Ten-Year-Old Baha’i Student Expelled

iranpresswatch.org - According to the "No to the Persecution and Imprisonment of Baha'i Citizens" campaign, a 10-year-old child has been expelled from his primary school in Karaj because he is a Baha'i.

Mohammad Nourizad, a human rights activist in Iran, writes: Last Saturday I received an email from a friend telling me that they wanted to expel his 10-year-old son from school in Karaj because he is a Baha'i. I told my friend a 10-year-old couldn't be Baha'i or Moslem or Christian. But the school principal saw this child as a Baha'i, and insisted that either he goes or she will go. I arranged to meet the father in front of the school the next day and we entered together.

The principal was a slight, sullen 60-year-old woman. The father said to her, you asked me to come and collect my son's file. "Yes", she replied – either he goes or I go." I asked her: "Is there anything wrong with this child?" She said: "There's nothing wrong except that he is not acceptable in my creed." As soon as she uttered these words I knew that this woman was of the brainless old-fashioned breed, whose head was completely filled with the morass disseminated by the Hojjatieh Society*, and whose only purpose in life was to attack Baha'is.

I said: "So if there is a problem it is because of your beliefs. What is the difference between you and Daesh [ISIS]? If you had any sense you would accept this child and try to attract him with your kindness, courtesy, wisdom and tolerance instead of repelling him from Shi'ite Islam with the garment of hatred you have forced on him. If I cannot close down your school because of your actions, I will make sure that every car that passes your school will jeer at the ignorance which is prevalent here."

When we were outside, I told the father not to take the file under any circumstances. I said: "Your son is a student in this school; drop him off here every morning; let them refuse to admit him; we must sweep away this ignorance once and for all."

*For more on the Hojjatieh Society, please see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hojjatieh