Our Noble Aspirations, Shirin Ebadi & I, Ten Years Later

A few days ago BBC Persian aired a documentary (above) on the life of our nation's only Nobel Laureate, Shirin Ebadi. I still recall vividly how as a young student in Tehran I was overjoyed at the news of her great achievement and then developed mixed feelings when I heard my favourite Iranian 'Shir-Zan' [Literally: Lion Woman] identifying herself as a Muslim or when she said her prize belonged to all Islamic states which I, in the staunch nationalistic mindset of my early 20s, wished she wouldn't have. For me that kind of rhetoric suited the clerics ruling over the country ever since 1979, not her. She was to represent us not them! 

All that said, I remember I almost kissed the TV set when she said these words before the dignitaries and journalists from all major news channels around the world: 

I am an Iranian. A descendent of Cyrus The Great. The very emperor who proclaimed at the pinnacle of power 2500 years ago that "... he would not reign over the people if they did not wish it." And [he] promised not to force any person to change his religion and faith and guaranteed freedom for all. The Charter of Cyrus The Great is one of the most important documents that should be studied in the history of human rights.

And then, still not sure what to expect from this nice woman who had brought us some pride, I wrote a piece on National Review Online which I - as you might expect - titled "Noble Aspirations". 

Ten years have passed by since those days, Shirin Ebadi faced so much difficulty in her beloved Iran that she had to leave everything behind and live a life of exile. I, that used to call myself Koorosh Afshar, have apparently followed suit and no longer need a pseudonym to protect my safety on this side of the border.

Other things have changed, too, including my views on nationalism and what nation-ness means to me these days; however, I still fervently believe in every word I said back then:

Mrs. Ebadi is at a very critical juncture. She can, with her wise secular words, shatter the suffocating bonds of theocracy, and represent to the world the desires of the Iranian nation. As she faces obstacles in doing so, she should be bolstered by the fact that nothing is nobler than the just, secular aspirations of my nation–or the act of supporting them. She should remember the words of Thomas Paine: “Of all the tyrannies that affect mankind, tyranny in religion is the worst; every other species of tyranny is limited to the world we live in; but this attempts to stride beyond the grave, and seeks to pursue us into eternity."

Oh, and I now have this addition to my personal library. Shirin Ebadi's Golden Cage signed by no other person than herself for a "Mr. Hooman Askary, with best wishes of success!"   :-)