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World Refugee Day: An Iranian refugee in Pune dreams of a day when his motherland will become a democratic nation
Behzad Amiri, a 74-year-old Iranian refugee in Pune, dreams of a future when Iran will become a democratic nation.
'I don't know if I will be alive to see that day, but I'm sure one day Iran will become a democratic country,' said Amiri, speaking to The Indian Express ahead of World Refugee Day on June 20.
Born in Iran's Bushehr province, Amiri lives in Pune. Before coming to India to pursue higher education at the age of 26, he completed compulsory two-year service in the Iranian Army, working with a special camp of the Shah of Iran.
'I did my BA in Economics from Wadia College in Pune. Then I took admission for a Masters course… But I went back to my country nearly two months after the Islamic Revolution of 1979, led by Ayatollah Khomeini. My father told me I should not have returned as the Islamic Republic in Iran would execute me. I supported democracy and have always been against the Islamic regime. So I left Iran. I went to Tehran and from there I came to India again and started living in Pune Camp,' he said.
Amiri said he was blacklisted by the Islamic Republic in Iran. 'On August 26, 1982, I got refugee status in India' he said.
Settling down in Pune, he married an Indian woman, Ismat, who passed away about 15 years ago. His son and daughter were born in India. He now stays on NIBM Road in Pune, with his son, who is an engineer working for a private firm.
Amiri said his father was put behind bars by the Islamic regime and was later released. 'I lost my mother at an early age. My father once came to meet me in Pune. He went back after spending ten days with me. After a period of time, he died in Iran. But I could not attend his funeral as I would have got killed there. I avoided talking to my friends and relatives fearing it could get them in trouble… I started a new life in Pune with the help of supporters and well-wishers,' he said.
Amiri is an active member of the National Movement of the Iranian Resistance (NAMIR), founded by Iran's former prime minister Shapour Bakthiar. He said NAMIR is a broad-based coalition of Iranian people, inside and outside the country, who are working for 'ending Islamic cleric's tyrannical, theocratic regime and its replacement by a democratic government, which will protect human rights.'
'While living in Pune, I joined NAMIR and had at least five telephonic interactions with Bakthiar, who had moved to France after the Islamic Revolution in Iran. He led NAMIR from Paris,' he said.
Bakhtiar was murdered in France in 1991. 'Bakhtiar was pro-democracy. He gave us the slogan 'Iran Will Never Die'. Twice a year, NAMIR members spread in different countries meet online. Through NAMIR we continue to oppose the Islamic Republic in Iran and propagate the thought of establishing democracy,' Amiri said.
Everyday Amiri circulates on WhatsApp several reports about various incidents in Iran, along with the slogan 'Iran Will Never Die'.
Asked about the ongoing conflict between Israel and Iran, he said, 'I am against the dictatorial Islamic regime in Iran. But I am also against the killing of ordinary citizens in Iran by Israel…. I have deep respect for Indian democracy. I want Iran to be a democratic nation like India.'
In charge of NAMIR's India arm, Amiri has been active in holding events like 'International Day of Cyrus the Great'. During this programme, Amiri along with a few more Iranian nationals gather in Pune to remember 'Cyrus the Great', the King of Persia, who they said had 'declared the first charter of human rights in the world, also known as 'Cyrus Cylinder'. At the programme, they observe one-minute silence around a photo of 'Cyrus the Great' along with the flag of Iran before the 1979 Islamic revolution.
Amiri said Iranians believe 'October 29 (7th of Aban)' is the anniversary of the entrance of Cyrus into Babylon. 'Cyrus was the founder of the Achaemenid Empire and is well-respected for his achievements in human rights, politics and military strategy. We Iranians want October 29 to be called Unity Day,' he said.
Amiri has also held solidarity meetings of NAMIR in Pune to protest against the 'rule of anarchy in Iran' on the occasion of the anniversary of Iranian revolution of February 11, 1979.
