Iran Focus: London, Oct. 08 – The following statement was emailed to Iran Focus by the Jondollah Organisation of Iran, a Baluchi group opposed to the government of Iran: Iran Focus
London, Oct. 08 – The following statement was emailed to Iran Focus by the Jondollah Organisation of Iran, a Baluchi group opposed to the government of Iran.
Sistan-va-Baluchistan Province is home to Baluchis, a predominantly Sunni Muslim ethnic minority.
Iran has witnessed escalating unrest since 2006 in areas populated by Baluchis, who complain of discriminatory and repressive policies by the theocratic regime.
In recent months, Iranian authorities have stepped up executions in the restive province in what many Baluchis believe is a response to a spate of attacks by dissidents on government and security officials.
Iran Focus accepts no responsibility for the contents of the statement:
Editor-in-chief of Guardian newspaper
As your newspaper has made allegations about our Organisation, we issued the following statement to clarify our positions and clear our name. We request that according to the principles and traditions of journalism, you publish our statement regarding these allegations.
We categorically reject the claim by the Guardian newspaper that Jondollah of Balochistan has any connection with the Taleban groups. In a report by Delcan Walsh, the Guardian’s reporter in Afghanistan, on monday October 2, 2006, it was reported that the “They also have ideological ties with the Taliban, especially through Jundullah (Soldiers of God), a militant group with an extremist interpretation of Islam.
It is obvious that all Sunni people share Islam as a religion like all followers of other religions. There are 1.2 billion Moslems in the world who believe in the same principles. The different individuals and groups have their own specific interpretation of Islam. It is clear that the Taleban have their own interpretation and their own organization. We, the Jondollah of Baluchistan, are not “a militant group with an extremist interpretation of Islam. “We are a Political Organisation with strong ties with civil society institutions, human rights groups and political organizations. We believe in civil society principles and we strive to establish a system in Iran in which the principles of civil society direct the functioning of the system and the government.
We do not have any sort of ties with the Talebans. As Moslems, we share Islam with all Moslems with moderate views. We believe in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and all other conventions of United Nations. We believe in freedom of speech and freedom of association. We also believe in self-defence as it has been recognised by many United Nations conventions. The right to self-defence has been also recognised in almost all countries and all cultures.
The Islamic Republic of Iran has systematically tried to eliminate our religious and national identity. We, the Baluch as Sunnis, have a right to preserve our identity, our culture, our religion, our land and our dignity. Our campaign against the regime in Iran is the campaign of a national entity and identity whose survival is under serious threat. The world has lost many civilisations, tribes, ethnic groups, religious groups, cultures and languages. Baluchi identity, culture, language and values have contributed enormously to the world’s civilization. It will be a pity if this noble race and identity is eliminated by a regime that is well-known for its international terrorist activities. We do not want to have the fate of the civilisations that are extinct.
We are striving and campaigning to preserve our human dignity, human rights, national identity and religious beliefs.
The Guardian newspaper also alleged that “The Baluch nationalists are violently struggling against the Tehran government and are also believed to be involved in the drugs trade.” We categorically reject this claim by the Guardian newspaper. The Baluch resistants who are involved in campaign against the Iranian regime are not involved in any sort of drugs trade. We practically live in tough and hard conditions but we do not believe that drugs trade must be used as a legitimate source for generating income for these purposes. It is true that Baluchistan is stretched in Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan and this land is a transition route for smugglers. But this transition route in Balochistan is very short in comparison with the long routes which go through the central Iran and other countries to Europe.
In fact the whole land of Iran, Turkey, Eastern Europe and many parts of Central Asia constitute the drugs routes to Europe, Middle East and Asia. But nobody labels the people of other countries and other provinces of Iran as drug trafficking smugglers. The Iranian government has been trying to define the Baluch people as killers and monsters. Our enemies are projecting the Baluch people as drug traffickers and drug traders to justify their massacres in Baluchistan.
To reveal the facts about the Baloch people and Baluchistan we demand that the Guardian newspaper shall be allowed to travel in Baluchistan freely and talk to the Baluch people freely. If the Iranian government allows the Guardian newspaper to send its reporters in Baluchistan, they will see the depth of the destruction and discrimination that the government has created in our land. The Iranian government does not allow any foreign reporter to go into Baluchistan and therefore, nobody knows clearly what the government has been doing in Baluchistan for the last 27 years.
We demand that not only the newspapers must be allowed into Baluchistan but also the United Nations must be allowed to go and find out the massacres that have been organised by the Iranian regime against the Baluch people.
Our struggle is the struggle of a nation for its survival. We are on the brink of extinction and we need the support of the whole world to preserve our people from humiliation.
The Iranian regime has shot or executed or hanged more than 150 Baluch in public only in the last three months according to reliable sources of Iran Focus and Iran Press News. Nobody has raised any voice against these massacres. The international community has chosen to be totally silent.
The Jondollah Organisation of Iran is determined to preserve the national identity and dignity of our people and fight for a democratic system in Iran in which all people of different races, collars, religions and beliefs have equal rights in managing the affairs of their country.
The Jondollah Organisation of Iran.
