By Abdol-Sattar Dosouki – February 20, 2021
 |
| Abdul Sattar Doshouki |
"Those who are well cannot feel the pain of the wounded,
And thus I speak of my wounds only to those who can empathize.
Talking of bees is futile to someone never stung,
For without shared experience, my plight will seem like a tale."
Once again, February 21st (International Mother Language Day), is approaching—a day that resembles Ashura mourning for the "non-Persian-speaking" and ethnolinguistic minorities of Iran. Once again, Baluchis, Turks, Kurds, and others will lament the injustices done to their mother tongues, mourning in elegiac processions and dirges. This, in a country that exclusively reveres the Persian language, treating all other languages as "spares."
International Mother Language Day was established 22 years ago by UNESCO, and the Islamic Republic of Iran was among the 188 nations that endorsed it. UNESCO’s central theme this year (2021) is “Fostering multilingualism for inclusion in education and society.” This legal and natural right is enshrined in numerous international declarations, such as the Mother Language Charter, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Universal Declaration of Linguistic Rights, and the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Furthermore, it is recognized in the Islamic Republic's Constitution (notably Article 15). Yet, neither the Islamic Republic nor a significant portion of centralist Iranian society tolerates the inclusion of other languages. Instead, driven by arrogance and propaganda-fueled self-centeredness, they view it as a security threat to the nation, treating the inherent rights of others as a danger to themselves.
In a land shared by Baluchis, Kurds, Arabs, Turkmens, Turks, and others, the government gathers a small circle of Persian-speaking elites at the Academy of Persian Language and Literature. Their mission? To promote discriminatory, unjust, and oppressive security-driven attitudes towards teaching local languages in ethnic provinces, labeling these efforts as a "national threat." This ideology essentially denies the very "nationhood" of nearly half of Iran's population.
Eight years ago, a poem by the head of this academy, Gholam-Ali Haddad-Adel, was included in a sixth-grade textbook, claiming that the language of the people of Tabriz was "Persian." The resulting backlash led to the poem’s removal, but the discriminatory, self-centric ethos deeply embedded in the minds of the academy’s “pan-Persianist” members remains. For instance, another academy member, Fathollah Mojtabaei, dismissed the right to mother tongue education as an "imported, dangerous British conspiracy."
When the lawful and just demands of half the population are labeled as a foreign conspiracy, the outcome is predictable: oppression, plain and simple. Members of the Academy of Persian Language and Literature effectively justify the suppression of linguistic and cultural aspirations under the guise of national security.
Based on the author’s forty-plus years of experience and available evidence among ethnic and national activists, the denial of minority rights has not fostered national unity. On the contrary, it has triggered escalating processes of separatist ethnic nationalism, identity-seeking movements, growing cultural incompatibility, and widened gaps between the government and the country’s various nationalities. While the Islamic Republic continues its denial, claiming stability, it mirrors the rhetoric of Jimmy Carter, who famously referred to the Shah’s regime as a "island of stability" just a year before its downfall. As Hafez wrote:
"Nothing has been gained but darkened hearts, yet the delusion persists:
That this vanity is alchemy."
While a regime may temporarily suppress and subjugate people domestically, a deeper analysis—focusing on global trends of rising democracy, human rights discourse, and identity-based resistance—reveals the irreparable damage inflicted by the Islamic Republic’s ruthless tyranny on Iran’s diverse peoples. The regime’s unparalleled ability (read: folly) in turning opportunities into threats is unmistakable.
Unfortunately, a culture of discrimination and disdain for others is deeply rooted in Iran, particularly among centralist compatriots. Bombarded by propaganda, such as the phrases “Art belongs to Iranians and none else!” and “Persian is the sweetest of tongues,” many fail to grasp a simple truth: everyone’s mother tongue is "sweet as honey" to them—not exclusively Persian. Baluchis, too, say asal or shehed in their native tongue. The Baluchi language ranks 97th among the world’s 6,000+ living languages. Linguistically, over two-thirds of the world's countries have smaller populations than the Baluchis.
In many "integrated" nations, from Canada and Bolivia in the Americas to India and Sri Lanka in Asia, from Belgium and Switzerland in Europe to neighboring countries like Afghanistan, Iraq, and Israel, multiple official languages coexist. Contrary to the extremist theories of pan-Persianist nationalists, in a multilingual, multi-ethnic, multi-religious, and culturally diverse nation, a single language or religion cannot serve as the unifying factor of national identity in a modern, civilized state.
According to many scholars and UNESCO's principles, the most prominent cultural and identity marker of any nation is its language. The importance of education in one’s mother tongue goes beyond being a fundamental human right; it is the cornerstone of human communication and interaction with the world. Progress and development depend directly on the ability to acquire knowledge and education from cradle to grave. Tragically, Baluchi children, like those from other minorities, not only begin their primary education at a linguistic disadvantage compared to Persian speakers but must also learn a "new mother tongue" before they can even master reading and writing. Worse still, they face severe educational inequities, such as a lack of resources, inadequate schools, untrained teachers, poverty, malnutrition, and more.
These imbalances and compounded injustices create a cycle of inequity and systemic oppression. Denying such realities while stigmatizing those who demand justice amounts to rejecting human rights and siding with tyranny.
The link to the original article in Farsi on Iran Wire:
سوگواری عاشورای ما و روز جهانی زبان مادری