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| Bahá’í News | April 1985 | Bahá’í Year 142 |
Time for a touch-up
DEEPLY GRIEVED UNTIMELY PASSING ESTEEMED LLOYD GARDNER STALWART DEFENDER INTERESTS FAITH AMERICAS. HIS DISTINGUISHED LONGTIME SERVICE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY CANADA AND MEMBERSHIP BOARD COUNSELLORS AMERICAS SINCE INCEPTION MARKED BY INDEFATIGABLE LABORS ALL ASPECTS TEACHING WORK AND COMMUNITY LIFE, NOTABLY YOUTH ACTIVITIES. HIS STERLING CHARACTER, HIGH INTEGRITY, WARM-HEARTED NATURE, TOTAL DEDICATION FAITH WORTHY EMULATION. FERVENTLY PRAYING HOLY SHRINES PROGRESS HIS LUMINOUS SPIRIT ABHÁ KINGDOM AND SOLACE HIS SORROWING FAMILY. ADVISING ALL COMMUNITIES AMERICAS OFFER PRAYERS IN HIS NAME. REQUESTING NATIONAL ASSEMBLY UNITED STATES HOLD MEMORIAL GATHERING TEMPLE WILMETTE.
MARCH 6, 1985
LLOYD GARDNER
On the cover: For the first time since its installation in 1952 in the center of the dome of the Bahá’í House of Worship in Wilmette, Illinois, the Greatest Name symbol is lowered some 138 feet to the floor of the auditorium for painting and refurbishing. The two-day operation, which took place last February 21-22, was accomplished without incident.
Bahá’í News[edit]
Poignant stories of courage, self-sacrifice of Iranian Bahá’í youth | 1 |
U.S. Congressmen issue bi-partisan appeal on behalf of Iran’s Bahá’ís | 4 |
U.S. State Department report criticizes persecution of Bahá’ís in Iran | 5 |
Former West German Chancellor Willy Brandt visits Shrine of the Báb | 6 |
Trail of Light teaching team completes successful visit to Mexico | 7 |
Prestigious New Yorker magazine comments on persecutions in Iran | 8 |
Auxiliary Board member reports on teaching trip to Panay, Philippines | 9 |
After seven years, a young Bahá’í returns ‘home’ to Marshall Islands | 10 |
Around the world: News from Bahá’í communities all over the globe | 12 |
Bahá’í News is published monthly by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States as a news organ reporting current activities of the Bahá’í world community. Manuscripts submitted should be typewritten and double-spaced throughout; any footnotes should appear at the end. The contributor should keep a carbon copy. Send materials to the Periodicals Office, Bahá’í National Center, Wilmette, IL 60091, U.S.A. Changes of address should be reported to the Office of Membership and Records, Bahá’í National Center. Please attach mailing label. Subscription rates within U.S.: one year, $12; two years, $20. Outside U.S.: one year, $14; two years, $24. Foreign air mail: one year, $20; two years, $40. Payment must accompany order and must be in U.S. dollars. Second class postage paid at Wilmette, IL 60091. Copyright © 1985, National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. World rights reserved. Printed in the U.S.A.
Iran[edit]
Iran’s Bahá’í youth: courage, sacrifice[edit]
Bahá’í children and youth have contributed their own significant share to the heroism demonstrated by the believers in Iran. In spite of the difficulties in communication, some accounts of their experiences have been received. Following are a few that have been translated. The names of persons and places have been omitted in most cases so as to protect those who have written the accounts.
Group after group of young Bahá’ís have been dismissed from their schools, even kindergarten children, but none are prepared to submit to the pressure to say that they are not Bahá’ís. There are youth who in the last years of their medical college or high school are dismissed, ruining their academic achievements, but they stand firm. There are scores of such injustices meted out to the young Bahá’ís. Bahá’í boys and girls have prepared themselves outside the school for the government examinations and the successful results have been staggering.
The following report is taken from a letter written by a boy 16 years of age:
The teacher in my high school was giving a lesson in sociology on the subject of cultural colonialism. As an example, he cited the Bahá’í Faith as a type of cultural colonialism. According to my spiritual obligation, I had to reply. I got permission and to the extent possible for me, I gave a speech on the Faith and countered the statement of my teacher. After a few days the principal called me to his office, accusing me of apostasy, stating that Islam is the last religion of God, etc. One of those present asked me what I believed. I told him I was a Bahá’í. The Hájí, the
‘On the way I was trembling, thinking of what they might ask and what I should reply and what would be my fate. I entered the Imám’s office in this condition, but as soon as I was confronted by him I was not the same person anymore.’
principal, rose from his chair, agitated and shouting, “You have no place in this school! I thought you were a good boy! Now everything is changed and you have no right to go to your class until your situation is cleared!”
