Rahnavard announces Fire Festival time to remember Iran's post-election victims

03/12/10

Zahra Rahnavard announced that the opposition will take the opportunity to commemorate the victim's of post-election protests on Chaharshanbeh Souri, Iran's Festival of Fire observed on the last Wednesday Eve of the Iranian year that ends with spring equinox. She added if any violence arises on that day, it will be from the government.

The wife of the opposition leader MirHosein Mousavi maintained that the occasion will be a time to remember the lost Nedas, Sohrabs, Seyed Alis, Ashkans, Ruholaminis and the others who died in the post-election events.

A number of protesters have announced that they will take to the streets on Chaharshanbeh Souri, which falls on March 16 this year, to reaffirm their protests against the re-election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad which they consider fraudulent.

In an interview with the reformist website Kalameh, Zahra Rahnavard said that the tenth government of the Islamic Republic is "backward and seeks violence" adding that: "They should know that they cannot always pass their reactionary ideas as that of Islam."

Rahnavard went on to say that: "These are connected with an oppressive faction that have been exerting their influence on an uninformed section of the Islamic society, committing the so-called chains of murders and beating up their opponents in gatherings in order to create a closed society."

She once more denied the legitimacy of Ahmadinejad's government adding: "Since he has gone through the inauguration procedures and since the government regards itself as a legitimate entity, it has to uphold its responsibilities and not persist in ignoring women's demands by introducing anti-women laws in the parliament under the guise of family protection, laws that would destroy families and cause the demise of women and children."

The former president of Alzahra University was making reference to a bill which has been introduced in the parliament referred to as the Family Protection Act. The bill will further pave the way for men to engage in polygamy by scrapping the need to seek the first wife's consent in order to take on a second wife. It also makes women's mehrieh (sum indicated in a prenuptial agreement to be paid to women in case of divorce) taxable.

Zahra Rahnavard maintained that the Islamic Revolution is an "incomplete" project that the "completion of its ideals" has not been realized in the Islamic Republic. She added that "freedom, democracy, women's rights and the rule of law" are amongst the demands of the Green Movement.

The post-election protests to the outcome of the elections, which protesters claim was engineered by the conservative faction of the Islamic Republic, was triggered by disputes brought against it by Ahmaidnejad's opponents in the presidential elections, MirHosein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi. The protests, which still persist nine months after the elections, have come to be known as the Green Movement.

Rahanvard emphasized that while the women's movement should act in unity with the Green Movement, it still needs to pursue its gender specific demands independently.

Zahra Rahnavard, who campaigned alongside her husband throughout the presidential race last year, has supported the protests of the last nine months and on several occasions been subjected to beatings and attacks by government supporters.

Information about Norouz and events across the globe
Persian New Year 1389

New Year, Norouz 1389 - 2010 Times

Articles on Norouz:
    CHAHAR SHANBEH SURI
    Norouz is a Celebration of Life
    Norouz : Persian New Year
    Norouz, the (Iranians) New Year and the Haft-Sin Symbolism