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January 28, 2025

The 1957 Revolution, intellectuals and the sorrowful neighborhood/ Mohammad Habibi

First image: A young girl with a gun in her hands, with proud eyes and a determined look, while the cold winter wind caresses her disheveled hair, on top of a tank in Tehran during the days leading up to the February 1979 revolution. It is a symbolic image of a revolution whose representatives were intellectuals and freedom fighters; with progressive and anti-oppressive desires.

Second image: Men with clenched fists and greedy eyes, turning away from the hunched figure of a woman from the residents of the neighborhood of sorrow; in those days leading up to the revolution as a symbol of victory. It is a symbolic image of a revolutionary led by religious leadership who promised the implementation of Islamic laws and rulings in the future of the revolution.

These two images are from the most famous images of the days of victory of the February 57 revolution. A revolution that, to put it figuratively, was the last classic revolution of the 20th century. A rapid transformation that left many nationalist analysts from left to right unable to understand its true reality. Which of these two images truly reflects the real nature of this revolution? In broader terms, was the 57 revolution a break towards a better future or a rapid movement towards idealistic pasts?

“In analyzing any revolution, there are two main factors that are of particular importance. Firstly, there is the expectation that there is a serious divide between the revolutionaries – the victors of the revolution – and the established government forces – the guardians of the current state. This deep divide justifies the occurrence of social and political changes. The February 1979 Revolution was no exception to this rule. Comparing the desires and expectations of the revolutionary forces and the defenders of the Pahlavi monarchy revealed a deep divide at the political and social levels. However, the second factor in analyzing any revolution shows the path of progress for the revolutionaries. Is this divide positive or negative? In other words, is it moving forward or looking towards the past? In the February 1979 Revolution, although there was a divide, it was more focused on looking towards the past rather than moving forward. The origin, educational structure, rhetoric, and overall ideological system of the clergy led this divide, giving hope for

The bright eyes of the intellectuals.

In the chaos of the revolution, events took place that raised fundamental questions for intellectuals, which seemed to have been overlooked during those years. When did the 1957 revolution actually begin to change? The answer was clear; the sound of the screams of the Russian spies in Shahr-e No, who were burning alive, and the sound of the cheers of the men who were clenching their fists and eagerly watching, announced a new event. This event and similar events clearly showed the direction of the revolution. It was not necessary to wait for years for them to be eliminated one by one and in different ways from the political arena to understand the true nature of the process of change and transformation of the revolution. And it was precisely during those days that the intoxicated intellectuals were thinking about managing the new government, after the victory of the revolution and the collapse of the monarchy. The tragedy of the Russian spies in the neighborhood of sorrow, which the intellectuals turned a blind eye to, heralded the establishment

In protest against compulsory hijab, relatively widespread demonstrations and gatherings were formed in Tehran and several other cities. Various groups of women, from students and university students to employees and political and social activists, participated in these protests. However, the reaction of intellectuals was generally indifferent. Many of them considered the issue of hijab as a secondary matter in the conditions of the revolution. According to them, there were more important issues to focus on besides compulsory hijab. For example, Simin Daneshvar in an article in Kayhan newspaper considered hijab as a secondary issue and asked both supporters and opponents of hijab not to give an excuse to the anti-revolutionaries and to focus on more important issues. (3) Hamanategh, a prominent historian, also showed a similar reaction in an article during those days. He wrote in his article: “We should not have a problem called the problem of women in these conditions. They said something about hijab and then took it back,

Some leftist movements, while criticizing the focus on the issue of women and hijab, saw it as a rational and distant matter from the real needs of Iranian society at that time. Even free-thinking clerics like Taleqani, who was aligned with the revolutionary forces in the intellectual front, tried to convince opponents of compulsory hijab to accept it in an interview. Kayhan newspaper conducted a detailed interview with Ayatollah Taleqani on February 20th. In a part of this interview, he said: “They should not create chaos and turmoil. As we have said many times, all the rights of women in Islam and in the environment of the Islamic Republic will be preserved, and we ask them to wear a simple, dignified headscarf. It doesn’t hurt anyone. Those who don’t want their hair to be ruined, it’s better and more protected if they wear a headscarf on their hair… A young man who has no means to get married, no

With the gradual increase in power of religious fundamentalists, one by one, their secular rivals were eliminated from the political scene. Prison, death, or exile were inevitable fates that everyone was facing. In this period, instead of defending women’s right to choose, the enlightened society chose the path of silence for the sake of expediency, and in practice, contrary to their secular nature, provided the necessary grounds for the implementation of religious laws and restrictions. Restrictions that ultimately became a noose around the neck of the intellectuals.

Final words

When today, after thirty-six years, we look back at the history of the events of the February 1979 revolution and the establishment of the Islamic Republic, it seems that the image of the burned bodies of the women of the Raspi neighborhood reflects a clearer reflection of the nature of this revolution. Their burned bodies were a sign of upheaval in a revolution. A symbol of a backward turn that heralded a distant past. A symbol of the arrival of violence in the body of the 1979 revolution. Thus, in the days leading up to the fall of the Pahlavi monarchy, the revolution, which was largely defended and claimed by intellectuals, reformists, and fighters from the progressive middle class and the urban elite, changed course and became a path of violence. Progressivism gave way to conservatism and women, who were at the forefront of the revolution, were pushed back into the confines of their homes. Perhaps this is the bitter irony of history. The government that promised to uplift

 

Sources:

Qadri, Hatem, On the Border of Thought, Contemporary Publishing, 1387, p. 276.

2- Shojai, Mitra, How she was forced to wear the mandatory hijab in the early days of the revolution, Deutsche Welle, 20 Bahman month of 1387 (February 2009).

۵

Kian 19 Esfand month 57 Sh 10657, page 65

On March 11th, 1979, page 4 of Kayhan 21 newspaper.

Kian 20 Esfand 57, Sh 10658, p. 3

Created By: Admin
February 24, 2015

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Magazine number 46 Mohammad Habibi Monthly Peace Line Magazine Ruspi Shahrnoush The Revolution of Bahman 57