After a week there was a summons from the office of the Imám Jum‘ih (High Priest of the town, who is usually appointed by the Central Government to carry out its policy). On the way I was trembling, thinking of what they might ask and what I should reply and what would be my fate. I entered the Imám’s office in this condition, but as soon as I was confronted by him I was not the same person anymore. It was as if somebody had taken me by both hands. Not only did I not tremble but I was as erect as a column of steel. In the office of the Imám Jum‘ih were eight of the ‘Ulamá with turbans, and the bodyguard of the Imám were standing close behind me. After some time the Imám looked at me asking, “Do you have any business?” “No,” I replied. “You have business with me.”
After asking my name and the name of my father, he asked if I were a Muslim. I told him I was a Bahá’í. He asked what my father did. I told him he was unemployed. The Imám then started saying, “You are against Islam, the Qur’án, and Muhammad.”
“No,” I responded, “we believe in Islam, in the Qur’án, in Muhammad and the Imáms, and we respect them.”
“Now that you say that you are a Muslim and believe in the Qur’án ...”
I interrupted him with an apology and said, “Sir, I never said that I was a Muslim. I only told you that I believe in Islam. I believe in Islam as you believe in Judaism and Christ and Christianity and believe in the Bible.”
Then he said, “All right. Now that you believe in Islam, have you ever read any books of the Imáms?”
“Yes, to the extent possible.”
“If you have read these books, tell me where is it written that a wretched woman will give birth to a boy named Siyyid ‘Alí Muhammad, called the Báb, and that he would be the Promised One?”
“First of all, it is not proper that you name a woman in a derogatory manner. We have famous women in history, like Mary, Khadíjih, Fátimih ...”
He interrupted me saying, “Tell me where it is written in those books about the Báb?”
“It is not written in that way, but you show me in those books where it is written that He is not coming!”
(The report states that there was then a long discussion about the Faith and the writer quoted verses from the Qur’án and the Imáms showing that the Promised One would bring a new religion.)
On this note another Mullá who was present changed the subject. He told me that the Bahá’ís are forces of
| These stories of the courage and sacrifices of Bahá’í children and youth in Iran were compiled from various sources by the Universal House of Justice. |
Russia and that a Russian official called Dolgorouki confessed that he trained Siyyid ‘Alí Muhammad to say first that he was the Promised One, then to claim to be the Light of God, and ultimately to be God, Himself.
I very boldly replied, “The Bahá’í community does not know what tune to dance to. One says that we are forces of Russia; another says that we are American stooges; still another says we
[Page 2]
are agents of Britain and recently of
Israel. You should know philosophy,”
I said. “If there is truth then there
should be unanimity in the understanding of that truth. Everybody understands that when the water reaches 100
degrees it boils. For boiling water, one
doesn’t say when it reaches 80 degrees
or 120 degrees it boils. Therefore, it is
not fair for you to present a false
thing.”
The Imám suddenly shouted at me, “Be quiet! Islam is the last religion! No religion will come after it! You are not right! You are an apostate!”
I asked, “Sir, do you give me permission to speak?”
He replied, “No.”
“Then I am afraid I must speak without your permission. We are not apostates. We are right, and the time for Islam is over.”
He interrupted me sharply, shouting, “Islam is eternal!” and quoted an Arabic verse which I could not understand. Then I quoted a verse from the Qur’án, saying every religion has an end. (Here the writer gives a long discourse about the meaning of this verse and at the end he quotes a verse from a reliable Shí‘ih book of traditions to the effect that if Muslims are virtuous, the life of Islam will be 1,000 years, and if not, it will be 500.) Then I told him, “You have been virtuous and Islam has lasted 1,000 years. Now is the time for the Faith, and no power on earth can arrest it!”
He shouted, “Shut up! Don’t be impudent!” Then he continued to say that the Bahá’ís are aiding Israel. I replied that to do so would be a political act and we are not in politics.
He said we had buildings in Israel. “You have a Mashriqu’l-Adhkár.”
“They are our Holy Places.”
“Take your Holy Places out of there!”
