Accounts of 22 Bahman from Tehran – Part 2

Source: Agh Bahman
Date: Thursday, February 11, 2010

Today, the main streets of Tehran were under martial law; martial law in the full meaning of the word. Keshavarz Boulevard, Valiasr Square, Haft-e Tir Square, Taleqani Street, Kargar Street, and all streets and avenues leading to Azadi Square and Enghelab Square were flowing with police and security forces to keep protesters from those areas where state gatherings were being held.

Even with this, you could see people walking in Keshavarz Boulevard or Haft-e Tir Square with green signs, and security forces were taking pictures of them [I head this from another friend as well]. In Valiasr Street (before Valiasr Square) people were gathered as well, but no demonstrations occurred.

This might result in hopelessness and despair in followers of the Green Movement, but such a thing was due more to a lack of planning than a lack of people. Inviting protesters to locations which pro-government forces had sealed off weeks before was very problematic. Maybe Mehdi Karoubi did the best thing by announcing a separate route. Despite the fact that the street he had announced led to Azadi, it was apart from the main routes announced by the government and, thus, protests did occur there. If more routes besides that of the government’s were announced, like last time, we might have [actually] seen the gathering of protesters. The main problem with the [tactics of the Green Movement] this time was a lack of ingenuity and a surrender to plans that were made by people who have no familiarity with the routes.

Even with all this, the movement is very much alive and the sound of Allah-o-Akbar which was louder than ever last night, is proof of this. Last night, Basij centers everywhere, which brought in extra forces from other cities for 22 Bahman, started chanting Allah-o-Akbar and pro-government slogans very loudly. But then, hearing this, people took to their rooftops and shouted Ya Hossein Mir Hossein loudly, and their voices were louder than any others.

I was personally invited to a friend’s home near Fatemi Square less night [roughly, central Tehran] when, suddenly, at 9 p.m., we heard the loud cries of Allah-o-Akbar. So we went to the windows and started shouting and soon, the neighbors joined us. We also heard loud cries of Ya Hossein Mir Hossein, and this went on until 10 p.m., although my friend had said that no shouts were heard in his neighborhood for the past 5 months. The funny thing was that we heard some dim sounds calling the name of the leader and when we went outside, we saw 10-15 people standing in the street, shouting for the leader; no one on the rooftops was answering them.

I spent some time going through central Tehran, and I can honestly say that despite the fact that they sealed off so many streets, they can really gather their forces in one or two main streets and other smaller ones. They can at most control one or two main streets. In Haft-e Tir Square, there were literally only 14 -15 youngsters carrying photos of the leader.

I know that as of today, some will start saying the people are hopeless, and in despair, and that they have gone back home. But as someone who has roamed the streets of Tehran very thoroughly today, I can seriously state that the problem was not the lack of people; the problem was ignoring the most important aspect of this movement: creativity … and also, underestimating the rivals. Those who suggested [following the same route as the government], Imam Hossein Square to Azadi Square, did not think that the state would utilize its experience of previous demonstrations [e.g. protests for Ashura were announced along those routes]. It is not hard for them to close a few streets and bring thousands of supporters there.

From now on, instead of listening to folks like Sazegara or Nourizadeh, who are not even in Iran, who only appear on TV from afar and tell us where to go, we have to sit down and plan for Chaharshanbeh Suri. Let’s think of a good plan for Chaharshanbeh Suri because people across the city attend and security forces can not seal off the entire city. We must not forget our own creativity, and our ability to take them by surprise.