From: bavafa@netcom.com (Hooshyar Naraghi)
Subject: Re: Please leave BAHA'IS out of this!
Organization: Confirmation of Observation
Date: Fri, 9 Oct 1992 08:25:32 GMT

In article <1992Oct8.205709.705@massey.ac.nz> S.G.Abbas@massey.ac.nz
(S.G. Abbas) writes:

salAm ghazanfar khAn,

>Dear Kamran
>I am afraid I do not agree with you. The reason is that I have seen and
                                                                ^^^^^^^^
>observed from my own eyes in the regime of Shah back in 1976-79, when
 ^^^^^^^^
>the Iranian students were taking their courses in Pkaistanis
>universities. I observed that "one" of those students is very very well
>off than all others. It can happen to anyone ? But the indepth
>observation revealed that he is getting about 2.5 times more scholarship
>money than the other Iranians are getting. The reason was that "the
>special student" was not only a student but he was also an informer to
>"someone" about the activities of other Iranian students in the campus.
>Can you believe that all Iranians will either low their radio volume or
>turn it off once they will see that "the special student" is approaching
>towards their room. Because it was not allowed for Iranians to listen
>BBC News Service, as in those days as that was the only source for
>Iranian to know what is happening within Iran. This special student was
>a "Bhahai" and of course he never went back to Iran after graduation
>from University in 1980. He is now a Pakistani national and living in
>Quetta.
>
>So, please do not "confrim" that some organization/person is not involved
>in any activity.   ^^^^^^^

Dear friend, thanks for sharing the above observation.  Indeed it must have
been sad to find out that a school mate was spying on his friends.

With all due respect, as Kamram requested or challenged, the burden of
"confirmation" rests on the shoulder of the person who has "observed"
the situation.  I have no doubt of the events that might have occurred at
the campus in Pakistan.  May I simply ask the 25 cents question?  [It's
recession so prices are up again :-)]

How did you learn that he was a Baha'i?  Did he tell you so?  Did you hear
about it from other friends?  Or . . .

>In these days, " big people" take work from you (anybody, not specifically
>Bhahai) and even you do not know that that are working for somebody.  Their
>is a hidden hand who controls such activities.

How true is your illustration above.  It is for the very same reason that
one needs to separate the "individual" from the official position of the
institution itself.  The original article proposed - 'challenged' to be more
axact - that in order to desimminate information such as involvement of
the Baha'i Faith with political organizations, one has to provide evidence.

We are not talking about individuals, not no mention that if the violation
of Baha'i Faith principles by a Baha'i member is proved and demonstrated to
the Faith, it will be the ground for the Baha'i Institutions to expel him/
her from the membership of the Faith.  So while I can live with the 
plausibility of a case whereby a Baha'i is to violate the Baha'i principles,
I cannot see how we go around and use that as a reason why the Baha'i Faith 
itself is involved in such acts.

It is even harder to digest this kind of conclusion or even suggestion, once
we learn that the very _explicit_ text of the constitution of the Baha'i
Faith makes such activities unacceptable and subject to severe administrative
sanctions such as removal of the person from the membership of the Faith.

The above was just another vantage point to look at the same situation.

Regards,
Hooshyar F. Naraghi
bavafa@netcom.com
(415) 322-8056