“Holy Places cannot be moved. If they could, why don’t you bring out the Mosque of Aqsá from Jerusalem?”
“The Mosque fits that place very well!”
“So do our Holy Places.”
Again he shouted, “Shut up!” And then he added, “Get out of the room!”
Throughout the conversation I was very polite and soft-spoken, and then I bade farewell with great politeness, smiled, excused myself, and came out.
On the way out of the room, another Mullá said, “Look, my son, many of us have returned to the bosom of Islam. You have reached the age of maturity (15); you should follow those who have come back to Islam.”
Twenty-two-year old veterinary medicine student Ru’yá Ishráqí (right) with her father, Enayatu’lláh Ishráqí, a retired oil company executive, and mother, Ezzat Janámí Ishráqí. All three were executed in 1983 in Shíráz.
I replied, “Yes, I have reached the
age of maturity. I have accepted my
Faith by my own choice. And to the
last breath of my life I will support it. I
am prepared to undergo any torture,
any difficulty for my Faith. I don’t
consider my blood to be more red than
that of my fellow Bahá’ís who are offering it to God.”
The Imám said, “In that case, we have to expel you from school.”
“Do whatever your duty demands.”
After I left the office of the Imám Jum‘ih, to my surprise again I started trembling. I went to my school and said goodbye to my fellow students, got my dismissal order and went home.
(This dismissal order is now one of the documents preserved in the hands of the Bahá’ís.)
Two teen-age sisters were walking in the street and were stopped for a routine check. When asked about their political affiliation, the girls said that as Bahá’ís they had no political affiliation. The word “Bahá’í” was enough for the guards to take them to prison. Here is an extract from the letter they wrote describing their experiences:
They blindfolded us and took us to the car. We did not know where we were going. They separated us and placed us in separate small cells. After an hour there, still blindfolded, they took us to another place by car. We found out later that this was the place of the Committees, which are manned by members of the Hujjatíyyih (an anti-Bahá’í group).
We were taken to a room which was an office. We heard the voices of the women, one old and one younger. The typewriter was running. After about an hour a man entered and asked what group we belonged to. We told him that we do not belong to a group but that we belong to the Bahá’í religion. He asked which branch of Bahá’ís. We told him that there are no branches in the Bahá’í Faith. He laughed sarcastically, called the Faith a misguided group, and left the room.
When the man left, the two women who heard that we were Bahá’ís started
[Page 3]
abusing us, swearing against the Faith,
saying that the Bahá’ís do not believe
in God, and complaining that we had
defiled their office by our presence.
The older woman, who was full of
hatred, started beating us, slapping us,
abusing and insulting us, complaining,
“Why do you not become Muslims and
come to the true path!”
“What path is more true than belief in the Greatest Name?”
“What is the Greatest Name?”
“It means that we believe in God.”
She didn’t say another word. Meanwhile we were thirsty and asked for water. They said we would defile the glass if they gave us water. We said, “Let us drink from the tap, then.” They refused. The younger woman, however, later on brought us some water in a milk container.
(The girls underwent a long interrogation which is reported in detail. This interrogation was about the Bahá’í Faith and particularly the Bahá’í administration. They wanted the names of the members of the Assembly, etc. The same night that the girls were detained, a group was sent to their home, where they confiscated Bahá’í books and family albums. After harassing a member of the family and breaking the frame of a picture of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, they left.)
Two Bahá’ís, 11 and 12 years old, were in the 4th and 5th grades at the time of the following incident. This occurred at a time before Bahá’í students were all expelled from schools, and indicates how on certain occasions the staunchness of the Bahá’í youth won the admiration of their school friends and teachers.
When the teacher called the students to perform the congregational Muslim prayer, the two Bahá’ís refused to join. The government teacher asked why they wouldn’t participate. They replied, “We are Bahá’ís, and until we are 15 it is not compulsory for us to perform obligatory prayers. But at that time we will recite a different kind of prayer.”
“All right,” the teacher said.“That is fine. But today I have asked you to go and participate in the prayers.”
“Congregational prayer is forbidden in the Bahá’í Faith, and I am not going at all,” replied one of the boys.
The teacher became furious. “In that case you say your own prayer!”
While about 500 children were saying their congregational prayers, one of the Bahá’ís, obeying the teacher’s instruction, chanted, very beautifully, a prayer by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. All the children stopped their prayers and gathered round him to listen and watch. This action greatly moved the teacher. When he saw that the boy was chanting with folded arms as a sign of reverence,
‘While about 500 children were saying their ... prayers, one of the Bahá’ís, obeying the teacher’s instruction, chanted ... a prayer by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. All the children stopped their prayers and gathered round him to listen and watch.’
the teacher stood in the same way.
