Students and people have become very close in the current era and it seems as if they have reached a common desire. The policies that have been implemented so far have been a major obstacle to our nation’s progress. We had become isolated islands that would come together for a moment to achieve a short-term desire, and after its fulfillment or failure, we would return to our unpleasant individualism and conflicts. But this time, it is a matter of “life.”

“We became suspended from life and in this deprivation of life, we learned from the tyrannical political system how to become a nation. We learned that we are not meant to all follow one path and we learned to live together with all our differences. All the efforts and unity between students and people were for the sake of life, and it was a futile attempt to force conformity to the Islamic Republic’s desire to deny the differences that are inherent in life for the sake of an imposed paradise. Narratives that seek to reinterpret past values through religious and legal rules in order to establish their desired political order were obstacles to our desire to become a nation, and it is obvious that these narratives have now been consumed, as there are no rules that can stand against the force of life. Essentially, life is not meant to conform to rules. Life is a transcendental matter. It is these laws and rules that must conform to life.”

“Woman, Life, Freedom” is what we call it when life is in motion. The moments when Majid Reza Rahnavard said he doesn’t want anyone to mourn over his body, is a significant symbol for this movement, so that students are aware of what is happening in society, because it was said in university: “Forward towards life, womanhood, and humanity.” The outdated systems of thought do not understand this passion for life; because they have spent their entire lives creating destruction and are unable to see anything beyond death. The attempt of the political system in universities was to dictate principles by distorting courses, especially in the humanities, so that many disorders and injustices are evaluated as natural and necessary for the establishment of the promised civilization, or by suspending and threatening students, they are diverted from paying attention to what is happening in society. However, the power of students to judge does not allow them to accept such dictates.

The issue of life goes beyond the dominant values, and this time the fundamental principle is questioning the values of the ruling system, which gave rise to injustice, discrimination, and exclusion. Students were alongside the people, the excluded of a system; a system that does not recognize them as part of the minority. The concept of recognition is very important in contemporary political philosophy; to the extent that a just society is considered one in which each individual achieves proper recognition, and if this is not achieved, individuals will fight for recognition.

For years, the majority of people and students have not been identified and today they are fighting to achieve it. The effort to be recognized has doubled alongside life to keep the student with the people. This time, fears have collapsed in the university and on the streets. They say that after Stalinism, there were no more fears. This statement still holds true today. After 68, 78, 88, 96, 98, is there any place left for fear? The courage that has reached its most widespread state is indebted to the power of life; the same power that is the strongest bond between different classes of people and students to move towards becoming a nation; not even the fear of death can stop this movement; just as it did not stop Majid Reza Rahnavard from bargaining for his life in court. In this moment, the desire for life is facing the desire for death and only this desire for life can lead us towards becoming a nation. Any ideas that

“Women, Life, Freedom” united the students with the people in the struggle to improve life, but another factor was the political system’s suppression of moderate and centrist forces, which unintentionally strengthened this alliance between students and the people. This was because those voices in the official political structure caused a rift and difference in perception of the space between students and the people, but today our understanding has become one.”

The understanding of students alongside the people is the essence of this poem by Shafiei Kadkani.

At a time when you were lying on the ground.

“From the morning breeze”

That leaf.

Under the lip.

Sharp.

He was talking with the wind.

Long live life!

Death to death!