The Iranian Writers’ Association supports the people’s protest in Khuzestan against water crisis
23-July-2021
Category: Uncategorized
22-July-2021
Newsgroup: Uncategorized –
Breathing in Confinement: With continuation of the protests in Khuzestan against water crisis and their spreads to at least 30 cities in the country, the Iranian Writers’ Association in a statement condemned the repression of protesting people, and called for their sufferings to be reflected: “We call on all of the authors, independent journalists, social activists and freedom-loving people not to give up against censorship and to reflect the sufferings of people and their legitimate demands.”
According to Breathing in Confinement, the news organ of the Prisoners’ Rights League in Iran, in line with the supports for the protests in Khuzestan against water crisis, the Iranian Writers’ Association issued a statement on July 21, 2021, to support the uprisings and to call for the sufferings of people as well as their legitimate demands to be reflected.
The statement says: “The people who for part of each year are deprived of clean air because of dusts, those who face power outage in the heat of fifty degrees, people whose palm groves, farms and livestock are being destroyed, people who do not have access to drinking water, have definitely all the rights to take to the streets and protest. These people have always been denied the right to form independent organizations or parties. They do not have access to media to express their demands. They themselves are their own media. No one is allowed to respond them with bullets and tear gas, or to pave the way for their oppression by calling their legitimate and peaceful protests as “playing the enemy’s game.”
Here is the full text of the statement:
How can one turn a blind eye to the catastrophes that are happening every moment all over the country? Thousands of hardworking workers in the oil industry as well as Haft Tappeh sugarcane factory have been on strike for several weeks, while no one is responding to their legitimate demands.
Over the last few days, the people of Khuzestan, who have been suffering from water shortage, the people whose livestock are succumbing out of thirst, have taken to the streets for their most basic right, water, but instead, they receive bullets and tear gas.
For many months, people under the evil shadow of death and coronavirus, have been waiting to be vaccinated, but they have to wait stand on long queues to get what they should have received many months ago.
For many years, more and more people have been waking up every morning to find out that they have become poorer because of skyrocketing prices, and that they must gradually eliminate meat, poultry, fruit and dairy from their diet.
However, if they take a look at the official media, they will see that not only there is nothing about the crises or about their cries of protest, but it is as if there is nothing wrong, as if everything is calm and quiet! Needless to say, that some of the journalists who belong to these people and share their sufferings may not have voluntarily turned a blind eye to all this pains. They are only the executors of the ‘censorship policy.’ The policy which for many years has ruined our culture, knowledge, economy and environment as well as our hope for a civilized life; The policy which by denying corruption and rent-seeking, under the cover of an absolute tyranny, gives them the opportunity to grow like a cancer; A policy that censors the reality, with the false hope that the truth will never be known. The widespread public outcry in recent years, however, proves that this policy is no longer working.
The people of Khuzestan are well aware of the fact that the current drought and water shortage in their region, a region that not a long time ago had been supplying agricultural products to a large part of the country, is the result of government’s looting as well as its anti-people policies pursued over the past 3-4 decades.
The people who for part of each year are deprived of clean air because of dusts, those who face power outage in the heat of fifty degrees, people whose palm groves, farms and livestock are being destroyed, people who do not have access to drinking water, have definitely all the rights to take to the streets and protest. These people have always been denied the right to form independent organizations or parties. They do not have access to media to express their demands. They themselves are their own media. No one is allowed to respond them with bullets and tear gas, or to pave the way for their oppression by calling their legitimate and peaceful protests as “playing the enemy’s game.
The same is true for the protesting oil industry workers. They are the victims of an unjust policy which by forging contracts, not only eliminates their job security, but makes part of their wages to go to the robber contractors who supported by the government without having any role in production. Workers rightly demand the elimination of contractors and their contracts. They rightly consider themselves as oil industry workers and demand their wages to be equal to those of other workers in the industry. Their shared goals are to form their own syndicates and to have the right to strike, the rights recognized by the international conventions.
The policy of oppressing workers, censoring their voices, dividing them from each other and appointing fake representatives for them with the aim of defeating their struggles will not succeed. Their legitimate demands should be met by the government as should that of the workers of Haft Tappeh Sugarcane factory who stood firm and throw the rent-seeking group out of the industry and as well, the demands of other workers, teachers, nurses, etc.
The Iranian Writers’ Association condemns the oppression of protests and strikes. The association following its principles, defends everybody’s right to express their demands, and calls on all authors, independent journalists, social activists and freedom-loving people not to give up against censorship and to make the voices of people who are suffering heard, and to reflect their legitimate demands.
Iranian Writers Association
July 21, 2021