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#Tribute to Neda Agha-Soltani

#"Maalik! You must create in your mind kindness, compassion and love for your subjects. Do not behave towards them as if you are a voracious and ravenous beast and as if your success lies in devouring them. Remember, Maalik, that amongst your subjects there are two kinds of people: those who have the same religion as you have; they are brothers to you, and those who have religions other than that of yours, they are human beings like you",  Imam Ali's letter to Malik Ashtar

The second of three children, Neda lived with her parents in a middle-class neighborhood east of Tehran. She was a happy, positive person. Though she studied philosophy and religion at the Azad Islamic University, she was more spiritual than religious. She also loved music. She once studied violin but had given it up and was planning to take up piano next. She had just bought a piano, but it had not yet been delivered. Her demeanor was typically calm, even serene, but she had a quirky, playful sense of humor. A friend recalled that once, when Neda was visiting her friend's house, she picked up a white Teddy bear, took off her big, purple-studded earrings and put them on the bear. Then she removed a necklace from around the neck of a friend and put it around the bear's neck, taking delight in the bear's transformation. She liked to travel, having visited Turkey three months ago with a tour group. And she believed in human rights, her friend said. The video shows an interview of Neda’s fiancé, Caspian Makan, to a TV. Here you have the transcription of another interview, to Altmuslim.com. Read what Caspian says about Neda:

“The gray haired man [in the video] is her music teacher not her father. Her desire was was freedom for the Iranian people. She did not support Musavi nor Ahmadinejad. Helicopters where firing live bullets into the crowed, I was at another protest in which my phone ran and I saw her name and I picked up the phone and expecting to hear her voice but it was her sister who told me that Nedah aziz [my sweet Neda] was martyred. The bullet was from a large gun. She was not in the middle of the major protest. They stop to get out of their car which was stuck in traffic for nearly an hour. She steps out and in a span of six minutes she dies after receiving a bullet to the heart. They rush her to the hospital in another car. She had nothing in her hand, no rocks or any displays of green. She was a simple 26 year old, she was sweet, a ray of light and very peace loving. I wonder what they have to say about killing someone like Neda? Do they have any answer for that. We were separated for about 2 weeks to make a decision on whether we wanted to get married. We saw each other a day before she was killed. We stumbled across the issues of the current riots in which they would order, I asked her not no participate but she insisted that she wanted to go and be counted and stand with her people. I am not a person who was going to impose my will on her and force her not to go. We want our rights, our rights are logical in which we want our basic freedoms which are not any different than for any other people. There was fighting between 4 p.m and 6 p.m. but she took a route to get to her house and not to go and protest. Her soul had a burning voice for freedom and I think that her voice has reached the people. It is not just about Neda, there are others who died like her. They wanted to decide the direction of the bullet. They wanted to start arresting the perpetrator. Unfortunately, they did not allow us to have a public mourning. the mosque in which we held the service was on Shariati street. There was a conflict with the authorities with respect to even having a public mourning even in our house. She did not vote, we did not have a desire to vote, on the day of the vote she did not leave the house. As I stated she was not supporting either side. Her vision was to pursue to freedom but did not feel that it would be attained through either these two options. She was at Azad University, she was interested in philosophy of religion. Then she started music. I thank the entire people of Iran and the rest of the world that have sent they condolences, which proves that Neda's voice reached the world in which to pursue freedom in a way so that no more innocent blood is shed.” -Caspian Makan Source AltMuslim.com

Neda Agha-Soltan, who was shot dead by the Islamic regime of Iran’s security forces on Saturday 20 June, wanted freedom for everyone. Her murder has become a rallying point across the world.

“She was near the area, a few streets away, from where the main protests were taking place, near the Amir-Abad area. She was with her music teacher, sitting in a car and stuck in traffic. She was feeling very tired and very hot. She got out of the car for just a few minutes. That’s when she was shot dead. Eyewitnesses and video footage of the shooting clearly show that probably Basij paramilitaries in civilian clothing deliberately targeted her. Eyewitnesses said they clearly targeted her and she was shot in the chest. She passed away within a few minutes. People tried to take her to the nearest hospital, the Shariati hospital. But it was too late. Makan said Neda’s family struggled to persuade the Iranian authorities to release her body. She was taken to a morgue outside Tehran. The officials from the morgue asked if they could use parts of her corpse for body transplants for medical patients. They didn’t specify what exactly they intended to do. Her family agreed because they wanted to bury her as soon as possible. We buried her in the Behesht-e-Zahra cemetery in southern Tehran. They asked us to bury her in this section where it seemed the authorities had set aside spaces for graves for those killed during the violent clashes in Tehran last week. Source: StoptheAclu

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She was reportedly passionate about traveling and had gone with friends to Dubai, Turkey and Thailand. The young Iranian was also an accomplished singer who was taking piano lessons, according to Panahi. Soltan was not a hardcore activist, but had started attending the mass protests because she felt deeply outraged by the election results. “She couldn’t stand the injustice of it all,” Panahi told the L.A. Times.

On June 24th, 2009 Neda’s parents were forced by Iranian agents to move from their apartment. They were not permited to perform a public mourning ceremony.

“Neda is the face of this revolution. She is a martyr. It is no coincidence that her name means “the call” or “the voice”. Her face is the voice which calls out to all of you. The time for CHANGE has come.”

Please see thisexcellent website about Neda Agha Soltani. Or click the links above for more information. Rest In Peace, Neda.

Under the law of God:

"Allah does not forbid you respecting those who have not made war against you on account of (your) religion, and have not driven you forth from your homes, that you show them kindness and deal with them justly; surely Allah loves the doers of justice" Koran (60-8) “…take not life, which God hath made sacred, except by way of justice and law: thus doth He command you, that ye may learn wisdom.” [Al-Qur’an 6:151].

“Otherwise, as I have already said, a government not respecting the people’s vote has no religious or political legitimacy. I ask the police and army personnel not to “sell their religion”, and be aware that receiving orders will not excuse them before God.” Grand Aiatollah Montazeri June 2009.

The ones that kill innocent citizens, are blasphemers are blasphemers because they go against the law of God.

Under the law of men.

“The Iranian government at this time has ceased to be a legitimate government. A government primary role is to protect its citizens. They have done the exact opposite. They have hired thugs from the rural areas of Iran, Syria and Lebanon to beat, terrorize andkill its citizens. They pay the Lebanese more than the Iranian. 200,000 Tomans or $200. When your government takes measures to kill you…that is no longer your government! This is no longer about an election!” Anonymous post on Youtube.

“Crimes against international law are committed by men, not by abstract entities, and only by punishing individuals who commit such crimes can the provisions of international law be enforced” (Judgment of the Nuremberg Tribunal, 30^th September and 1st October 1946, Cmd. 6964, Misc. No. 12, London: H.M.S.O 1946, p. 41)

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