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| Dr-Maleki |
On
Thursday, December 3, 2015, Ms. Mehri Jannatpour, a long-time supporter of the
Iranian opposition group the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI)
[Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK)], passed away in Iran. She actively supported the MEK
for over four decades, enduring prison terms at Evin prison on three occasions
after the 1979 revolution for her political views. Although she underwent
brutal torture by the clerical regime, she continued to support the
organization, and never submitted to the regime's pressures. Two of her
children are with the MEK, one of them at Camp Liberty, Iraq.
A
funeral service was held for Mrs. Jannatpour on Saturday December 5 in Tehran.
Dr. Mohammad Maleki, the first post-revolution Chancellor of Tehran University,
spoke at the event and praised the late Mrs. Jannatpour for her support of the
MEK.
Below
are excerpts of Dr. Maleki's remarks:
... What can I say
about this women, a human being who lived her life like Zeynab [sister of
Shiite Imam Hussein, who died in 680 AD]. She lived like Zeynab, and brought up
her children and made them productive members of society. But she did not only
have her own children, she also had children among those across the border [at
Camp Liberty in Iraq], who face missile attacks, and experience thousands of
challenges and problems. But, they are persevering and are as solid as a
mountain. They are this mother's children. How fortunate she was!
There
are many who come into this world, "enjoy" life and die. But the
fulfillment experienced by such mothers is different.
Mother,
what can I say about your compassion, your words when you could still speak,
your knowledge, your talents, your wisdom and mind which was productive until
the last second.
I
can only say that there are now many who have been orphaned after your death.
They say that people are orphaned when their mothers die. We are now truly
orphans.
You
lived like Zeynab. You lived like her and were among the Zeynabs of the world.
Agents [of the regime] should record my voice and my words. Yes, I am declaring
loudly that you lived like Zeynab and you were a Zeynab of your time. There
were thousands like you, like Mother Dashti, who passed away a few days ago.
She went to Heaven to make it ready for you.
On
behalf of the family of the deceased, I want to thank all of you who have
gathered here despite all the challenges to attend the funeral of this Zeynab
of our time. Last night, too, I said at Mother Dashti's funeral that you should
not worry. Despite all its problems, corruption and the ruling regime that
breeds corruption, our society continues to give birth to many Zeynabs and
Husseins.
There
continue to be Zeynabs and Husseins. For over 50 years, both the Shah and the
clerical regime tried to end this lineage [MEK]. But how can they succeed?
I am
reminded of a quote by the late Grand Ayatollah Montazeri who wrote to Khomeini
in a letter that rest assured, an idea cannot be killed through murder. You
have killed so many, you have beaten so many, you have destroyed so many.
[Reciting a song by the MEK]: "You fired
bullets, wielded axes, and targeted defenseless bodies." When you got
nothing out of all this, you fired 80 missiles [at Camp Liberty on October 29,
2015] thinking that you can destroy it all. But be sure that just a few short
months from now Camp Liberty will become even more beautiful, better and more
gorgeous than it has ever been. This will be so as long as there are people who
care for their people, and as long as they are people who say "seek
freedom from cradle to grave." They remove the word "knowledge"
[from the original Persian expression] and replace it with "freedom,"
because knowledge without freedom is not knowledge.
At a
university that there are many so-called professors and scientists, they pay no
attention to the disgraceful and depressing state of society, no word is said
about theft and corruption, only silence. Yes, in this society, we must once
again cry out:
"Seek freedom
from cradle to grave."
Because
without freedom in society, there can only be what you are witnessing now:
theft, corruption, and prostitution.
And,
Imam Hussein and Zeynab dedicated everything they had for freedom, and declared
that they will "never surrender."
And
we now see that Husseins and Zeynabs stand proud throughout history.
I
once again thank you all on behalf of the family, and I ask you to please make
your way toward the location of the ceremony.
