Speech [Misleading the Third World countries in order to exploit them; the need to be vigilant and to make efforts to get rid of our dependence on others]

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

Pointing out this issue and paying attention to it is, first of all, necessary. A nation that desires to be its own master and takes the reins of its country into its own hands must be vigilant first. The state of alertness is the first stage in the caravan heading towards God. This is what the wise people say. «1» Efforts had been made throughout history, particularly in recent centuries, to keep the countries of the Third World in a state of slumber and unawareness. They wanted the people of these countries to remain oblivious of their own individuality and to look upon themselves as being essentially dependent on others. This situation had existed for many long years. It had been going from bad to worse, becoming the worst possible in recent times. I have heard of a case which took place perhaps a hundred years ago. More than a hundred years ago, our shaykh, the late Ayatullah Ha'iri «2»- May God bless his soul- was reported to have said that when he was a boy in Yazd, some lamps of those days were brought there. Arrangements were made for the people who came and gathered where the lamps were to be lit up. Some ladders were placed with the lamps on top of them. It was the first time that the people had seen such lamps. The earlier ones were of a different kind. Every few minutes or every once in a while, a European who was there would go up the ladder and operate the control whereupon the lamp would become somewhat brighter. The people would invoke blessings on the Prophet and his progeny. The man would come down and, after a while, he would go up the ladder again while the crowd watched. On turning on the lamp, they would express their wonderment again. This occurred in those days when we were not even able to operate a wick. A European had to do it. They had to come from abroad and demonstrate with their hands the way of making the wick go up and down. This notion gradually gained strength among all the classes of the people. When I was living in exile in Turkey, I saw a photograph of Ataturk's «3» statue. It was facing the West with its arm raised. I was told that it symbolized that whatever we had to do should be done by the West. Ataturk was said to be a so-called enlightened person, for instance; that kind of person. Even in our own country some of the so-called intellectuals «4» had said that we ought to be westernized and Anglicized from head to toe in order to survive. We must realize that we are something ourselves and that the Muslims, too, are an entity possessing personality and the ability to do things by themselves. Until we do not want to do anything, we will not be able to do it, and until we do not wake up, we will not want to do anything.

We had been kept in a state of unawareness and oblivion which made us feel that we were not equal to industrial undertaking, and that our people were able to make a" lulheng" «5» only. They could not make anything else. This unfortunate nation of ours had come to believe such things because of the propaganda carried out by the big, advanced countries, and also the propaganda made in Iran, by the people connected to those countries, to the effect that all our requirements had to come from abroad. We, or most of us, had become convinced that the people of the West were of a superior race. As I have heard, Hitler used to say that the Germans were a superior race. Some of our writers had written about the laborers in Germany standing by the roadside; shovel in hand, ready to do some work. Many believe that the blue-eyed people can work better and more than the people of this country in managing the affairs of a nation like ours, for instance. Such thinking had kept us backward to such an extent that we were led to believe that we were good for nothing. If our army had to be turned into a proper one, it needed foreign advisors for the purpose. They had to come from Europe or America to train it. As for industries, we did not have the right to even mention them. We being the makers of" lulhengs" had no right to talk about industries. They, in their entirety, lay in the domain of the Europeans and Americans.

Unless we wake up from this slumber and acknowledge that we too are human beings, that we possess our own individuality and are counted among the big nations, that we are Muslims with a combined population of approximately one billion souls possessing all the means; unless we believe all this, we will not do anything for ourselves. If a nation sits idle with outstretched hands asking other countries to supply it with its requirements- all their (West's) efforts were directed towards making us get all our things from abroad, and for them to take away our resources in lieu of what they would give us- and if such a nation were to live for a million years, it will find itself in the same situation in which it was initially. It will develop into a lazy nation lacking in determination. All this widespread propaganda that they have been doing should not sway you. You must rise from this slumber of more than a hundred years into which you had been lulled. The first step is to understand that we too are human beings. No countries, no regimes, no races are superior to ours. But through their propaganda they so altered our outlook that we always had our hands extended to the East or the West in order to obtain our needs. If we wake up to the fact that we, too, exist like the others, that we too are like the other human beings and our race is like the other races, then, following our awakening, we will develop the will to provide the needs of our society by ourselves and through our own efforts. To this end, the realization must dawn on us that we ourselves have to procure our life's needs, to work for ourselves and not to approach the East, or West but to get busy with our own affairs, to learn and after learning, to do everything by ourselves and not seek to import things like rugs, blankets and guns. We must give thought to all these issues. We must wake up.

