Speech [Uprising against the approval of the Capitulation Bill and announcement of public mourning]

«۱»- It refers to the Capitulation Bill approved by the Shah's Parliament on October ۱۳,۱۹۶۴ [Mehr ۲۱, ۱۳۴۳ AHS]. Capitulation is the name of all agreements that give the consular judicial rights or the extraterritorial judicial rights of a country within that country to a foreign government. According to this agreement, the citizens of the foreign country have legal immunity from the criminal and civil laws of the host country and the special courts of their sovereign government in the host country hold the right to judge their lawsuits and trials when they stand accused. According to the Capitulation Law and the Vienna Convention, these political and judicial immunities not only cover the American political agents, diplomats, military advisers and personnel, but their families and relatives also. «۲»- The regime made sure that the news of the approval of the disgraceful Capitulation Bill was not divulged. On the day which coincided with the anniversary of the birth of Hadrat Fatimah (`a) and which under normal circumstances would have been an occasion for rejoicing, with the announcement that" our day of festivity has been turned into a day of mourning," The Imam unveiled the shameful act of the regime. «۳»- The Shah and the government of Hasan-`Ali Mansour. «۴»- After the Second World War, the United Nations set its International Law Commission the task of preparing and codifying a general and international agreement on the political relations between the countries of the world. After years of discussion and study, the draft of this Commission, including one introduction, fifty-three articles and two protocols (on how the agreement was to be implemented) was approved by the General Assembly, at the Vienna Conference, and was designated the Vienna Convention. From March ۵,۱۹۶۵ its stipulations became compulsory in Iran. The shortcomings of the Vienna Convention were corrected in ۱۹۶۷, with the general plan being preserved, and it was proposed by the UN in seventy-nine articles and was approved by the members. Two articles of the seventy-nine, Articles ۳۲ and ۳۷ were those to which Imam Khomeini objected. «۵»- The government of Amir Asadullah `Alam. «۶»- The high-ranking `ulama' and the clergy called for a boycott of the twenty-first round of parliamentary elections in September ۱۹۶۳ [Shahrivar ۱۳۴۲ AHS] and the people, without delay, started a general strike and did not participate in the referendum. For example, of the ۳۰۰,۰۰۰ people eligible to vote in Tabriz, the Member of Parliament with the highest vote in this city won only ۲,۲۸۳ votes. «۷»- The meaning here is the corruption which was created by allowing the establishment of mixed schools. The Shah, in his book Mission for My Country, said that in the fields of teaching and education he wanted to implement the Western method. He wrote:" In my country, the existence of women teachers for educating girls is not obligatory. In most schools and universities the classes are mixed and the lessons are given by both male and female teachers and lecturers without discrimination and sexual preference, the only concern being their expertise. I would also like to test the method which is customary in America (i. e. girls and boys marry while studying at the university) in establishing mixed universities where young girls and boys are educated together for the job of teaching." «۸»- The Shah. «۹»- Nasir Behboudi, in a meeting of the National Assembly on October ۱۳, ۱۹۶۴ [Mehr ۲۱, ۱۳۴۳ AHS] said of the Capitulation Bill:" Please agree to discuss this matter in the uncomplicated and private atmosphere of the commission. Do not let more than this be revealed in the Parliament." Parliamentary Proceedings, ۲۱ st session, meeting ۱۰۴. «۱۰»- Referring to those maraji` who believed in keeping silent. «۱۱»- Mr. Sartipour, in a speech given at a parliamentary meeting on October ۱۳, ۱۹۶۴ [Mehr ۲۱, ۱۳۴۳ AHS] in which the Capitulation Bill was discussed, said:" He- Mr. Mansour, the Prime Minister- has the opportunity to discuss this and ask our friends to keep us in a favorable position. One of the conditions of our friendship is that our friends should respect our loyalties to that which we regard as sacred." Parliamentary Proceedings, ۲۱ st session, meeting ۱۰۴. «۱۲»- It was pointed out earlier that one of the seventy-nine articles of the Vienna Convention, Article ۳۷, stipulates that the diplomats of each country are granted certain immunities in other countries, and sometimes this implies legal immunity. If a diplomat, who enjoys this immunity, commits a crime in the host country, he is exempt from legal prosecution and punishment and his case will be handed over to the courts in his own sovereign state for them to deal with. However, in the first paragraph of Article ۳۲ of the said convention, permission has been given to the sending state to waiver the immunity from jurisdiction of diplomatic agents and of persons enjoying immunity under Article ۳۷. The omission of Article ۳۲ prepared the grounds for Iran's unconditional surrender. «۱۳»- Qadi Tabataba'i was one of the famous `ulama' and preachers of the province of Azerbaijan and the city of Tabriz, and was the leader of the Islamic movement in that district. This clergyman, along with many others who were arrested and imprisoned both before Imam's arrest and after it in the bloody uprising of Khordad ۱۵,۱۳۴۲ [June ۵,۱۹۶۳], was in prison at the time of this historic speech. Throughout the course of the Islamic movement and his short life after the victory of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatullah Qadi was in the front line of the Revolution. He was martyred by the Mujahidin-e Khalq (the Munafiqin) on `Id al- Qurban [Feast of Sacrifice], November ۱,۱۹۷۹ [Aban ۱۰, ۱۳۵۸ AHS]. «۱۴»- Bandar `Abbas: a port on the northern shore of the Persian Gulf to which opponents of the regime were frequently banished because of its remoteness from all urban centers as well as its inhospitable climate. «۱۵»- The American historian Morgan Shuster, in his book, The Strangling of Persia, writes:" A venerable priest of Islam arose. Time was slipping away and at noon the question would be beyond their vote to decide. This servant of God spoke briefly and to the point: `It may be the will of Allah that our liberty and our sovereignty shall be taken from us by force, but let us not sign them away with our own hands! ' One gesture of appeal with his trembling hands, and he resumed his seat.  «۱۶»- On November ۲۹,۱۹۱۱, the Russian empire, which exerted great influence in Iran, sent troops into Iranian territory and delivered an ultimatum to the Iranian government which was supported by Britain. The ultimatum called for the dismissal of the American advisory group led by Morgan Shuster; a guarantee that no foreign adviser would be hired in future without the consent of Russia and Britain; and payment of an indemnity to the Russian troops in Iran. The ultimatum was discussed in a meeting of the Second National Assembly on December ۱,۱۹۱۱ and was met with strong opposition from Ayatullah Mudarris and other members of Parliament." Simple words, these, yet winged ones. Easy to utter in academic discussions; hard, bitterly hard, to say under the eye of a cruel and overpowering tyrant whose emissaries watched the speaker from the galleries and mentally marked him down for future imprisonment, torture, exile or worse" And when the roll call was ended every man, priest or layman, youth or octogenarian, had cast his own die of fate, had staked the safety of himself and family, and hurled back into the teeth of the great Bear from the North the unanimous answer of a desperate and down-trodden people who preferred a future of unknown terror to the voluntary sacrifice of their national dignity and of their recently earned right to work out their own salvation." The Strangling of Persia, p. ۱۸۲. «۱۷»- Mansour. «۱۸»- Details of the parliamentary proceedings of October ۱۳, ۱۹۶۴ [Mehr ۲۱, ۱۳۴۳ AHS] which resulted in the Capitulation Bill being approved show how the Pahlavi regime had for years allowed the Americans to exploit the Constitution, the sanctities and the Islamic and national affairs of the country in order to satisfy their avaricious desires. The manner in which the Capitulation Bill was presented to the Parliament went against normal legal procedures and the charter of the Parliament. The contents of the bill grossly contradicted the numerous articles of the (former) constitutional law. This bill was nothing other than a bill of sale of the judicial and hence the political independence of the country. Apart from those who approved the bill in the parliamentary discussions, who with closed lips or shouts of `bravo' voted in favor of the bill, the method of opposition of a few representatives- even then this opposition was not to the bill itself rather to how it was presented to the Parliament- was the cause of great surprise and regret and served as another example of the injustice suffered by the Iranian nation throughout the fifty years of Pahlavi rule. On this day, October ۱۳, ۱۹۶۴ [Mehr ۲۱, ۱۳۴۳ AHS], Mr. Sartipour, as an opponent of the bill, said that the aforesaid bill conflicted with three articles of the Constitution. At the end of his speech he said:" I would like Mr. Mansour, who really wishes to adhere to the law and respect the Constitution, to find the opportunity to discuss this matter with our friends (meaning the American government) and ask them to keep us in a favourable position." Mr. Sadiq Ahmadi, another opponent of the bill, after some initial adulatory remarks said:" I still cannot say whether I am for or against because my investigations are incomplete." The third opponent, Mr. Fakhr Tabataba'i, said:" The respectful advisers who have been given technical jobs are necessary for our country, we want to make use of these advisers and we employ these respectful advisers, they are our employees. I want to see whether it is wise to give them such immunities; this most certainly does not have an international aspect Mr. Mansour's government does not think of anything but the good of the country and whatever service the government gives or whatever positive steps it takes, I approve of." Mr. Nasir Behboudi said:" My request is this that you agree to discuss this bill in the uncomplicated and private atmosphere of the commission. Do not let more than this be revealed in the Parliament." The most comprehensive speech in opposition to the bill was from Mr. Zahtabfard. Announcing that he was at one with Mr. Mansour and was not ready to oppose the matter, he presented some of the facts, intertwining them with flattering remarks and allusions. He said:" Mr. Mansour, everyone has the right to ask yesterday's Dr. Musaddiq and today's Mr. Mansour what is the reason for granting such privileges to the American technical advisers. I am speaking logically, and I am not afraid of anybody because I rely only on God, the king, the nation and the Constitution." Mr. Zahtabfard ended his speech with this conclusion:" We must give this assurance to the public, who are our family, that if, God forbid, the Parliament takes steps towards approving this bill, it also acts for the benefit of this great nation of Iran." See Parliamentary Proceedings, ۲۱ st session, meeting ۱۰۴, pp. ۱۶- ۶۴.