Examining the role of student organizations in the political events of the seventies – Mehr news agency Iran and world’s news
TheMehr news agency; Politics group – Zainab Rajaee: Parts of the documentary “This is a protest.” About the events of the seventies and the government of “Mohammed Khatami” on the occasion of June 2 and the anniversary of the election of the seventh term of the Islamic Republic of Iran in 1976, it was screened in Mehr news agency. The second day of the month of June every year reminds of the inflammatory and tense events that, although it has played a significant role in determining the political and social future of the country; But most of the society is unaware of its details and they don’t know that the events that not only affected the results of the elections of the seventies, but also determined the frequency of the results of the elections of the eighties, are rooted in student organizations and university movements. The six-part documentary series “This is a protest” which is a product of Documentary Network, Surah Documentary Center and Nahdat Media Art Center, is being broadcast on Sima Documentary Network.
Students; Actors of the main role of the seventies
This documentary is produced and directed by Mehdi Mahmoudi It is the effort of a group of cultural and artistic activists and concerned to explain and reconstruct the events of the seventies. This documentary is the narration of the action and reaction of young students who were not indifferent to the conditions of their time and despite their young age and little experience, they have become the source of many effects in the society. The screening of parts of this documentary, with the presence of executives and representatives of student organizations, was an excuse to remind that indifference and passivity in the university environment are far more harmful than activism; Even if that action is wrong!
“This is a protest” depicts real, important and of course exciting events by representing history, the main actors of which were young students, and reminds that the indifference of students deals a serious blow to the political and social life of a country. While showing the political and social experiences of the last two decades, the authors of this documentary are actually trying to protest against today’s indifference and take a step to revive student movements. This collection focuses on the period of Seyyed Mohammad Khatami’s government and the formation of the second movement of Khordad and has gone to some active student figures at that time and interviewed them to tell the events of those days themselves.
A brief look at a corner of the documentary
The narrative of “This is a protest” begins with the fact that Ayatollah Mahdavi Keni was the head of the newly founded Imam Sadiq University and believed that the students of this university should be introduced to westernized ideas. Therefore, figures with this thinking were invited to talk face to face with the students. Until “Hossein Haj Farajullah Dabbagh” known as “Abdul Karim Soroush” He gave a lecture at Imam Sadiq University.
In this university, he discussed the subject of “Sharia Bill and Expansion” and the book in this load He wrote and spoke. According to this documentary; It wasn’t long before Soroush’s lectures were extended to other universities and the volume of his activities expanded greatly. to some extent that the number of his lectures in the university environment exceeded 200.
In the narrative of this documentary, it is stated that after some time, a conference was scheduled to be held at Tehran University with the presence of Soroush, but Hosseinullah Karam, a member of Ansar Hezbollah, announced that he would not allow this conference and speech to be held. In the continuation of the raisins, it is decided that the conference will be held briefly and Soroush will say a part of the words and postpone the continuation of the debates to the near future, but this process will not be realized because Soroush’s supporters and a group of his opponents will get involved before the start of the speech. Where the severity of the conditions of the university causes chaos.
According to the statements of the figures who narrate the events of those days in this documentary, this physical conflict caused a kind of political work, and broadcasting the images of that day’s conflicts created political waves at different levels of society.
“Alireza Zakani” The head of student mobilization of Tehran University and a student activist of the 70s in the narrative of the events of those days says that the creation of conflict and tension in those conditions led some people to attach the label of freedom to themselves forever and show themselves as claimants and freedom seekers to the people!
In another part of this documentary, Ali Bagheri, a member of the Central Council of Tahkeem Vahdat Office, says about the negative impact of the events of those days in Tehran University in the story of Soroush’s speech: “What echoes did Soroush have before the 70s? What kind of body did he have? How many of his speeches were seen and heard?”
Bagheri reminds that Soroush had given more than 200 speeches before the incident at Tehran University, which were not seen and had limited feedback; But this speech, which was never held, was widely seen due to the events that took place.
Another face that the documentary “This is a protest” went to, “Alireza Hashemi Golpayegani” He is in charge of Basij of Amirkabir University and a student activist in the 70s. He says in this documentary that the second story of Khordad is due to the conflict on the day of Soroush’s speech at Tehran University and the conflict of some opponents with his supporters!
