers instruct audience to fight against injustice,
act with dignity
By Andy Shah
Daily Bruin Staff
Urging people to take action against human rights violations,
students and faculty members commemorated the 50th anniversary of
Human Rights Day on Wednesday at an event organized by the Baha’i
Club.
Students, faculty and community members lauded the United
Nation’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted 50 years
ago, but were urged to stay aware of the continuing violations of
those rights in the world.
"We are often faced with the enormity of injustice and feel
powerless," said Amin Banani, a professor of Near Eastern Languages
and Cultures. "That has a paralyzing effect on us and prevents us
from doing anything."
Banani said that all people have the ability to work toward
improving the human rights situation.
"It is the inherent dignity of the members of the human family
that is the foundation of freedom," he said.
Banani admitted that retaining human rights for all people
wasn’t an easy task. He then emphasized the role religion played in
human rights.
"It’s ironic that the most basic principles in the declaration
are in all religions," he said.
Banani continued by pointing out a violation of human rights
occurring today: the persecution of the Baha’i community in
Iran.
The Baha’i faith encourages community service and world peace.
Baha’i believers follow Baha’u’llah, who they believe is the latest
in a long line of messengers sent by God to tell them how they
should live and behave.
This September, Banani said that "an organized group of thugs
invaded 500 different homes in Iran and confiscated and destroyed
books and materials belonging to the Baha’i Institute of Higher
Education."
He said that the college, built by the Baha’i community in 1987,
was then closed down after invasions by the government in an
attempt to "destroy the intellectual life of the Baha’i
community."
Banani said that Baha’is in Iran are being persecuted because
their religious teachings contradict those of Islam, the dominant
religion in the country.
He added that this was an example of "how minorities everywhere
are often oppressed." There are about 300,000 Baha’is living in
Iran and about 6 million all over the world.
Audience members were urged to write letters to Iranian
government officials, pushing them to improve the situation in
Iran.
Niky Farid, president of the Baha’i Club, said that her family
fled Iran in 1979 because "the country was unsafe for Baha’is."
She said that her father stayed in Iran to help other members of
the faith. He was executed in 1981, she said, along with 250 other
Baha’is because they refused to recant their faith.
"But we don’t feel powerless here," she said. "The intent of the
executions was to stop the faith, but there are now 6 million
Baha’is worldwide. The persecution actually helped spread and
strengthen the faith."
Sam Yermian, a fourth-year neuroscience student and member of
the Baha’i Club, said that the executions were an impetus for
change.
"It’s when society gets so bad that we look at ourselves and
say, ‘What have we done?’" he said.
Farid added that what happened to her father and other executed
Baha’is is an example of why Human Rights Day is important.
"There’s still so much persecution of minorities in the world,"
she said.BAHMAN FARAHDEL/Daily Bruin Senior Staff
Professor Emeritus Amin Banani of the department of Near Eastern
Languages and Cultures spoke on the Human Rights Day
anniversary.
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