Speech [Highlighting the sensitive role of radio and television - encountering the plots - removing the disorders]

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

I have repeatedly notified the gentlemen coming here from the state-run radio and television that this organization is the most critical one in the country. Other mass media apparatuses such as the print media are effective but for a special class. First, their circulation is not so wide as to cover all people in the country. Second, many of the people in the country are illiterate and thus cannot use them. Furthermore, it takes one to three days in order that the newspapers could reach the hands of the people living in areas far from the capital. But the radio is a device all classes of the society, literate or illiterate, can use.

The radio and television provide both audio and visual services. Today, radio and television can be reached in all villages in the country- and maybe small villages in other countries. They are not exclusive to a special group. Even the poor people try to reduce their expenses to buy a radio; most of them may have also television. What is aired by radio will reach the people all over the country as far as radio waves read. If this medium is not corrupt, it can be of the greatest service to the country above all others. No preacher and no speaker can transmit his words beyond the range where he is speaking. Loudspeaker is used to cover a slightly wider range. However, radio reaches the villages, towns and abroad.

If this organization is instructive, presents the problems of the country as they are, avoids diversions and those plotting against Islam and the country, attempting to mislead and corrupt the people by their programs, which are harmful to the nation, then it can be of great service to the people, the country and Islam. On the contrary, if, God forbid, it is becoming like the former organization, which was at the service of the taghouti regime, broadcasting programs against the Islamic revolution, showing pictures to corrupt the youth for which our youth offered their blood, it can render the greatest treason to the country. Therefore, reforming this organization is to reform the society and corrupting it is to corrupt the society. Those who are in charge of broadcasting the programs in different languages have a great responsibility. You can broadcast programs, which may serve the revolution and Islam or programs that may, God forbid, misrepresent Islam and the revolution. Unfortunately, we are now in a situation that our enemies, whose interests are at stake and whose influence curtailed, try from every direction to trigger tension.

One of the difficulties we are facing recently is the situation in Kurdistan in which some deviants propagate that the leaders of Islamic Republic of Iran want to exterminate the Kurdish people. People who are neither the friends of Kurds nor Turks and not even Persians make these propaganda operations. They are agents of foreigners, working to secure their interests.

I have repeatedly said to our Kurdish and Balouch brothers coming here that Islam has no such borders as are found in other creeds. It explicitly says that only God honors the pious people who go to the right way in life and who are not corrupt. Islam favors `Arabs, non-`Arabs and Turkish and Kurdish people equally. The Almighty God has blessed all with existence, rejecting difference between Kurdish, Turkish and `Arab or non-`Arab.

Although the holy Prophet was an `Arab, he has been quoted as saying that there is no superiority of Arabs over non-`Arabs or vice versa. All of them have descended from the same father and mother and are equal. While Islam underscores these concepts, the Islamic Republic of Iran also aims to fulfill the ideas. We have these ideas on top of our programs, but unfortunately evil propaganda ploys are brewed to undermine our efforts.

Outside of the country one form of propaganda efforts is in progress; outside of Iran a different form is presented. Outside of Iran, we are presented as dictator like Hitler or even worse than him. I am pictured as one who has ordered to cut women's breasts! Well. This is what they are propagating. However, in Kurdistan that is lying in our region, people are unfortunately engaged in propaganda. Some credulous people come to believe it. We are all brothers. They attack our Kurdish brothers and kill them. When people go to defend Kurdistan against the evildoers who are coming from abroad, in groups or sending guns, preacher and guerrilla to set fire to the region, it is propagated that we want to kill Kurdish youth! They kill the Kurdish people themselves and charge the IRI with killing. They made such a scandal in the hospitals, but put the blame on IRI while they prevented their wicked acts. I received several papers yesterday bearing the signature of (People's Devotees) across Kurdistan, levelling whatever accusations against the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Right, if Islamic Republic of Iran were minus Islam, then it would be meaningless. All of us and all our people chanted slogans in favor of Islam. We are now doing our best to exercise Islamic precepts and to eliminate the class differences, which they aggravated in Kurdistan in former regime. These matters went unconcerned then and at the same time crying that the region is the most backward part of the country.

I have repeatedly said that the inhabitants of every region are just aware of their own region; they imagine they have the most backward region in the country. When the Kurdish, Balouch and Bakhtiyari people come to me, they complain of being the most backward, hungry and miserable people of the country. It is because they have heard the Shah's propaganda and imagine that everywhere except their own is developed! Whereas, since I have come into Iran, different tribes came here saying the same thing. I said," All of you are right". They hear something and see another thing. Hearing their propaganda and seeing their conditions, the Balouch imagine everywhere is developed but their own because they contradict what they hear and what they see.

There were a wide range of propaganda effort on the shah's" Great Civilization" and" The Gates of Great Civilization." However when you look your environment, you imagine other places have reached the great civilization except your own. But when we return, we find no developed region. Go to Tehran, the capital, and see whether the conditions of Kurdish or Balouch people are worse or those of the ghetto settlers in Tehran. When I sometimes watch them on television coming out of their homes resembling holes along with their children and when I watch their lives shown on TV, I should say they are much worse than those living in Kurdestan and Balouchistan.