After depicting this background, this collection tells details of the 1976 elections. Why and in what process did the office of Tahakim Vahdat stop supporting Mirhossein Mousavi for the elections and go to “Mohammed Khatami” and focus on his two governments and put the formation of the second movement under the microscope.
An attempt to explain the effective role of student activities
After the first part of this documentary was aired, Mehdi Mahmoudi, the director and producer of this documentary, said: “In this 6-part series, we discussed how student organizations, movements and academic movements were influential in the events of those years. We had a double motivation to make this documentary, and we tried to be neutral in representing those years and simply be observers of the events.”
Pointing out that during the creation of this work, he faced limitations to express some issues, he continues: “Unfortunately, documents and archival management in various fields, including student mobilization and the Broadcasting Organization, faced many problems to some extent. Many of the documents of those years were subject to destruction. In this documentary, we tried to collect and preserve the documents of these documents in a coherent manner, and present what we are going to discuss to the audience with evidence.
Mahmoudi also expressed his desire to receive the feedback of the students of today and yesterday: “We are eager to know the opinion of the students of that time about this documentary in order to measure to what extent we have succeeded in recreating the atmosphere of those days.”
He also complains about the non-cooperation of some institutions and groups and says: “Some groups that could cooperate with us in this direction, refused any assistance and did not cooperate at all.”
Isn’t it time to revive free-thinking seats?
In the continuation of this meeting, Mehrdad Tavakoli, a researcher and activist in the field of cinema and television, says: “Films and documentaries are like seats of free thinking and can be an effective step to explain the political atmosphere of the 70s; Especially the events of the academic field of those days, the reconstruction of which is of special importance for streamlining and streamology.
Tavakli believes that the flow of the student sphere is an important issue that must be addressed at different levels, and this documentary has been able to address the importance of the role of the student sphere to a large extent; But this documentary and many other works in the field of flow science have been successful and should go towards flow creation.
He also emphasized the importance of enlightenment and the need for media connection in the study and historical explanation of various events and states: “We are facing gaps in this field, but definitely the continuous activity of the media and being the first to tell can fill these gaps. In this way, it is possible to increase the amount of influence and ultimately lead to building a discourse and flow.
This media expert, recalling the frequent order of the leader of the revolution, emphasizes the necessity of “free-thinking chairs” activity: “Today, it is necessary to move towards free-thinking chairs. The Supreme Leader has emphasized the necessity of this issue many times in these years are And maybe if we had followed this order at that time, we would not have faced many issues today.”
We don’t know the history, student movements are being abused
In this meeting, the author of the documentary, “Mohammed Mehdi Gudarzi”, expresses the concerns and motivations of making this work and says: “The making of this documentary was to show the events of Khordad II. Depicting the internal and contextual changes of some political and academic figures who were once even jealous of Imam Khomeini’s name, but after some time their statements had become noticeably distorted, was a very difficult task, which presented us with difficulties during this documentary. “
He explains: “Depicting the events and internal changes of various figures who were once in favor of the revolution and the Islamic Republic, but after events change their position to the opposite point, was one of the difficulties of making this collection.”
Also, “Mohammed Javad Molavi” from the activists of the student organizations reminded in the continuation of this meeting that if the student movements do not know their history, they are doomed to failure and they may again become the toy of political movements and viewpoints in the course of various events and lose their original identity. As.
Saeed Karami, a member of the Central Council of the Union of Islamic Students’ Union, also pointed to the Supreme Leader’s repeated order to study history and said: “This documentary is an example of studying history, which can show how the organizations came from and what path they have followed. »
“Mohammed Hashemzadeh”, an expert in the field of documentary, says about this documentary: “What is known today as the current of reforms has its roots in the events of the 70s and the events of those years. How the student flow and the mass of people were drawn to the second flow of Khordadis is an issue that should be addressed and efforts should be made to explain it.
He continues: “It is necessary to accurately and correctly read the political currents; Some current officials and agents in the country are student activists of the past years, and the serious question is, to what extent have these people changed today compared to their slogans and views of the past? Studying and explaining these issues can create the basis for correct understanding of currents and people.
At the end of this meeting, Hashemzadeh reminds that today, one of the harms of the academic field is the instrumental use of student movements, and this harm has caused the academic movements to be deprived of an independent and demanding view in this regard. An injury that some have led to the passivity of students and questioned the identity of their activities.