Strong criticism from 35 student organizations of corruption, injustice, and oppression

A number of student organizations across Iran have criticized policies based on “authoritarian interpretations” of freedom and religion, saying they have resulted in widespread poverty and corruption, stifling universities, and interference in citizens’ private affairs.

In a joint statement, which marked the beginning of the new academic year, 35 student organizations from universities in Tehran and some other provincial centers strongly criticized the educational, cultural, social, and economic policies of the rulers of the Islamic Republic.

The beginning of this statement, published on October 6 on the news site "Emtadat", states: "We are starting the new academic year in a situation where, along with the intensification of monetization of university union-welfare services, the commodification of education, and the approval of an anti-student disciplinary policy, violent confrontations have overshadowed the university atmosphere, increasing the cost of any kind of critical activism."

The new executive manual of the Student Disciplinary Council, which was signed by the Ministers of Science and Health after changes to the 2009 resolution, was communicated to all Iranian universities on September 12 of this year.

Some activists and student organizations have assessed the new policy manual as creating more pressure on academics and making the higher education environment more stifling due to its ambiguities regarding certain concepts such as "unbecoming behavior" of students.

Mohammad Ali Kamfirozi, a lawyer and student activist, told Etemad Online: "This procedure has made the handling of student accusations in disciplinary committees much stricter and more severe, and of course more arbitrary, and has paved the way for violations of students' rights in disciplinary committees even more than before."

A safe space for intimidating students

In their statement, 35 student organizations criticized the security environment prevailing at universities, saying that the creators of such an environment mistakenly believe that they can intimidate student movements by issuing "heavy sentences against critical activists, organizations, and student publications."

They condemned the heavy sentences against civil activists and students and declared: "As long as these improper and illegal practices continue and the inefficient structures leading to these approaches, policies, and practices are not reformed, the claims of justice and anti-corruption by any of the officials of the status quo cannot be trusted and paid attention to by the people."

These organizations have criticized "structural discrimination" in the student admission process, including "increasing quotas for specific groups," and have assessed the continuation of this situation as increasing educational injustice.

In part of the statement, these organizations described the so-called economic adjustment policies, including the "unbridled transfer of production centers to the unproductive and rentier private and quasi-state sector," carried out under the guise of privatization, as "anti-people."

Authoritarian reading of the Constitution and religion

The signatories of the statement wrote: "Authoritarian and inverted readings of freedom, the constitution, and religion, in conjunction with each other, seek to impose a particular style of individual and social life on different segments of society, even in the most personal areas such as the quality of clothing or attendance at sports events."

The elections for the 11th term of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, the first round of which is scheduled to be held on March 2, are another issue that student organizations have addressed and have addressed the reformist faction of the Islamic Republic government, which has been engaged in a debate for some time about participation, non-participation, and conditional participation in these elections.

The aforementioned statement emphasizes: "The experience of recent years has shown that relying solely on the ballot box without a connection to the realities and possibilities of the public sphere and civil society can be harmful and crisis-causing, and those who tie their freedom of action to the limitations of the institution of power can only reproduce these same practices."

Criticism of power-oriented reformists

Based on these experiences, the authors of the statement concluded that "the presence of power-oriented reformers and bureaucrats in various positions will not lead to the revival of hope at the societal level and liberation from the status quo."

The statement ends with these words: "In conditions of structural inefficiency that will lead to the destruction of Iran and the disappearance of social forces, we students, as a social movement, seek our own reform and righteousness by returning to the university campus and preserving it as one of the bastions of social resistance."

A decade ago, 35 student organizations across Iran, referring to what was called "recognition of internal and external processes of occupation," spoke of the necessity of ensuring the security of each and every citizen so that they could live "free from fear and free from need" under the protection of the law.

In a statement issued on the occasion of the start of the 2019-2020 academic year, these organizations emphasize that achieving this goal will not be possible "except through maximum resistance to accepting the status quo."

Source: DW