Speech [Rida Khan's missions in Iran; the duties of the armed forces]

Rida Khan attacked Tehran and took control of the government with the help of the Britain. And after a while he ousted Ahmad Shah «1» and took his place. Then he gradually began to carry out his mission. He had many duties to carry out. Through him, the big powers wanted to crush or destroy anything that they considered to be against their wishes or their interests. At the outset, he restored to pretence and hypocrisy, visiting as it used to be said, the" takiyehs" [the places where passion plays representing the Karbala Tragedy are performed] in Tehran that would be set up for the mourning month of Muharram. It used to be said that he would go there barefooted, candle in hand. This was the image of Rida Khan that emerged in Islam. He later confronted the tribes of Iran in the name of restoring security to Iran. He started crushing, one after another, the tribes that constituted one of the important bastions of the country, and though they had their shortcomings, they used to serve the country. He made some of them migrate from their[ traditional ]places to other areas and almost destroyed them.

Meanwhile, and sometimes simultaneously with these operations, he started opposing the clergy on the excuse of purging them [of the undesirable ones] and so destroyed this great stronghold of Islam that was of great service to Iran and Islam, though they [the clergy] did not impose the slightest strain on the governmental budget. On the contrary, one of the great services rendered by the clergy was that they used to train the people. If you look at the files that are- and had been- in the courts and other places, you will see that those people trained by the clergy do not have any criminal records. They were an effective factor in the country's tranquility and important guides in leading the people along the right path and in leading them to perform moral and good deeds.

The fact that I mention the clergy in many of my speeches does not mean that I support any and everybody who has a turban. It is quite often that a man wearing a sack robe burns in the fire of hell. We had seen that the plan of the British in bringing Rida Khan- perhaps it was their main plan- was to do away with this [clerical] class of the people. To this end, they employed to the utmost all the means they had. They used the magazines, newspapers and orators to make propaganda and mobilized the intellectuals and pseudo-intellectuals wherever they were against the clergy. He started gradually to show the other side [of the plan]. He began to show that other aspect bit by bit. In the time of this incompetent person who took our country to rack and ruin, they [his regime] cursed the Noble Messenger in the newspapers. They used the newspapers to curse the Prophet; and it was because of the hypocrisy and outlook of this government and other officials. They set up a parliament and used it to criticize the victory of Islam over paganism. These intellectuals brought out their handkerchiefs and wept, because Islam had prevailed over the Shah of Iran of the time. «2» Their poets recited poetry, their writers wrote and their orators made speeches [about the event]. We can understand by Britain's great insistence on eliminating the clerical class that they really suffered because of it and so wanted to crush it.

In those days, they had set up an army, gendarmerie and a police force whose actions, unfortunately, left a bitter taste in the people's mouths, and have now created difficulties for you who are serving. You dear brothers who are now serving the country are up against a poor image [of the armed forces] arising from the bitter experience the people had of the armed forces in the time of Rida Khan and after him; particularly in his time. It will take much effort on your part to offset this bitterness. You will have to really devote yourselves to the task. You must behave exceedingly well with the people. Your garrisons ought to be Islamic bases, assisting the deprived and disregarding the arrogant. You must strive for a long time to rid the nation of this bitterness it has towards these people. You did not exist at that time; I do not think that any of you were around. But the name of the armed forces was so bad in those days as to leave a bad taste in the people's mouths whenever it would be mentioned. In that period, this same person- Rida Khan- on a visit to a gendarmerie garrison, placed his hands on his pockets and so showed the gendarmes to be thieves! While they would stealthily steal a coat, a pair of trousers, or a copper bowl, he openly usurped the sole properties of people in the vast province of Mazandaran, and registered them in his own name.

He would thus show society as being like this, or he may have wanted to teach them this duty [of stealing]

In case, you gentlemen who belong to the gendarmerie and have come here, should strive for a long time so as to prove that the gendarmerie was not like this [as portrayed by Rida Khan]. When the gendarmerie was in the service of taghout and its personnel used to observe that the person who headed everything was also the leader of thieves, they would naturally feel the urge[ to steal ], thinking to themselves that" the people follow in the footsteps of their kings". «3» It was not only you; the police force and the policemen, who were in the towns and cities, had been so portrayed to the public that the people would start trembling whenever they were seen or the name [police] mentioned. The people were against the police to such an extent. The police must also make efforts for a long time to dispel this image form the people's minds. The same applies to the rest of the security forces. They had also done a lot of mischief in this country and used to crush the people who served it, so much so that the people would feel a deep sense of revulsion whenever they [the police] were mentioned. Therefore you gentlemen, whether you or the other branches of the armed forces such as the army and the police, have to make prolonged efforts in serving the people sincerely and in behaving nicely with them so that these misapprehensions are banished from the people's minds, although we know that none of you were there at that time; not a single one among you.