The teacher took the boy to the office of the principal where the teachers were gathered for prayers, and he encouraged him to chant prayers there too. These prayers also greatly influenced the teachers and the principal, who said with kindness, “Hereafter you say your own prayers at the school.”
The execution of the youth in Shíráz has already been announced. However, details of their encounters in prison, written by those who were with them during the last days of their lives, are so dramatic that they will surely be retold many times.
The following is an account of what Ru’yá Ishráqí, a teen-age girl who was martyred with her parents, told a fellow prisoner. This prisoner was later released and conveyed Ru’yá’s story in a letter:
On one of the days of the trial, she said to the judge, “I have not seen my father for the past 32 days. If you allow me to turn around and see for a minute the face of my father ...” (Before the prisoners were taken to the trial session, they were first blindfolded, then deliberately taken to wrong rooms and zig-zagged through the prison while abuses and insults were heaped upon them. Then they were taken to a wall, their blindfolds were removed, and they were then given their file and required to write a reply to the questions presented.) The judge hesitated for a moment. However, he agreed that Ru’yá could see her father in the adjoining room for a few minutes.
She kissed her father, telling him how she loved him and encouraging him to be brave and steadfast. Touching the face of her father, she asked why he had not shaved. The reply was that they were not allowed to shave.
At the time Ru’yá was looking at her father with great love and kissing his face, the judge interfered, saying, “Isn’t it a pity that you refrain from saying only one word—that you are not Bahá’ís—by which you could avoid such trouble. If you say those words, all three of you will be free and all the frozen assets of your father will be given to him.”
Ru’yá, with her customary smile and decisive look, replied, “The love between parents and children is natural, but my love for my Beloved is even greater than my love for my parents.”
The judge asked, “Are you holding to this view until the moment of your execution?” And Ru’yá replied, “I pray and hope that to the last breath, I will stand firm in my love for my Beloved.”
Cape Verde Islands[edit]
As a result of the Enoch Olinga Teaching Plan, more than 500 people have been enrolled in the Faith and 20 new localities have been opened during the past eight months in the Cape Verde Islands.
All nine islands have now been opened to the Faith and nine Local Spiritual Assemblies have been formed.
Several influential residents of the islands learned of the Faith during the teaching campaign, which involved the efforts of many local believers and an international traveling teacher, Luis Gonzaga.
The friends in the Cape Verde Islands held that country’s first National Deepening Institute, which was followed immediately by its first National Youth Conference. That event was attended by Bahá’ís from the five islands most receptive to the Faith.
United States[edit]
Congressmen issue human rights appeal[edit]
| To the members of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights:
We are writing to express our deep concern over the systematic repression of the Bahá’í community by the government of Iran. Guided by the principles embodied in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, your organization over the last three years has adopted a series of resolutions condemning the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran for its numerous violations of human rights, and particularly for its brutal persecution of the Bahá’ís, Iran’s largest religious minority. The shock and dismay of the civilized world has been expressed repeatedly, through statements by prominent individuals and government leaders (including the President of the United States), and in the formal protests of legislative bodies such as the parliaments of Canada, Australia, Switzerland, and the legislatures of many of the states of the United States of America. In September 1982 and again in June 1984, the U.S. Congress unanimously adopted concurrent resolutions protesting the repression of Iranian Bahá’ís and calling upon the international community to raise its voice in defense of this peaceful and law-abiding community. Current reports from Iran show that the pressure against the Bahá’ís has not ceased. Since last September, 16 more Bahá’ís have been executed or have died in jails, many of them as a result of severe torture. More than 700 Bahá’ís are currently held in various prisons. Recently, they have been offered their freedom if they will sign a pledge stating that they do not possess, either on their person or in their homes, any book, picture or symbol of the Bahá’í Faith; moreover, they are forced to state that such possession would be tantamount to being “of those ‘who war against God’ ” ... a crime which is generally considered to be a capital offense. While all Bahá’ís have been discharged from government service, many are now being compelled to repay all the salaries which they had legally earned during their years of service; retirees are required to return their pensions or face imprisonment. Finally and most significantly, last December Iran’s Ambassador to the United Nations declared that his country would not hesitate to violate the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. We are committed to the axiom that it is unconscionable to stand silent in the face of such injustice. Considering these relentless acts of savagery against the innocent, we appeal to you, as the world’s foremost guardian of human rights, to adopt yet another resolution reaffirming your commitment to human rights for the people of Iran and calling for the government to cease its persecution of the Bahá’í religious minority. You can send a clear signal to the Iranian regime that the world notices and condemns this serious violation of internationally accepted standards of fundamental human rights. Sincerely, Signed by 45 Senators and
84 members of the House of Representatives |
More than 125 members of Congress have issued a bipartisan appeal urging action by the United Nations Human Rights Commission in support of religious freedom for Bahá’ís persecuted by the Iranian government.
