Iran: I want to vote, but to who and for what?

On the verge of the Iranian regime’s twin elections, a heartbreaking incident took place in the village of Siahkal, located in northern Iran. This text shows how the Iranian people actually view elections in Iran.

24 February 2016

A teacher, wounded back in the Iran-Iraq War of the 1980s and a loyal believer in the Islamic republic, told his students:

“Kids, the elections are near, write an essay about the elections,” he said. Every one of the students wrote an essay and read it before the class until it was A.K.’s turn. With very ragged clothing and a face revealing his inner pains, A.K. stood before the blackboard and began reading his essay:

“In the name of God…

I take my pen and write my essay as:

Why do we vote!?

So they can make ladders from our votes to go up and embezzle even more??

Use the people’s money to pay for their advertisement, and my notebook to become more expensive each day??

Take their wives and kids and go to trips abroad for vacations under various reasons???

Using the people’s money to send their own kids to Europe and the U.S. under the pretext of college scholarships, and for them to never return??

For the sons and daughters of senior officials to ride the best cars??

To care less about the city being polluted and crowded, and have me suffer from cancer because of non-standard gasoline??

To employ extremist thoughts and mentalities under the slogan of moderation?

Abandon unemployed men and harass women for their revealed hair?

To own homes, cars and villas, and for my family to become poorer each day??

Earn 100 million rials a month and be allowed to go on vacations costing millions, to know why Iran’s girls resort to prostitution to flee poverty, and find themselves sold to foreign countries??

Or by scaring us of the ‘world arrogance’, or ISIS, or others becoming dominant, and in doing so they themselves take complete control over the people’s wealth, and their very lives?!?

Or with my vote have people thrown into prisons like Kahrizak so they can’t see their families???

Dear teacher,

Do you want me to go and vote for the first time

… to become a street vendor after finishing my studies?

Or like my father, become a taxi driver after retirement?

… or when I grow older, fail to marry due to lack of money and being unemployed

Or like my father who can’t take my kid sister to a doctor!

… or or or

The teacher, with tears in his eyes, rose to his feet, stood before his students and said only one thing:

“Stop it. We were deceived!”

And he left the classroom.