We ought to perform our own work in which case our country will soon become industrialized. The people who set up big industries are men with one head and two ears like all other men. But they awoke before we did. They left us to sleep. They woke up earlier than us. They made efforts to lead us astray either directly or indirectly through their lackeys. They wanted to make us negligent, to make us think that we were not capable of doing anything. They even made us think that we were not able to govern or to have a proper ruling system. They said that we were not able to industrialize the country. Whatever we loudly claim (about our capabilities) will be to no avail unless we wake up from this sleep. Raising slogans is of no use. The slogan which is useful is that based on knowledge and careful thought. There are slogans, of course, that are raised at the beginning of revolutions or movements they propel them. A revolution cannot make headway in the absence of slogans. The time to act comes after its successful culmination.

We must be particular about not extending our hands always; one hand towards the East, the other towards the West. As long as these two hands of ours be stretched, we will be dependent. We do not want to be dependent. Hence we must first wake up to the fact that we, too, possess our own personality and are able to accomplish our work.

Before the successful culmination of this movement, this revolution, you saw that there was hardly anybody who thought it even possible to overcome the big powers. This was particularly so with regard to a nation that was dependent on others for everything. Everything that it needed had to come from abroad; it had nothing itself. This (revolution) was something that nobody believed could happen. But you saw that it happened after you had made up your minds and the people made up their minds. When the people woke up and decided that the superpowers and all those tied to them must not rule here, these same bareheaded and barefooted people of the streets and bazaars, these same people from the universities and other places rose and by means of their alertness and unity of expression, drove the enemy out of the arena though, at that time, it possessed power to the utmost extent. Had our people been what they were during these last twenty, thirty years; from twenty years ago up to now when they used to fear a policemen or be afraid of going to a police station in case they had to do so, or fear (taking) the Shah's name, if they had been the same as they used to be, they would not have been able to stage an uprising and bring about this revolution; this miraculous revolution. They were first awakened by the speeches of the orators and the writings of the writers; the committed writers. Then they made up their minds. They wanted the revolution to happen. The campaign then followed. So you can see that when a nation wants something to happen; it happens. Our people did not want the oppressive monarchy. They wanted a humane Islamic order, they demanded it, and it came about. We, of course, do not claim to have a genuine Islamic system. But we do say that the tyrannical regime that sold everything of ours to others and destroyed everything is no more in existence. The big powers have no influence over our affairs now. This is the first step. All of us, the whole nation, everybody wherever he be must try not to be dependent on others. The farmers in the fields and elsewhere ought to understand that they should make efforts not to be dependent on others. Every dependent person is a captive. It is possible that his captivity may get prolonged. If those who are (working) in the fields perceive this point, they will make up their minds not to be dependent. They will become determined to provide the country with foodstuffs. If this note of warning is sounded in the factories that they must not be dependent, and that they ought to work for themselves, they will then try to run the factories better. The people who are experts in industrial matters will make use of their expertise. The realization that all of us ought to work for ourselves and set up industries, big and small, by ourselves, will be the starting point- subsequent to that awakening and this determination- for them to take action, to get busy, to think and put their brains to work and perform their own work by themselves.

You should not expect to manufacture an aircraft or a MIG now itself. Of course, it cannot be done at present. But do not get disappointed; it can be done. You must wake up and pursue the matter of seting up advanced industries by your own means. If such a thought occurs to the people and such a resolve arises in them, they will make efforts following which their purpose will be achieved. Hopelessness is the trait of Satan's army. That is, devils create despair in man. These devils that you see have been disheartening the weak nations throughout the course of history. They are the same ones that have been instilling into the minds of the weak nations that they know nothing and can do nothing. They are the ones that, because of their links to the West, have been telling the weak nations that they must become westernized; that our army's advisors must come from the West and that experts from the West must come and commission our factories. We must sweep aside this army belonging to Satan. We have to revive hope that springs from God's army. We must have hope in ourselves. We must rely on our own determination (to do something). We must not let others decide for us. But we must all be collectively determined so that a task is performed. There should be coordination between the army and the other armed forces. They must strive to make themselves strong and run their own armed forces and their army by themselves. They can do it; you can see that they have been able to do it, and can do it. The ones in the factories, the workshops and also those that are involved in industrial affairs should tell themselves that they will do their own work and that they can do it.

Create hope in yourselves. Our writers, our orators, should all be after this aim and that is to inject hope in our people. Don't disappoint them. Tell them that we are capable; do not say that we are not. Say that we can do our work ourselves. And the fact, too, is that we can. Determination is required. The greatest service that our writers can render is to give hope to this nation that is standing up to the East and the West and does not want to be under an eastern or western system, that it can be independent of them until the very end. Instead of finding fault with one another, instead of assailing one another, these writers and orators must instill hope and self-confidence into the people. They must create self-reliance in them. If our press and the media, our writers and orators render this service to the nation and create this self-confidence in it, we will always be victorious. It is a pity that our orators and writers and those that write articles for the newspapers or give talks on the radio and television have not been thoughtful about giving these people hope and assurance considering that they stood up and offered the blood of their youths while sacrificing everything of theirs for the sake of Islam and the country's independence.

