By Seen-e Sorkh (Red Robin) - a pen name

I was inspired to write this piece after an emotional and turbulent week in my homeland. 

No Graduation in Iran

This week I have been attending graduation ceremonies.

It has been a time of joy and excitement for the students and their families.

These young men and women have a bright future ahead of them.

And they are celebrating the end of one chapter as they embrace the next.

But, in Iran, graduation ceremonies did not take place this week.

Instead, the students were shot in their dorm rooms.

In lieu of receiving a diploma, Iranian youth were handed a death sentence.

Their bodies, their minds, their souls – were targeted for a brutal killing.

This week in Iran, instead of wreaths of flowers, students were covered in blood.

They held up their fingers in a V to signify victory.

But, they were told to stop or their fingers would be cut.

My Iranian brothers and sisters did not walk across the stage for a graduation ceremony.

Instead, they were dragged on cold concrete pavements because they said they want freedom, liberty, and justice.

Somebody responded: those words are not meant to be lived. He said: the bloodshed has already begun.

In Iran, students were not congratulated by their university president for graduating.

He did not give them a warm embrace to wish them well. Not even a good luck.

He did however, open the gates and let bullets, teargas, and batons greet their faces, legs, heads, and arms.

This week in Iran, students did not have a celebration for graduating.

Instead, they mourned the death of their peers who had been brutally shot.

They carried candles and flowers as they marched in silence.

Somebody told them: if you speak, we will shut you up.

In Iran, all over Iran, this week mothers grieved their sons.

Fathers agonized in shrieking pain over their dying daughters.

Brothers and sisters lost one another in the crowds not to see each other ever again.

And some families are still waiting to hear from their loved ones.

After all.  It's supposed to be graduation week.  How can they celebrate without their student?  What happened to their sons, their daughters, their brothers and sisters?  Where is their special one?

But in Iran, this has happened before.

I just thought it would be so good if finally, Iranian students are not slaughtered anymore.

Instead, let them graduate.

Let them begin the next chapter in their lives.

With liberty, freedom, and justice.

With their heads held up high.

... Payvand News - 06/23/09 ... --

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