Senators John Heinz and Christopher Dodd and Representatives John Porter and Gus Yatron announced the appeal at a press conference February 21 in the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C.
They urged the UN Commission, which was in session in Geneva, Switzerland, to adopt a strong resolution condemning Iran’s continuing violations of human rights, especially its “relentless acts of savagery against the innocent Bahá’ís.”
Also present at the press conference were Dr. Firuz Kazemzadeh, vice-chairman of the U.S. National Spiritual Assembly, and Dr. Robert C. Henderson, secretary of the National Assembly.
In a letter to their colleagues in Congress, Senators Dodd and Heinz said that while the frequency of executions of Bahá’ís in Iran “has decreased in the last year, there has been a wave of new arrests and additional repressive measures.
“This lack of respect for fundamental human rights should be noted and condemned by the United Nations Commission on Human Rights. Its silence on this issue during the present session could be interpreted by the Iranian government as a lessening of the world’s concern for the Bahá’ís.
“Please join us in our appeal to the Commission urging it to adopt yet another resolution condemning Iran for its continuing violation of human rights, and in particular of the human rights of the Bahá’í religious community.”
As of February 21, 45 Senators and 84 Representatives had signed the written appeal to the UN Human Rights Commission.
United States[edit]
Government report reviews persecutions[edit]
For the second year in a row, the U.S. State Department’s “Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1984” has pointed to the repression of Iran’s Bahá’í minority as an example of the most severe and repugnant human rights violations anywhere in the world.
The State Department document, which summarizes the status of human rights in most other countries, is submitted annually to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
“The Bahá’ís,” it says in discussing the attitude of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Government toward minority groups, “are not officially recognized by the regime; they are viewed as heretics and suffer from severe persecution by the government.”
The persecution, the report goes on to say, “is mainly government-directed and aimed at the religious leadership, although there were some instances earlier of mob action against Bahá’ís.
“Bahá’í property has been confiscated, shrines demolished, businesses disbanded or confiscated, and known Bahá’ís denied employment by the government.
“These measures effectively deny employment to most urban Bahá’ís. Much of the Bahá’í religious leadership has been arrested, as have many ordinary Bahá’ís. Charges are vague: ‘crimes against God,’ ‘corruption on earth,’ ‘warring against God,’ and ‘Zionism’ are among the most frequent.
“The real reason for the arrests seems to be advocacy of Bahá’ísm.
“A minimum of 750 Bahá’ís are in jail. At least 194 have been executed or have died following torture since the beginning of the revolutionary period, at least 29 during 1984.
“In August 1983 the Prosecutor General issued an order that effectively bans all Bahá’í religious activity, and provides the legal foundation on which virtually all members of the faith could be charged with crimes: participation in social welfare organizations is forbidden, as are the business corporations the Bahá’ís operated; and teaching of the faith, even by parents to children in the home, is not permitted.
“There is concern that these actions may mark the beginning of even more severe measures.
“Although the Baha’ national leaders dissolved the community’s organizations in obedience to the Prosecutor General’s edict, they were subsequently arrested, and at least some were executed.”
The State Department document was released one week before more than 100 members of Congress issued a bi-partisan appeal urging action by the UN Human Rights Commission in support of religious freedom for the Bahá’ís in Iran.
In a letter to the Human Rights Commission, which was meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, the congressmen called on its members to adopt “yet another resolution” similar to its 1984 action which specifically condemned Iran’s repression of the Bahá’ís and appointed a special representative to investigate human rights conditions in Iran.
Mauritius[edit]
Auxiliary Board member S. Mooten (right) explains an aspect of Bahá’u’lláh’s teachings to the mayor of Vacaos, Mauritius, during the recent opening ceremony for a traveling exhibit of the Bahá’í-sponsored Mobile Teaching and Audio-Visual Institute.