I remember, and I have witnessed all the events from the beginning when Rida Khan came to Iran or Tehran, until the present. He had arranged in any way he could- and his successor son subsequently did the same thing- to so orientate the people that there be nobody to say anything against the foreigners- the British and, later, the Americans- for taking away everything of ours; all our resources. And if anybody said something, he would be crushed; the people opposing them would be punished. There was opposition from the clergy several times but they were suppressed either by deceptive means or by force. And you later observed the form into which they had changed our university and high schools. From the primary school stage itself, they had begun to westernize the pupils, turning them into people with belief in the West and opposed to Islam. They started with that little child and continued until they made a large number of people opposed to everything; to all the splendid achievements of Islam and the country. It was a university that used to produce people like Nasiri «4» and Sharif-Emami «5»; people who were totally aligned with Britain and, recently, with America. They had made such a kind of country on the orders of Britain in the time of Rida Khan, and on the orders of America in the time of Muhammad Rida. And now that they are no longer here, everything needs to be changed as you can see. Much has changed no doubt, but to whichever place you go, that place will need to be set right from scratch. The offices are the same as they were in the days of the taghout. They have to be cleansed and turned into offices that are of use to the people.

The disciplinary forces and the armed forces must place themselves at the disposal of the public in accordance with what their designations necessitate. The gendarmerie, the police, the army, etc. ought to protect this country. They are meant to protect the nation and the country; they have been formed to police their own country. All of them should be heedful of this point that all these armed forces ought to serve the people. The budget that has been set aside for them comes from the people's pockets. It should not be that the people provide the budget for them to function, but, in turn, be imposed upon, presented and troubled as was the case in the days of those two inhuman persons.

You ought to think about serving this country and this nation. If, God forbid, somebody in a garrison is found to act in a way that is contrary to Islamic and human conventions, the authorities must be aware of the matter and stop him. The previous problems that once existed in the gendarmerie garrisons and the other centers of the armed forces must not be allowed to recur. The authorities must be very careful; they must send supervisors everywhere to exercise surveillance. The reason is that if a few individuals break the rules, like it used to happen in the past, and if things like colluding with the khans and troubling the people occur now in any place, all of you will stand disgraced as the people possess a negative attitude towards you. Thus if they now observe any mischief and any of the previous wrongs being repeated, they will condemn the whole lot of you.

Therefore it is the duty of all of you to protect yourselves and the others from anything that is against the rules. If anybody does anything wrong, you must notify the gendarmerie authorities for them to take preventive measures so that the people change their attitude towards you. Of course, it has changed a lot; I mean that this change[ in the people's feelings ]has been great. And that is why the people raise [favorable] slogans when you mingle with them. When was it like this in the past? The people used to turn their backs on them [the armed forces of the ex-regime]. Even when they used to be taken forcibly to some place where some [important] persons were present for instance, it would be through coercion and without the presence of all the [other] people. In any case, you, we and the rest of the people are now the servants of Islam and the country. All of us should serve this country collectively and unitedly so that this country, God willing, proceeds towards the Absolute Divine Power and you and our country stand with heads held high.

I would like to mention a point which does not only concern you; it is a general matter pertaining to all the branches of the armed forces. You should not imagine that now that you are free and have gained your independence, and now that all those collusions and conflicts are no more, and those beatings, imprisonments and executions no longer exist, there is no need for you to maintain discipline. The solidarity of the armed forces will be undermined, if there is no discipline in any of its branches; that is, if the orders of a commander are not obeyed, if the higher echelons, who are the ranking officers, issue orders that are not carried out by their subordinates and such things. In such a case, you will, God forbid, be unable to confront any eventuality that may arise. In case you people of the armed forces, including the gendarmerie, the army, the police and Pasdars, do not observe discipline and the chain of command, disunity will ensue and every man will be for himself. Only when there is unity can the gendarmerie and the army serve the country. The people individually cannot accomplish anything. These individuals can perform their duties when they unite and become disciplined. But if every person is for himself and there is neither solidarity nor discipline, then apart from not being able to accomplish anything, they will also create disorders.

You must be conscious of the fact that you are now the servants of Islam, and that you must work for the sake of God. It is God's command that you pay meticulous attention to these matters and maintain discipline and observe the chain of command. This is something that does not concern only you; it concerns all the armed forces, just as being watchful to prevent anybody from committing an offense is not only confined to you but concerns all the armed forces. It is the bounden duty of the whole nation to enjoin the good and forbid evil. If anybody is doing something wrong, he ought to be stopped; he must be prevented from doing such a thing. If somebody in a garrison intends to act against his line of duty, the matter must be reported and the offender stopped from committing the offense.

I must tell the people once again that being a soldier of the nation is one of the duties at the present time. The nation must not let these army garrisons become empty. The soldier now is one in the line of duty. In the previous regime, he was a soldier under compulsion [to serve]. They [the youths] would be taken forcibly; and they would call it conscription. Force is not used now; it is a divine command. Defending the country and the honor of the Muslims is one of the divine religious obligations that is binding on the military personnel being disciplined and united, and also observing the chain of command. Moreover, the people who can enlist in the army should introduce themselves and fill these garrisons. According to some of the military authorities, the garrisons are not full at present as not much attention is being paid to military service. It is not necessary for the authorities to draft you forcibly. Your intention is to protect the country. The nation wants to stall these powers that are around our country and have consolidated their forces. This cannot be done unless we have a proper, well-formed army and the garrisons are full. It is not possible [to stall the power] unless we have a large army. You will have an army of twenty million, God willing, to enable you to thwart the conspiracies against our country. May God be your support and the country's support, and may you emerge victorious, God willing, and successfully take Islam to victory.

May God's peace, mercy, and blessings be upon you.