The North Texas Daily (Denton, Tex.), Vol. 68, No. 53, Ed. 1 Thursday, December 6, 1984 Page: 4 of 8
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Page 4—The North Texas Daily
Bahais face persecution
Followers of religion suffer from intolerance
By BRETT PACKER
Daily Reporter
Members of the Bahai faith in Iran face
ridicule, imprisonment and death from
the government of Ayatollah Khomeini,
said Farzad Khozein. Tehran, Iran, gradu-
ate student.
Khozein, who is a Bahai, said his rel-
atives and friends have been executed by
the authoritarian regime.
"They were accused of being Bahai.
There are so many in prison. Bahai kids
can't go to school. The government takes
away the businesses of the Bahais. Bahais
are not even allowed to leave the coun-
try."
KHOZEIN SAID, "If a person had
a passport to leave the country and the
government found out that person was a
Bahai, the government would keep the
passport and track down the person."
Tears filled Khozein's eyes as he told
the story about his uncle's execution. "My
uncle was executed in 1981. We didn't
even know he was in prison until my
brother heard about it on the radio.
"My mom. who was in Iran then, went
to see my uncle in prison and they took
her to see his body. When she walked
into the hallway, the blood was up to
her ankles. His fingers were cut off. I
don't want to talk about that. He was
brutally tortured. Six others were tortured
and executed with him."
He said the Bahais in Iran have been
persecuted every since the religion began
there in 1844.
"Persecution began before the revo-
lution. During the Shah's reign. Bahais
could not hold certain jobs, but they were
not executed."
When asked why, Khozein said. "Prej-
udice.
"There is nothing more dangerous than
being prejudiced. This is what prejudice
does. It blinds you. You don't see any-
thing else except what you want to see.
"Some devout Christians, or any per-
son, religious or non-religious, who builds
up a prejudice about his beliefs, cannot
be fair in treating other religions or cul-
tures with respect. The prejudice could
be economical, cultural—anything."
KHOZEIN SAID despite the perse-
cution his relatives and friends are going
through, he does not hate Khomeini or
the Iranian government.
"I don't hate. It just hurts because peo-
ple do these terrible things."
Bahais do not believe in violence, he
said. "We would rather be killed than
to kill. Instead, Bahais all over the world
appeal to their governments and interna-
tional bodies such as the United Nations
for help.
"We ask government officials to do
something, anything. Reacting in a vio-
lent way is not a permanent solution to
the problem."
'There is nothing more
dangerous than be-
ing prejudiced.'
—Farzad Khozein
"A Bahai who gives his life in Iran is
doing it for the whole world. They (the
martyrs) would like to see the principles
of Bahai advanced. If I kill someone,
how can I promote the principles of
mankind?
"Whenever we face any test or dif-
ficulty, we can learn from it and gain
spiritual growth from it."
He said the Bahai principles include
the oneness of mankind, the common
foundation of all religions and the elimi-
nation of all prejudices.
Khozein said a Bahai's participation
in politics in limited. "Bahais arc not
allowed to participate directly in politics.
In the U.S.. a Bahai can vote, but he
cannot belong to any political party. He
must be an independent.
"THIS IS ANOTHER area where
prejudice comes into play. It's easy to
love your own country, but we believe
in loving the whole world as our coun-
try."
Zoo sponsors 'adoptions'
To help pay for a $300,000 food bill,
the Dallas Zoo put its 2,000 animals up
for "adoption," at fees ranging from $10
for smaller animals to $2,000 for endan-
gered gorillas, tigers and elephants.
The zoo retains custody of all adopt-
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Khozein compared the Iranian govern-
ment's treatment of Bahais to a quarrel
between teachers in a school.
"They (the government) are in the first
grade; we (the Bahais) are in the second.
"We tell the first-grade teacher that
we have learned something interesting in
the second-grade teacher's class. We
invite them to come and learn. There
might be five in the second grade and
100 in the first.
"The first-grade teacher tells the first
graders to go and put the second-grade
teacher and his pupils in prison. The first-
grade teacher tells his prisoners to never
say you have someone teaching you some-
thing new.
"THE FIRST-GRADE teacher is jeal-
ous of the second-grade teacher and thinks
we are saying that the second-gradc teach-
er is better than he is.
"We tell him that the second-gradc
teacher is not better, but he knows more.
We want you and your pupils to move
up so you can learn more. too.
"The first-grade teacher just gets worse
and begins executing the second graders
along with their teacher.
"The same thing happened in Iran. Our
founding prophet. Baha'ulla, was ban-
ished from Iran to Palestine in the late
1800s, soon after he founded the Bahai
faith. He died there and has many shrines
there.
"BY THE WAY, that is another rea-
son we arc persecuted in Iran. The Bahai
faith's headquarters is located in Haifa.
Israel. The government accuses us of
being Israel's secret agent.
"Anyway, we say we believe in Islam
just as the government does. We don't
denounce Mohammed. But the way the
government sees it. Mohammed was the
last prophet—-the first-grade teacher. We
say that Baha'ulla was the last prophet—
the second-grade teacher."
Khozein said people can help the Bahais
in Iran through prayer and getting gov -
ernments involved. "If people would
apply the same principles to life as the
Bahais do, the world would be a peace-
ful place."
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Media open house
Center to collect food donations
ByLEENA BA I RA
Daily Reporter
Faculty, staff and students who are
interested in media production arc invit-
ed to an open house at the Center for
Instructional Services from I to 3 p.m.
Friday in General Academic Building 20K.
The center and the NT personnel de-
partment will sponsor a food drive dur-
ing the open house. Guests are request-
ed to contribute a non-perishable food
item to the collection.
The food will be donated to the Com-
munity Food Service Center in Denton.
ed animals but the "Zoo Parents" receive
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To adopt an animal, call the zoo at
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This will be the second year the cen-
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drive. Dr. Terry Holcomb, director of
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"We had about 200 people turn out
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He said communication with the cen-
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Eades, Trent. The North Texas Daily (Denton, Tex.), Vol. 68, No. 53, Ed. 1 Thursday, December 6, 1984, newspaper, December 6, 1984; Denton, TX. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth332725/m1/4/: accessed July 12, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting UNT Libraries Special Collections.