Lords' protests; Parliament forms fact-finding committee
The Omid faction has called for a comprehensive report on the incidents in Lordegan and Chenar Mahmoudi village and for this report to be read in an open session of the parliament. The deputy minister of health says the unrest has nothing to do with AIDS and that the issue of health should not be a security issue.
The Omid faction has called for a comprehensive report on the Lordegan incidents and for it to be read in an open session of the parliament. The deputy minister of health says that health issues should not be turned into a security issue.
On Sunday, October 4, a group of representatives wrote a letter to the presidium of the parliament, requesting that a comprehensive report be prepared and read in public on the Lordegan incidents. Fatemeh Saeedi, who is one of the signatories of the letter, wrote in a tweet that if the request is approved, the Health Commission will be responsible for preparing and presenting a comprehensive report on the incidents in the village of Chenar Mahmoudi.
Mohammad Ali Vakili, a member of the presidium of the parliament, also said that with the formation of a fact-finding committee, documentation of the incidents in Chenar Mahmoudi village will be presented to the parliament.
At the same time, the Deputy Minister of Health visited the “Behavioral Diseases Counseling Center” in Shahr-e-Kord during his trip to Chaharmahal-e-Bakhtiari province. Dr. Alireza Raisi said that all referrals to this center are voluntary and without any coercion, and all services of this center are provided with confidentiality and with full respect and dignity of individuals: “We must carry out the duty of informing, educating, diagnosing, and treating well, taking into account the conditions and concerns of patients and their loved ones, and prevent any abuse by opponents by raising awareness.”
The Deputy Minister of Health added that the social protests and unrest have nothing to do with the issue of HIV infection: "These days, the villagers themselves are visiting mosques and bases with personal interest and desire to undergo diagnostic tests and examinations."
He emphasized that throughout Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari, specialized teams have acted according to protocols and standards and provided treatment to the people with complete respect and confidentiality: "Only a small number of HIV tests in this region, like in other parts of the country and province, have been positive."
After it was announced that people from the villages of Chenar Mahmoudi were HIV positive, rallies and protests were held in Lordegan, culminating on Saturday, October 4. Angry people pelted stones at the city's health department, pulled down the governor's sign, and set fire to the office and car of the Friday prayer leader.
The demonstration turned violent. Police officers fired in the air and threw tear gas at the protesters. A number of people were arrested. The Lordegan protests also spread to Isfahan and Ilam, and people in these two cities took to the streets in support of the Lordegan protesters.
On Saturday evening, the governor of Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari claimed that the people of Chenar Mahmoudi were not present at the Lordegan protests, but rather a “complex micro-movement” within the crowd pursuing its own goals. He attributed the attacks on the governor’s office, the health department, and the office of the Friday prayer leader in Lordegan to “counter-revolutionaries.” He also announced the arrest of the son of “a prominent counter-revolutionary living abroad.”
Officials of the Islamic Republic have announced that Lordegan is in complete peace and the situation has returned to normal.
Source: DW
