A Nigerian activist and public affairs analyst expressed his thoughts on the 31st death anniversary of Imam Khomeyni, the founder of Iran’s Islamic Revolution. RNA – Iranians and the supports of Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution are marking 31 years since the departure of the revered founder of the Islamic Republic, Imam Khomeyni, an eternal example of the defeat of the West in imposing its will on freedom-seeking nations.
Grand Ayatollah Sayyed Ruhollah Mousavi-Khomeyni, better known as Imam Khomeyni, passed away on June 3, 1989, at the age of 87.
As an anti-imperialist icon, he devoted his life to standing up to Iran’s former Pahlavi monarchy, a key ally of the United States, and eventually paved the way for the regime’s downfall in the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
In an exclusive interview with Rasa News Agency, Harun Elbinawi, a Nigerian activist and public affairs analyst, expressed his thoughts on the death anniversary of Imam Khomeyni and the role he played in the Islamic world and in standing up against oppression.
June 3, 1989, remains the saddest day of my life. That was the day the great Imam Khomeyni left this world. When the news reached me, I fainted. When I was revived, I told my late mother that my life has ended! She said “No! A good successor will succeed him!” And Imam Khamenei was chosen!
This exceptional man changed the course of human history forever from his prayer mat. He was only armed with his conviction that the oppressed will be victorious. He led the glorious 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran to victory with no support from any world power.
In 1979, Iran and Nigeria were at the same developmental level but today the difference in terms of progress and development is like the distance between heaven and earth. Iran recently successfully launched satellites into orbit while Nigeria is infested with bloodthirsty terrorists and armed bandits. While today Iran, with a population of 90 million, generates more than 80,000 megawatts of electricity, Nigeria, with a population of more than 200 million, generates 4,000 megawatts of electricity.
Before 1979, Iran, like Nigeria and Saudi Arabia today, import more than 90% of their needs but Iran today manufactures more than 90% of its needs. This is progress. A developing nation must be steeped in production and that will create many jobs and insulate the country from domination by the greedy, genocidal and barbaric imperialists of the West.
Immediately after the victory of the Islamic Revolution, Imam Khomeyni ordered that Iran must break off diplomatic ties with two racist and apartheid entities: South Africa and the Zionist Israeli entity. Iran handed the South African embassy in Tehran to the African National Congress (ANC) and the Israeli embassy to the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). Iran started funding the revolutionary activities of ANC and Palestinian resistance groups for freedom and independence from the white settler colonialist barbarians. Iran honoured African-American revolutionaries like Haj Malik El-Shabazz (Malcolm X) and issued postage stamps and named streets after them.
Before the Islamic Revolution, the literacy rate in Iran was 45%. Today, Iran has one of the highest literacy rates in the world with 95% of the population literate. The Islamic Revolution was knowledge-based and after its victory, acquiring knowledge was highly encouraged.
“Tomorrow belongs to those who plan for it today.” – Malcolm X
Any nation that wants to make progress and develop must invest heavily in education. Nigeria has more than 13 million children out-of-school – the highest in the world. The corrupt ruling elites in Nigeria deliberately do not invest in education out of sheer wickedness and evil because they think keeping people in ignorance and poverty makes them easy to control.
It is important to note that Iran achieved all these monumental successes despite the imposition of debilitating sanctions by the arrogant Western imperialist powers. The Islamic Revolution cut off the filthy hands of the looting and plundering of Iranian resources by the United States and the United Kingdom from Iran forever. To punish Iran, they imposed debilitating sanctions to sabotage Iran’s successes and to prevent Iran from becoming a role model to other developing nations.
Imam Khomeyni inspired millions not only in Iran but all over the world and this influence is still reverberating. The awakening of the human mind and mindset cannot be suppressed with the barrel of the gun or blast of bombs and thousands of mass graves created by tyrants and wicked oppressors will never destroy the idea of freedom and the philosophy of liberation of the school of thought of Imam Khomeyni.
A haiku for Imam Khomeyni:
“Where are you, my leader? I have come to Jamaran!
Where are you, my leader? They said you have gone!
I cannot cope with this emptiness!”
On a final note, we offer our deepest condolences to Imam al-Mahdi and Imam Khamenei on this sad occasion of the demise of the Leader of the Islamic Revolution. May God eternally rest his soul. al-Fatihah.
Rasa News Agency