Speech [Women's role in the history of Iran during the last hundred years - defining real freedom]

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

Firs of all, I should appreciate these little ladies for what they have just sang. I thank all sisters coming from Khorasan, Amol, and Abadan and pray for them.

We must take account of what they- the Shah and his followers- meant by freedom and what role women played during and after reign of Shah. One who has studied the history of Iran during the last hundred years knows that through all noble revolutions such as Tobacco Revolution and the Constitutional Revolution, women accompanied men. They participated in social and political activities along with men. Like men, they protested in the case of tobacco treaty and took part in Constitutional Revolution; all this date back to Pahlavi regime.

During and after the collapse of Pahlavi regime and in the revolution that the nation launched, women were pioneers. Their action was more valuable than that of men because by staging demonstrations before guns and tanks, they boosted men's morale. We witnessed that they had a great share in this revolution. From the very beginning of the revolution until now, they have participated actively in all affairs including reconstruction efforts. All this happened at that time; there is no need to talk about their present activities with which you are familiar.

What did women do in time of the former regime when some shouted" free men and free women"? What we observed was that a few women attended Rida Khan's tomb in a disgraceful manner and thanked him for granting them freedom. What freedom did he grant men and women? The freedom they desired and the freedom sought by those who are now writing against Islam and clergymen was the one dictated by the West in order to corrupt our youth. They want men and women to be free i.e. women go to parties and display themselves before the eyes of men. They like such a freedom, which culminates in the corruption of men and women. In their view, all forms of obscenity should be free. Could such a freedom enable you, free men and women, to talk about current problem?

Which man could write a single word about the problems imposed upon the nation by strangers and their internal puppets? Which newspapers were free? When were radio and television free? When were people, youth, academics and clerics free? During these fifty years, really useful freedom was denied from the society. We did not have freedom. Women could not take part in social activities or talk about the nation's problems, which were imposed by the eastern and western powers and their puppets. Then we covered three periods of time with which you are mostly familiar and which has been recorded in the history. The last hundred years could be divided into three parts: From the beginning till the time of the Constitutionalism, after it up to the era of Rida Khan with the condition of the freedom on those days and from Rida Khan's coup till the end of the regime. We will consider these three periods and present it to those who are weeping for the former regime and who oppose Islam in the name of" freedom" and" democracy". We only present these three eras. Although the time of Qajar was not favorable to Islam, Muslims were more powerful in those days; the government was too weak to confront clerics and the nation. Then, we will consider the time when Rida Khan came to power and suppressed both the clerics and the nation until the decline of the Shah and after that. Let us see if people had freedom in the first two periods or during the time of Rida Khan's coup until the collapse of his son.

The freedom women have now is good for themselves, for Islam and Muslims and for the nation. That is, they are free to enter society, to serve the country and to criticize the administration and its officials. They are free in social matters and basic issues, which concern the interests of the country and nation without any conditions. You cannot find anybody talking in favor of the country to be repelled. Formerly, women took part in every activity of which the Tobacco and Constitution were the most prominent besides men and talked about the national affairs. During the third period in which you were active, the nation gained victory.

But the freedom Rida Khan and his son wanted was not freedom at all; it was the destruction of the nation. Take freedom to be of two kinds: Concerning the press and radio and television, there was no freedom at all; all writings and speeches that addressed national interests were censored because all our problems had their roots in the government and its heads. If you wanted to say something, you would begin with treason and crimes Rida Khan and his son had committed. You were not free to talk about these. More over, you couldn't criticize the state, police and the army. The kind of freedom that was in line with national interests had been denied; pens were broken and tongues were cut out. Nobody dared to utter a word of criticism. All means of communication used to praise one who had squandered our anything. The other kind of freedom that was harmful to our youngsters and drew their attention away from doing something for their country were Casinos that were open to youth besides brothels.

From Tehran to Shemiran, there were too many brothels to count. This kind of freedom existed to that time and was contributed to which was harmful to the nation. After that regime, the situation has improved before and even better than before. Before the taghouti regime, Qajar ruled the country; they were also corrupt but not so much as these people. These father and son beat the record of corruption!

The freedom, which the nation, men, women and writers enjoy, is the real freedom because it is to your benefit. You are free to come out and ask for your demands and stay critical of the state and whosoever committing an offence. Everything, which serves as a means for human development, is free.

What Islam has prevented are gambling, drinking and all types of obscenity whose means were available in the reign of this traitor. They are forbidden in Islam. Then we have two types of freedom of which the useful kind was forbidden during the era of these two wrongdoers. The freedom they wanted was that women came out with improper make-up to seduce the youngsters. Now, those who are against Islam are after this type of freedom. The other type, which is useful freedom, does not concern them. Those who said our country and nation are such and such do not participate in reconstruction of this country.

Those who are chanting" people, people and people" set fire to people's harvest instead of collecting it. You along with your sisters and brothers took the trouble to help reaping the harvest, while those who claim to support the masses of people set fire to people's harvest. They are those who explode oil pipelines; they are democrats and their followers who want to spoil our oil industry, agriculture and everything in order to prevent the establishment of the Islamic Republic, which would kick them out. Those who are moving against the nation are afraid of this. Then, their call for freedom was not real; rather it was aimed at spoiling the nation. These remnants of the former regime misuse the freedom they have been granted by the Islamic Republic. May God protect you all and help you to serve the country and train these children with Islamic and human teachings, which are good for both the country and their morale; it is good for both worlds.