Three followers of the "Yarsan" religion sewed their lips together in protest of "discrimination" against followers of this "religion" during Hassan Rouhani's visit to Kermanshah province.
The Kurdistan Center for Democracy and Human Rights reported on Sunday (July 18) the protest and "fast of silence" of these three "Yarsan" activists.
The identities of these individuals have been announced as Siavash Hayati, Amin Abbasi, and Noshad Taheri, who took this action in response to "discrimination and disregard for the wishes and demands of the Yarsayan community."
The three people also issued a statement saying that they had sewn their lips shut after "years of efforts by the Yarsan Civil Activists' Consultative Assembly to meet" with the president remained fruitless.
They have announced the purpose of meeting with Rouhani to "find a solution to mitigate the discrimination against the people of Yarsan."
"The failure to make public the reasons for the failure to fulfill the president's election promises regarding the rights of ethnic groups and religions" has been declared another focus of protest by these activists.
"Ignoring the backwardness and lack of development of Kurdish regions" and "the existence of an ineffective non-native power mafia in Kermanshah province" are other issues that these three people protested in their statement.
Followers of the Yarsan religion in Kermanshah province have been protesting against "discrimination" and "injustice" against followers of this religion for years, and in some cases their protest has been accompanied by self-immolation.
In August 2013, a follower of the "Yarsan" religion set himself on fire in front of the parliament building and died after being taken to the hospital.
Followers of the "Yarsan" religion, along with another group of residents of Kermanshah province, have once again protested during Hassan Rouhani's visit to the province, demanding that the responsible authorities address their demands.
Ali Younesi, the President's Special Assistant for Ethnic and Religious Minorities, had previously met with a number of followers of the Ahl al-Haqq (Yarsan) sect and confirmed that there were some "narrow-minded views" about them in the country and had promised to defend their "citizenship rights."
On Sunday, during Rouhani's speech to a group of people in Kermanshah, slogans were chanted in protest against "unemployment" and "discrimination."
On July 13, the Kermanshah Assembly of Representatives published a letter addressed to Rouhani, stating that they would not accompany his convoy if the approval of the plan to establish a free and economic zone and complete the railway in Kermanshah was not implemented.
According to Mohammad Shariatmadari, Executive Assistant to the President, during Hassan Rouhani's visit to Kermanshah, he stated that 69 projects will be inaugurated, of which 51 are related to approvals from previous governments.
Ahl al-Haqq or Yarsan is a religion with mystical rituals that has followers mainly in Kurdistan, Iran and Iraq . The exact date of the formation of this religion is not known, but its followers believe in the eternality of their religion. This religion has gone through different stages in different historical periods. Although the oldest religious texts of Yarsan date back to the second century AH and the antiquity of some of its places of worship dates back to before Islam, its current structure dates back to the seventh century AH and was founded by Sultan Sahak, who holds the highest position in the beliefs of Yarsan followers.
Although a set of specific beliefs are common among Yarsan followers, there are different customs and beliefs among them, depending on which of the 11 clans they belong to. Yarsan is also known as Ahl Haqq , Ayn Yar , Kish Haqiqat , Tayfe San , and Kakei .
For more information about "Yarsan", see this article.
Sources: Radio Farda and Wikipedia
