In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
Failure of the Shah's referendum
... Respected men, whatever your position, make a determined stand against the illegal and sacrilegious activities of this government. Do not let these rusty bayonets frighten you, they will soon be broken. This government cannot oppose the demands of a great nation with bayonets, and sooner or later it will be defeated. Even now it is defeated and hopeless; the uncivilized acts that you have witnessed were exercised out of hopelessness. We did not wish the regime to be brought to this level of disgrace. Why must the king of a nation be so detached from the people that when he makes a suggestion the people ignore him or respond negatively? A king must behave in such manners that when he makes a suggestion or a request the people agrees to it whole-heartedly, not rise up against it. The Shah's referendum enjoyed the support of no more than 2, 000 people in the whole country. We did not want the leaders of this country to ever become so disgraced.
Ineffectiveness of the bayonets
This should serve as a lesson to make them awaken and change their policy. Instead of breaking the law and sending the `ulama' and other respected citizens to prison, instead of bullying and using bayonets, they should yield to the wishes of the people and realize that they cannot silence the people or make them surrender with bayonets, nor can they use coercion to prevent the clergymen from performing the duties with which Islam has charged them. Even though they stopped Mr. Islami from speaking out on the pulpit in Tehran, they saw how he spoke out on the pulpit in Bandar Pahlavi «2» and revealed the truth there. Moreover, if they had stopped him speaking there, he would have continued elsewhere, has no doubt about that. Wherever he could, he would get his message across to the people. Even though they have prevented many `ulama' and preachers from speaking out by putting them in prison, the remaining clergymen who have not been arrested will speak out and will make the people aware of what is happening. Do you honestly believe that you can silence the clergymen?