Abdulkarim Soroush, a religious thinker and a critic of the Iranian state, has written an open letter to the Iranian leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, advising him to begin accepting criticism so that Iranians can move towards national reconciliation, civic life and modernity.<\/p>\n
Dr Soroush, who has had to live outside Iran for years and lectures at universities in Europe and the USA, has made openness to criticism the subject of his most recent letter to the Iranian leader.<\/p>\n
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He writes that Iran\u2019s current conditions are a product of Khamenei\u2019s refusal to accept criticism; conditions which he describes as follows:<\/p>\n
\u201cOthers must come along and ask you why our homeland is so deformed; why is the brook of culture so sullied; why is the sky of freedom cloudy; why is religion\u2019s visage so stony; why has justice\u2019s back been broken; why are art\u2019s eyes tearful; why is learning\u2019s heart so fretful; why are lives and reputations so cheap; why are the propagators of the \u2018Neither East, nor West\u2019 slogan so determined to build another Soviet Union; why is the climate of politics so deathly; why is the economy\u2019s belly so distended with ill-gotten gains; why is the ship of the revolution veering this way and that; and why is a secular Turkey more appealing than a religious Iran?\u201d<\/p>\n
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Regarding \u2018the dominion of the faqih<\/em>\u2019 (the Islamic Republic of Iran\u2019s ruling system), Dr Soroush writes that the theory \u201chas no validity, either religiously or rationally, and many faqihs<\/em> and thinkers oppose it. But even as it stands, it means political dominion, not spiritual dominion, and it amounts to nothing more than rule by a faqih<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cAstute people know and are certain that all the suffering, all the chains, all the pillaging and rapes exist and occur with your knowledge and consent. Hence, the sin is yours\u2026 There have been countless accounts of the wickedness and injustices of your henchmen. \u00a0Can you shoulder the retribution for all these crimes? If all that is good in the land is the product of your wise and prophet-like leadership, is all the ugliness not your doing too? Absolute power brings absolute responsibility.\u201d<\/p>\n Be that as it may, he writes that \u201cwhether leadership is your right or not, criticizing the leader is unquestionably the people\u2019s right and listening to their criticism is your duty, and in the open, not in secret\u201d.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n In his letter, Dr Soroush says that the impossibility of criticizing power has resulted in circumstances about which he says: \u00a0\u201cWith such a wretched parliament and judiciary, how can anyone expect justice and rule by the people? And which of the nation\u2019s many problems will elections solve? Have you appointed the paradigms of might, mammon and duplicity \u2013 that is to say, the three Larijani brothers \u2013 in the hope that they will divest you of any need for justice, laws and human rights?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Dr Soroush refers to the fate inflicted on Khamenei\u2019s critics, such as Mohammad Nurizad and Ahmad Zeydabadi, and says: \u201cWhy do you treat your critics and opponents in this way? Are you afraid that your absolute power may be curtailed? Are they saying anything more than that you must play the game of politics according to its rules and that you must cut the garb of leadership to the appropriate size? Are you afraid of losing the power of life and death over everyone? After all the times you have invited people to observe piety, can you not, just once, invite them to criticize?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Addressing the Iranian leader, Dr Soroush writes: \u201cHow strange! What has happened to the preacher from Mashhad as to make him so deaf to anyone else\u2019s preaching? What has the magic of absolute power whispered in his ear as to make it impossible for him to hear anything?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Abdulkarim Soroush, who has, in the past, called on Mr Khamenei to step down, warns that the state\u2019s conduct has so weakened Iran\u2019s social groups and political parties that resisting a foreign attack will not be easy: \u201cJust think! If this land is confronted with a crisis and becomes the target of foreign greed, what miracle do you expect wretched parliamentarians, wronged academics, stifled and heart-broken writers, silenced thinkers, intimidated and enfeebled parties, yes-men, ineffectual officials, mendacious media, affronted clerics, impoverished labourers and corrupt upstarts to be able to perform?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Dr Soroush says that he holds the Iranian leader responsible for the \u201ccrimes\u201d committed by the state and writes: \u201cAstute people know and are certain that all the suffering, all the chains, all the pillaging and rapes exist and occur with your knowledge and consent. Hence, the sin is yours\u2026 There have been countless accounts of the wickedness and injustices of your henchmen. \u00a0Can you shoulder the retribution for all these crimes? If all that is good in the land is the product of your wise and prophet-like leadership, is all the ugliness not your doing too? Absolute power brings absolute responsibility.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Abdulkarim Soroush concludes by calling on the leader to \u201callow everyone to read this letter, and with ease of mind, not with anxiety; in newspapers, not in clandestine tracts; in the open, not in secret. Begin a two-way communication with the masses, answer them openly and defend your \u2018religious tyranny\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Translation of a report posted on the BBC Persian website:<\/p>\n