Speech [Explaining the position and the duties of the military and security forces]

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

First of all, I wish to apologize for not being able to speak for a long time. In fact, the doctors have forbidden me to give speeches as such, except occasionally and, that too, for a short while. I thank you for coming here so that we can talk about certain issues.

Most of you are well aware of the position of the police and all the other forces- military and security- in the past. You know that these forces were so separated from the people that they could not tolerate one another. The point was this that the heads of the police, army, security and all other forces were persons who by their actions, and the kinds of work they would impose upon their subordinates, gave rise to the nation's abhorrence of all the armed forces, you are aware that when a policeman or constable used to enter the bazaar, he would order the people to do something or the other. The people, for their part, would try to escape from the policeman's clutches. They would hate him for his actions. The police, and also the gendarmerie and the army, were basically formed to serve the country and its people. They were not there to rule the people. The basic purpose of the government is also the same. Such was the case with even the rightful government of Hadrat Amir (s) who ruled over all things.

Yet, the government that existed in Islam's early period was at the people's service. It was not that the government ruled while the people acquiesced uncritically. It was not that the government, by virtue of its power, dealt unjustly with the people or oppressed them, leading them to hate it.

Now the situation has changed. I hope, the situation will, God willing, not return to the previous one. It is an obligation on all of us, on all of you and all those who are in the government and elsewhere and who are closely associated with the affairs of the people to create an environment in which they consider themselves as those that serve the people. The government officials from Mr. Bani Sadr «1» downwards should serve the people. The masses should feel that they are working with their interests in view. If the people feel that the police are there to look after their interests and not to impose upon them, they will hold the police in esteem and support them. In the past, you had observed that the police, the people, the womenfolk, the men, the nation, never assembled together in one place. They used to distance themselves from one another. As a result at the time of any difficulty for the government, the people would not extend their cooperation. On the contrary, they would create obstacles for the government wherever they could. The reason was that they had so portrayed the police to the people as if they were wolves amidst a flock of sheep, ready to get hold of them. This bitterness still exists in the minds. Therefore, gentlemen, since this bitterness still exists, you have to concentrate a lot on erasing it from the people's minds. You must remember that over the past fifty years, and especially these recent years, how much the people had been troubled and how they suffered at the hands of the military and security forces which are there to maintain law and order, and how badly their chiefs treated the people and how the organization that existed under the name of the Security Organization, had deprived the people of security. It was always the concern of the people that they (the security police) may come to them at any moment and arrest them needlessly. The bitterness of all this is still there; the bitter taste exists even now. Therefore, the grave duty of sweetening this bitterness lies on you, and this depends on your actions, on the actions of the gendarmerie and the army. By means of your conduct, you can do something to make the people forget the hardships and the bullying of the past. Try and sweeten this bitterness by means of your good deeds, your behavior and your affection. You are brothers; all of you. All the people in an Islamic country are brothers. We will behave well with one another if we have this feeling of brotherliness. But if one feels that he is above the others and that they must obey him, that he being the head of the police (for example) makes it obligatory for the people to listen to him, if he so wants to order the people around as a matter of duty, the situation will then return to that of former times causing the people to distance themselves from you and to fear you. Fear will strike them when they see you. I remember many instances during the days of the former regime which would have constituted a long story had somebody written, about them. When the people, especially the clergymen, used to see a policeman from a distance, you cannot imagine what a state of mind they would be in. If they could, they would run away. This was because of the orders that the higher authorities would issue to the policemen. The lower ranks were also trained like that. There was no sign at all of Islamic training. It was training in the Western fashion. They adopted it the worst of it, from there and put it into practice here.

You should not think that a gift will be brought to us from the West. You should not think that a gift will be provided for us from the West to make us advance, to make us progressive. Unless the West keeps us in a backward state, it will not be able to derive any benefit from us. Their efforts have been such as to have made us and all the Islamic and oppressed countries lag behind in all the spheres of activity. Whatever they do for us is imperialistic in nature. That is, if they import knowledge of medicine, it has colonialist undertones. If they supply us with medicines, that, too, has a colonialistic hue to it. If they want to set up a university for us, it is a colonial type one. They want to establish or do everything so as to be of benefit to themselves and to make us submit blindly to them.

Now that by the will of God the Blessed and Exalted, and the blessings of Islam, we have come out of this bondage and captivity, we must be very careful to see that they do not shackle us again. We must take a lesson from the army, gendarmerie, and police of Muhammad Rida's era. We must see what the people's attitude to them was, how they, in turn, behaved with the people and the outcome of all this. The people were against them and they, too, were against the people. They would behave with one another like two enemies. You are not aware. Most of you do not remember the condition of the police stations of those days. One who perforce had to go to a police station would suffer palpitations because of fear and dread as to his fate. Such a state of affairs was very bad in the days of Rida Khan. But in the days of the second one, too, it was bad. Whenever a person had a problem and was obliged to go to a police station, he would not know what to do out of fear, as to what they might do to him, whereas police stations should be places where the people's needs are fulfilled. They behaved like that and became like that. We must learn a lesson from these historical matters. We should not be like that so as not to become like that.

Brothers! All people are on a par with you and your superiors. If you behave well with the people, it is to your one good. But if, God forbid, you behave badly with them it will be to your own detriment. One who is oppressed, does not suffer as much from his oppressor's tyranny as the oppressor himself. We and you, will one day, have to appear in the presence of God, the Almighty, will be questioned that day. You, the police, will be questioned about your job, your actions, and your conduct. Don't be negligent of God. Don't ignore that day, when every body stands in need (of God's forgiveness). Behave well with your brothers and with your nation. God will show mercy on you. May you all be prosperous, successful, and triumphant, God willing. Although you should serve in the towns and cities, you, nevertheless, went there (to the fronts) and considered it your duty to do so. It is everybody's duty to go and help all the other brothers, and drive these evil people out of the country soon, God willing.

I pray for you. May God grant you success. May God's peace and mercy be upon you.