Potkin Azarmehr
According
to Islamic Republic Daily, groups of youth in Mohseni Square and
Mirdamad Ave in Tehran, on the eve of Shame-Ghariban, one of the holiest
Shiite days in the calendar, were dancing, whistling and clapping rather
than observing the sombre mourning rituals.
The
news item claimed, rather than the traditional mourning, the youth were
in a party like mood, the girls were not observing the Islamic Hijab,
and were mainly wearing tight vulgar dresses and make up while the boys
imitated Western hair styles and fashions.
Many
of the boys and girls were openly holding and cuddling each other. As if
all this was not enough, some started letting off fireworks, which was
greeted by more joyous cheers and clapping from the youth.
At
around 21:00 the chief of Tehran’s Law Enforcement Forces, Commander
Talaii, turned up on the scene, but the crowd instead of dispersing
gathered around Commander Talaii’s convoy and ridiculed him by
shouting, “Talaii, we
love you” , then ran behind him as they laughed aloud and jeered the
Commander.
The
news article finished, by accusing the youth of ridiculing the dearest
evening of the Shiite calendar and Islamic credence in the most
offensive manner possible.
It
also accused the Law Enforcement Forces of not being able to stop these
insults to Islam and instead leaving the task to the faithful
themselves.
See
the original
article in Farsi with pictures:
The
event as usual was not covered by many foreign correspondents.
The
following is a quote from a BBC correspondent in Tehran on the eve of
the revolution day this year,
Frances
Harrison :
"I
want to tell outsiders not to think that young people today are
different from young people in the early days of the revolution just
because some Western culture has been penetrating into the
country,"