Inaction & Iran

Suu Kyi, HH 13th Dalai Lama, Tank Man, Neda

Of the many ways in which one can succeed in harming oneself, inaction is the deadliest. The human consciousness dwells on the various activities one takes responsibility for, and who we are and what we are capable of doing is determined by what we are prepared to do and what we are prepared to resist. To be gifted with the resources one requires in order to execute an act and then to be deprived of the opportunity to do so is simply not freedom at all; in fact, under such circumstances, freedom is meaningless. Just as power comes only with responsibility, freedom to think must come with freedom to act. When the elections culminated in Iran with the declaration of Mahmoud Ahmedinejad as being the continued president of the nation, Mir Hossein Moussavi, one of his opponents, alleged that the results were rigged. The tumult that soon followed completely overshadowed the debate as to whether Mr. Moussavi’s claims were true or false and, today, the tumult has shown no signs of abating. As I write this, I read on Twitter that an Iranian woman told CNN News that “it was Hitler” after she reportedly witnessed local security forces quell a protest in Tehran by throwing protestors off a bridge. And now, when I realise my inaction, my heart bleeds.

Democracy has always taken its toll in history. The people’s power has never been easy to establish, especially when it comes in after a monarchy or even an oligarchy. It has never been a question of trusting people with the votes – they are yet still purchased in many countries in large numbers – but only of sharing the power that comes with being the one man who leads a whole nation. As Jimi Hendrix summed it up, “when the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace.” Leaders seem to require a constant dose of reminders. Symbols need to be dug out of the monotony of one’s daily life. There was Aung San Suu Kyi in Myanmar, the 13th Dalai Lama in Tibet, the Tank Man during the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacres. And now, Neda Agha Soltan, a young student in Iran who was shot in her heart (June 20) by security personnel. Her dying moments were captured by at least two bystanders, subsequently plummetting her into posthumous stardom and also a “much needed” symbol depicting the need for democracy. For the people in Iran, for the people in Tibet, for the people in Chechnya, for the people in Myanmar, for the people in need of that freedom that permits them to think and act freely, the symbol of democracy is indeed much needed. I only hope they hold on to the emotions her martyrdom has spurred.