Gentlemen! It was planned to make the country in such a way that it cannot progress at all, to plunder underground resources and to leave the nation hungry and miserable. Do not imagine that Kurdistan is the most backward part of the country. As the Balouch say about their region, Balouchistan assumes it to be worse than yours and you say yours is worse; both of you are right, because you see a situation worse than impossible! When I was in Najaf, I was informed of the situation in Tehran and its suburbs. When I arrived in Iran, I saw it several times on T.V One cannot imagine worse than that. What can we call it? A hole! You see a man along with a woman and several children coming out of it. Now they are planning to prevent establishing an Islamic government and exercising Islamic precepts. To do this, they go to every place they can find an audience of a few people to lend a call to their ears that we are more dictatorial than others! The dictatorship of the clerics is worse than such and such! What dictatorship? I am a cleric myself, so can you say I am a dictator? The gentlemen saw that they are spreading propaganda against us; they must do so, of course, because they have lost whatever they had here in Iran.

Unfortunately, these matters, which are widely propagated in Iraqi newspapers, are also drummed into the brains of our Iraqi brothers. A gentleman who came here from Iraq just today said Iraqi newspapers started a wide range of attack on Iran and the revolution, calling it non-Islamic and fascist revolution; many of our Iraqi brothers also came to believe them. They have planned to stop establishing Islam in Iran.

Those who plundered all your resources, treasuries and foreign exchange, are making such disorders, fearing lest Islam would be established; they might not have the slightest chance.

I tell the Kurdish, Turkish and Baluchi people to be careful not to be deceived by these words aired by the enemies. Let the blood of our youth bear fruit. Be careful not to waste their bloods or else we would return to a situation that a regime like the imperial government or worse than that would take over, leaving Kurdestan, Baluchistan and all over the country backward again. All the people should come together and work out a solution. Be careful not to be deceived by their propaganda. Those who speak continually in favor of the people and are moaning are the same individuals who burn the harvests of the farmers, who try for a year to bring bacon home.

I ask all of you to reform and to produce useful programs for the society to bring up social problems and to avoid devious programs. I sometimes hear devious programs broadcast on the radio. Unfortunately, they are repeated for several times. The right programs are not broadcast at all or are distorted and then going on air. This is a great treason. How many times should I repeat these objections? I have said that time and again you must serve the organization and the country, but not let the deviant infiltrate into this organization to make devious programs. If a person says a wrong thing, it will be broadcast fully both on radio and television, but if it is replied by a person, it is either not broadcast at all or presented in distorted version.

We are facing many difficulties about all of which I cannot speak now. They want to separate Kurdestan from Iran and to push it into other matters. They do not want to serve you but divide Iran into several parts, staging a coup to establish a government which is fully under the control of foreigners in order to bring up the former matters and situation again.

Wake up! Our nation should wake up. It is a nation that had the ability to punch the great powers on their mouth. Therefore, it is a powerful nation but must also keep its unity. If you observe your unity, God is with you. «1» You can defeat all the enemies. Do not fear their tumult! They are a few devious people who can be destroyed soon. I have already said that if the deviants were not mixed with our Kurdish brothers, they would be destroyed in a few days. But what should we do? They are among the people; if we take an action, many innocent women and children would also lose their life, something that we do not want to happen.

We want to protect the Kurdish people and the Muslims. Unfortunately, since the rebels are mixed with them, we have our hands tied and cannot act decisively; otherwise, there is nothing to it to destroy them. I have received letters from some nomadic tribesmen, saying if I order, they would go there and fix the things. What can I do? If I order the tribes to fight the rebels, a fratricide may occur. We do not want this. Therefore, Kurdish people must purge them themselves, and not let them come into their villages and towns. They must prevent these incidents and introduce their leaders. I declared amnesty for all of them who are our brethren except a few leaders who are treacherous and murderer. The members for the Democratic Party may also return and join the nation. They should not make a fuss and go after so many offenses; they should not imagine that we cannot destroy them; we do not want the innocent Kurdish women and children, who are like my children and who live among the rebels, to suffer wounds. Foregoing this, destroying the rebels is an easy task. The army, gendarmerie as well as IRGC are powerful. If an order is given, the RGC forces will spill over from every direction and put an end to the purge.

We do not want to commit fratricide. We wish things to be fixed peacefully, gently and brotherly. You yourselves must purge these malicious people, who do not want you to have a comfortable life, intending to start bloodshed in Kurdistan and later in Balouchistan and wherever they can. They should be purged by your honorable and powerful youth, not anyone else.

May God protect you all! I hope God will grant you success! I would like to reiterate that you should produce good programs; if you want to make programs exclusively for Kurdish people, try to express the matter exactly in Kurdish. Introduce the malicious and the men of evil who do not want «2» peace to be restored in the country. If you broadcast programs in foreign languages, try to state the matters dealing with Iran as they happen. Explain that the people are not under any burden of tyranny. They undermine any chance to actualize Islam. Is it possible to make reforms where chaos is rampant? Where war is in progress, it will not be possible to build houses or hospitals and to asphalt. Drive them out of your regions and you would see what would happen to them and to other regions.

Whoever makes programs for the external service must explain the matters of Iran exactly as they are. Enlighten the people that whatever foreigners write in their newspapers and what they broadcast on their radios about Iran are not true. They are the one who are spreading such propaganda by former SAVAK agents or the agents of the foreigners and super powers that want us to remain in the former situation so they can plunder everything in the country. May God support you and you are successful!