Iran : A crisis

Iran is at war. Its people are fighting for democracy. It's been over a week since the results of the Iranian Presidential elections were declared stating that President Ahmadinejad had won by a landslide. The Iranian people believe the contrary, they feel corruption has been at play, a majority of them seem to have voted for opposition candidate Mousavi. There have been protests taking place all over the nation and in Tehran in particular. Hundreds of thousands of people have flooded the streets of the capital city demanding a re-election. They scream out 'Death to the dictator' and hold signs saying 'Where is my vote'.

The issue has received extensive foreign media coverage as a result of which the Iranian government, a few days earlier, revoked all foreign media licenses. BBC's permanent chief correspondent to Iran has been asked to leave Tehran. It is reported that opposition leaders, their families and supporters are being arrested, tear gas is being used against the protestors and that more than a hundred protestors have already lost their lives fighting for justice. Iran's supereme leader, Ayatollah Kamenei had earlier declared a wish for a partial recount and is now urging the protesters to settle down before strong action is taken against them. Mousavi has cautioned his supporters and asked for their patience while President Ahmadinejad has called for an immediate halt of the protests.

The International community has been very opinionated on their views regarding this subject matter. Many European countries, along with Canada have openly pledged their support for the Iranian people. President Obama's stand has been, in my honest opinion, the best stand taken by an American President in the recent past. He is of the opinion that the Iranian people must fight their own war, he does not want the US to 'meddle' with Iran's affairs.

Technology has played a big part throughout this revolution. Iranians have been posting videos of the protests on YouTube, Twitter is being used to spread information and even Facebook is playing a part in their communication. But this of course, has been subjected to heavy censorship by the Iranian government. All websites supporting the protests are blocked or in the process of being blocked. Text messaging facilities have also been shut down within Iran. The Iranian people still continue to fight, protest and get their voices heard.

The unrest taking place in Iran has affected many. People all over the world are showing their support for Iran. On twitter, many users have changed their profile pictures to include the color green (color of the opposition) or images displaying 'where is their vote'. Iranians residing abroad are holding rallies to show their support for their countrymen back home and are being accompanied by their foreign friends in their pursuit for justice.

Living in India, I am very grateful for my freedom. Corruption is still prevalent here but I believe that on a basic level, democracy does manage to function. The recent elections which ushered the Congress back into power showcased India's belief in the actions of the ruling government. If the current situation taking place in Iran were to happen in India, I am sure we would appreciate all the support we could get. Hence, I urge you: please show your support for the Iranian people and pray this crisis ends soon.

I stand for Iran. I hope you do too.

A New Year...A Good Year

And we're back in business people! Like they say, "a job well begun is a job half done", so I guess we're going to do an amazing job on the newsletter this year. We had a great meeting today, although the fun quotient (in the form of our Tribe Queen) was noticably missing. I don't think we'll ever fill that hole that you've left behind. But life kinda goes on, so once again the words 'Cover Feature', 'Great Divide', 'Press Release' et al were heard and discussed in the reading room of SCMS(UG). Added to that were some never before words like 'Sponsorship', 'Increased Pages' etc, which is definitely going to be the highlight of this year. On the downside, this is going to be a very short semester, hence the pressure is ON with no respite in sight. But the motto has always been to turn obstacles into opportunities, so I don't see why it should be any different this time. Lets just leave it at that then...next update will be posted in a week.