Karoubi’s letter in Response to Ayatollah Yazdi’s speech

Date: Saturday, December 15, 2009
Source: Tagheer

On Monday, Mohammad Yazdi, chairman of the society of religious scholars of Qum seminary and one of the former heads of judiciary branch insulted reformist leaders in an manner unseen before. He specially slandered Mr. Karoubi. He considered Karoubi’s reports [of rape, murderer and other atrocities] as jokes and said: “I am saddened that a person who dresses himself like a clergy has turned into a big joke in our society, and now they call him the Sheikh (Sage) of reformist movement.” Further he alluded to Karoubi’s recent trip to seminary city of Qom and said: “God knows what would have happened to him if there weren’t people to guard him [from the angry crowd.]” In this context, Karoubi has responded in an interview published by Tagheer, the website of the party he leads, National Trust. Here’s a complete letter as published by Tagheer.

Ayatollah Yazdi!

Regarding your recent speech to the crowd of religious missionaries in the city of Qum, I would like to respond with two remarks, and two reminders.

Regarding your sentence that considered me as being turned into a joke, let me say that it is your sources that are bringing your jokes, thus creating this illusion for you that the current crises that governs the political arena of the country is a joke.

Isn’t it better to put yourself in a clear and informative position so that you can better realize the condition of the society? Or maybe you are already aware and instead you are dodging the real questions for other reasons?

I remind you as a person who is well aware of my history of struggle before and after the revolution alongside people in their hardest times to defend their rights. I remind you that what I do, I do because of my beliefs, assessments and my duty to defend civil rights of every single one of people. This is an important goal and duty to me and it is something that I will keep committing myself to.

Ayatollah Yazdi!

If you would at least dig out memories of not long ago, or start benefiting from clearer and more informative sources of information, you would see that whenever Mahdi Karoubi has been present among people, they have treated him with kindness. Mahdi Karoubi has not only not lost popularity in recent years, unlike certain some ones, but also thanks to kindness of this very people despite all the lack of media outlets and forced closedown of the party’s newspaper, everyday I have witness the kindness and goodness of people [towards me.] In that very trip to Qum that you talked about, where I went without any notice and planning, we had stopped 20 Kilomteres prior to Qum for a breakfast. I wish your ‘intelligence’ sources were present there to see the welcoming people who were there or who were passing. I wish your sources had told you so that you wouldn’t have been deluded by a group of mercenaries hired [to slander me] at hours of midnight despite your longtime experiences in the services of the revolution, of the parliament, and other important responsibilities you had in the past.

And Of course, I say again, I feel sorry for your intelligence sources!
Ayatollah Mohammad Yazdi!

The second point is even more sorrowful to me than the latter point and it is even more unreasonable [to be expected from you.] As the former chairman of the judiciary, and with a decade of service in that institution you must know that defending the right of people is one of most important fundamentals. In every society revolutionary people, Muslim, Christian, Zoroastrians, Secularists, and others all have common citizenship rights and the government has certain duties towards them and towards defending their rights and security. If someone acts against the constitution they must be punished, but one cannot put people under slander, insults, threats and even some of the other acts that we were witness to.

Even this very ‘Islam’ which you see as criteria for vice and virtue in the society puts a great emphasis on individual rights. Even in our own tradition there is emphasis that the morning prayers should be done with a low voice so as to avoid others neighbors who may have illness

If a person is bad or so you say is bad and that is not to your taste then why is it that you wouldn’t react? Why is it that you have to act through a group of mercenaries during midnight so that you’d also be disturbing neighborhoods? Is this the same act that you take pride in that if Karoubi did not have guards to protect him he wouldn’t have survived? Was this what we promised people in the early years of the revolution? Where is that greatness of character as a member of the Guardian Council?

Ayatollah Yazdi!

A reminder to you, as a brother to brother, both of us members of clergy!

In part of you speech you had talked about hell and heaven and had told me to going down the path to hell. Are you, God forbid, delegate of God on earth to identify vice from virtue. How do you [Karoubi here is using singular ‘you’ which is a sign of bluntness in words] slander people like that, telling them that it is “none of their business”? How do you announce them as on the path to hell? How do you label someone so easily as the enemy of the revolution and call me precarious character? How do you [Karoubi switches to plural form of ‘you’ becoming more formal] reserve the right to cal however is against you as against the revolution and down the path to hell?

Allow me to give another obvious and of course important reminder to you.

Do you know what you and the likes of you have done to Islam and faith of people with such paradoxical interpretations and ambiguities? As member of religious scholars in the society you and your unwise decisions cause people to flee away from religion and faith in large groups. How would do you want to be responsible for such actions?

Maybe it is better if I specifically elaborate two such actions.

- You had been a member of the Guardian Council and you are still in that position. Mr. Morteza Alviri (Karoubi’s close associate and well know executive in public service) is one of the well known figures and you know him very well. He was on the executives boards of parliament with you. Mr. Alviri was also a candidate in the 8th parliamentary elections when the guardian council while you were a member declined his candidacy application. After the election he had come back to you to ask on the reasons behind the decline of his application. But according to Mr. Alviri himself you had told him: “Have you ever made yourself candidate of the elections?”

- When I was holding the chairmanship of the 3rd parliament, and you were the chair of judiciary and Mr. Hashemi-Rafsanjani was the president, when we were approaching the end of Mr. Hashemi’s presidency, there were rumors going around of extending the presidency period. Of course these rumors were not from you and I was not in the parliament by then, but in the same time there was news that you had asked Mr.Hashemi Rafsanjani to join the judiciary branch as the chairman, and to avoid suspicion you would act as his first deputy. Mr. Yazdi, how is it then that now you slander Mr. Hashemi the way you do? Were you mistaken then, or are you making a mistake now?

Ayatollah Yazdi!

Now with your health conditions, and with old age, and your illness that I hope would improve soon, what necessity is it that leads you take responsibility and repeat whatever your misinformation your advisors tell you in a crowd of religious missionaries.

I do not like things to be this way, but when I hear here and there that (and as admitted by the words of Mr. Palizdar) that Mr. Yazdi is talking the way he is because he is under pressure [blackmailed] due to stories [of corruption] on ‘Dena Tire Co’ and his son’s the ‘forest adventures.’

So, according to my point earlier, on the incident of when you did not remember Mr. Alviri nominating himself, [and the absurdity of declining his application in light of this incident] as proof of incompetence as an influential member of the guardian council! Second point being that in not so long ago, in the end of presidency of a person offer him your own position as the chairman of judiciary while now you berate him with the most disgraceful slanders! I beg you, to please take my points and resign from your positions so that you would commit less harm from being ill-advised, and being under pressure.

Please do not let your misinformation and incompetence cast a shadow over your years of service to the revolution?

Mahdi Karoubi