Be sure that things can be done if you so want; that if you wake up, you will want to accomplish things. Wake up and understand the point that they mean by saying that there is no race superior to the German one; the Aryan race. The people of the West are not superior to us; they started their activities earlier. Get busy and do your work. Japan had the same problem. But on waking up, it made up its mind and became an industrialized country so much so that it is competing with America. India also woke up and although it belongs to the races that are not German or western, it was able to advance when the people so desired irrespective of the fact that it used to be said that the western countries are super countries and that they (the Indians) are not capable of accomplishing things. You too can achieve if you want to. You wanted the oppressive Pahlavi dynasty to go and it happened so. You wanted no other power to control you and your resources and so it was. There is nobody dominating you now.

It ought to be your desire to manage your own country. It should be your desire to help your own government. Do not weaken the government or those that are serving the country. All these persons who are working are serving you and the nation. Do not wish that this group prevails over that group, or that group over this one. Think of working together in managing the country, and also in awakening the people. I am on the side of all the classes of the people that are serving this country. It is, however, a matter of regret to me that the persons who want to push this country backwards have pitted the ones who are serving it against one another, with each one of them censuring the other. Instead, be firmly determined to take the country ahead. Wake this nation up. Support the judiciary, support the army. They, of course, need to be reformed. Support the high court judges so that they are able to carry out their work. Lend your support to the chiefs of the army and the other armed forces so that they may run the army and the armed forces better, thus enabling these forces to perform their duties in a better manner. Support the Majlis that is at the helm of all the affairs. You must aim at possessing a powerful legislature so that it takes the country along the right path.

I have no relationship with any of these groups. I am not related to anybody of them. But I do approve of all of them as long as they conduct themselves well in their posts. You must know that there are persons and groups amidst our masses who want those that are working for this country to fall out of the people's favor, and to separate them from the nation. When somebody approaches you and tells you something about somebody, ask him as to what proof he has in saying such a thing about the person in question. See what answer he has. If it is said that somebody in the army, or the army commander, has done something, press him to present you with the proof as to his assertion. If they find fault with the head of the judiciary, ask them for their reason in doing so. Thereupon you will understand that they have no proof and that it is just propaganda that they are doing so as to dent the prestige of the people concerned, and profit by it. Unfortunately, many of our people hardly pay attention to this matter. They believe the malicious propaganda that they spread against some of these clergymen who are engaged in serving the nation. They are defaming people whom I have known for more than twenty years. I know what personalities they are. These are the defects existing in our country. There are people serving at present in the army, the gendarmerie, the Islamic Guard Corps, the Volunteer Corps (Basij) and the committees. All of them are the country's servants. Some incompetent persons are to be found, of course, in every category and group. But this does not mean that we should censure the entire group for the sake of a single incompetent person. We must not accept anything without a witness or proof. Some philosophers say that if one accepts something without proof, he has departed from his human nature. «6» They are right. Man, according to his innate nature, cannot automatically accept a thing just like that, which he hears. Those who want to discredit the personalities that are at the helm of affairs and are busy in serving the country, aim to empty it of the important and influential people. They want to bring about the situation of the past. Our nation should be vigilant. It should not accept anything without rhyme or reason. When a person says that so-and-so is like this and like that, he must be asked as to why he is saying such a thing. He must be asked the reason. Those that accept blindly are beyond the place of human nature. Proof must be presented for everything that one hears. We acknowledge the existence of God on the strength of proof; not without it. We accepted the prophets on the basis of proof; not in the absence of proof. It is on the basis of evidence that we consider as traitors those people that are treacherous. The evidence concerning the ones, who persecuted and oppressed this nation, was that which you used to see. But if a person, whoever he be- farmer, trader, merchant, office-goer- tells us that so-and-so is this or that, he must offer proof to substantiate his allegation. We must be careful lest it be said, God forbid, that (the people of) our country and this government are not competent to rule, to reform the judiciary or manage the Majlis. These are issues that have dire consequences and which go unheeded by the people. Usually, the people who make such statements either bear a grudge or have been deceived.

My sisters and brothers! Pay attention to the fact that we bear a responsibility today. Our responsibilities are great. We will be held responsible if we fail to maintain this campaign and this revolution that heve reached this stage or this Islamic Republic that has come into being. If the writers who write things against one another in the newspapers contribute to the termination of the Republic, they and we will all be responsible for it. Islam is a trust in our hands. Islamic precepts are held in trust by us. We must not betray them by the nibs of our pens; and neither should we betray this trust with our tongues. We should not betray it by means of our pens and our actions. You must eschew these disputes if you want your country to be independent and stand on its own feet, if you want to be free. You must all show goodwill. You must help one another in a brotherly manner so that this country achieves its purpose.

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