1955 Aug
195- |
Appeals were made by National Spiritual Assemblies around the world through the Bahá'í International Community to the UN Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld to ask the Iranian government to halt the attacks on the Bahá'ís. [BW13:789–91; BW16:329; MBW88–9; BTSG83-85, PP304, 311; CBN No 81 October 1956 p1; 15 August 1955 CoF132-133; 20 August 1955 CoF133-142]
The intervention of the Secretary-General of the UN, along with the efforts of the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States, brought an end to the physical persecution of the Bahá'ís, although their human rights are still denied. [BW13:790; BW16:329]
This marked the first time the Faith was able to defend itself with its newly born administrative agencies. An "Aid the Persecuted Fund" was established.
See comments by Jack McLean:
The response to the persecution was both decisive and instructive. Shoghi Effendi directed
the American Baha'i Community to send appeals for protection to President Eisenhower. Local and
national spiritual assemblies sent thousands of `appeals' to the Iranian government and the Shah.
Appeals were lodged with the Secretary-General of the United Nations and the President of the
Social and Economic Council, `copies of which were delivered to the representatives of the member
nations of the Council, to the Director of the Human Rights Division, as well as to nongovernmental
organizations with consultative status.' The Guardian wrote further that the 1955
persecution led to `widespread publicity' that had attracted `...the notice of those in high places...'
and which Shoghi Effendi saw as a prelude to `...the emancipation of these valiant sufferers from
the galling fetters of an antiquated religious orthodoxy....will, in varying measure, have its
repercussions in Islamic countries, or may be even preceded by a similar phenomenon in
neighbouring territories, hastening and adding fresh impetus to the bursting of the bonds that fetter
the freedom of the followers of God's infant Faith.' [Shoghi Effendi's View of Providential History in
Light of the Judaeo-Christian Tradition by
Jack McLean]
Historian Mohamad Tavakoli-Targhi noted that the 1955 anti-Bahá'í campaign was both the apogee and the point of separation of the state-clergy co-operation. The Shah succumbing to international pressure to provide human rights, withdrew support. The result was that the period from the late fifties until 1977-1978 was a period of relative safety. [Towards a History of Iran's Bahá'í Community During the Reign of Mohammad Reza Shah, 1941-1979 by Mina Yazdani.]
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* Persecution; * Persecution, Iran; - Persecution, Other; Bahá'í International Community (BIC); Human rights; Iran; Jack McLean; NSA; New York, USA; United Nations; United States (USA) |
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