World Centre[edit]
Former W. German Chancellor pays visit[edit]
On January 30, Willy Brandt, former chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, accompanied by a party of some 16 people, visited the Shrine of the Báb at the World Centre in Haifa, Israel.
Details of Mr. Brandt’s visit had been worked out in consultation with Professor Alex Carmel and Mrs. Golub, director of public relations of Haifa University, along with Richard Bell of the Labour Party headquarters in Tel Aviv.
The Universal House of Justice designated two of its members, Dr. David Ruhe and Ian Semple, to receive Mr. Brandt and to participate in the reception to be given for Mr. Brandt by Haifa University later that same afternoon.
Donald Barrett and Ronald Bates, the secretary-general and deputy secretary-general, respectively, of the Bahá’í International Community, welcomed Mr. Brandt upon his arrival at the main gate of the Bahá’í gardens on Zionism Avenue and, after greeting members of his party, which included reporters and photographers, escorted Mr. Brandt and the group down the path to the entrance gate of the Haram-i-Ashraf, where Dr. and Mrs. Ruhe and Mr. Semple were waiting.
Mr. Barrett made the introductions and the group proceeded to the Shrine with the Bahá’í representatives giving explanations and remarks about the World Centre and the Shrine itself. The group included Mr. Gansel, a member of the German Bundestag, and Peter Heinemann, son of Gustav Heinemann, former president of the Federal Republic of Germany. Among the reporters were those from Der Spiegel, Die Zeit, the Frankfurter Allgemeine/Sonntagsblatt, the German News Service (Deutsche Presse Agentur), as well as photographers, among them two requested by the university and a foreign news photographer, Paul Melling.
Following the visit to the Shrine, Mr. Barrett gave selected reference materials to the reporters and photographers including a special one-page statement for use by the press, translated into German by Miss Guisela Dorn. The reference materials also included the special brochure published in Germany, the Time magazine article reprint, and the Reader’s Digest article reprint. The reporters welcomed these materials.
During the walk back to the gate, Mr. Gansel requested an opportunity to speak. Mr. Brandt willingly obliged and the group paused while Mr. Gansel commented on his personal involvement in contacts with officials of the government of Iran during visits to Tehran. Mr. Gansel described the diplomatic representations and protests made by representatives of the Federal Republic of Germany on those occasions in efforts to obtain assurances from the government of Iran that the Bahá’ís would be given fair treatment and that their basic human rights would be protected. He spoke for more than five minutes with deep feeling and sincerity.
It was evident that Mr. Brandt concurred in the views expressed by Mr. Gansel and approved of these efforts on behalf of the Bahá’ís, although Mr. Brandt did not himself offer any remarks at this point. Mr. Gansel emphasized that the very presence of Mr. Brandt at the Shrine of the Báb was intended to be a clear expression of solidarity with the Bahá’ís and an indication of concern about the plight of the Bahá’ís in Iran. Mr. Semple assured Mr. Gansel that the efforts that had been made were greatly appreciated by the Bahá’ís and that, even though the immediate response from the Iranian authorities might appear to be negative, the Bahá’ís were convinced that the long-term effect of such actions would be beneficial and would help to prevent still worse persecutions.
Before leaving the gardens of the Shrine, Mr. Brandt was presented with a gift of the book A Crown of Beauty in German as a memento of his visit. The Bahá’í representatives expressed their appreciation for Mr. Brandt’s visit and for his continuing interest in human rights in general and in the plight of the Bahá’ís in Iran in particular.
At five o’clock that afternoon there was a reception at Haifa University’s Eshkol Tower in honor of Mr. Brandt and to mark the inauguration of the Gustav Heinemann Institute of Middle Eastern Studies. Dr. and Mrs. Ruhe, Mr. Semple, Mr. Barrett and Mr. Bates attended. After remarks by the president of the university, the rector, Professor Rapaport, made some introductory remarks in the course of which he mentioned the establishment of the Bahá’í World Centre in Haifa.
Mr. Brandt delivered his talk in German, recalling the qualities of Gustav Heinemann which made it especially appropriate for his name to be given to this Institute which is dedicated to removing prejudice and enmity between peoples in the Middle East. Peter Heinemann then unveiled the name plaque of the new Institute and everyone proceeded to a social reception where it was possible for the Bahá’í representatives to talk with university officials and to hold further conversations with Mr. Gansel and other visitors.
Mexico[edit]
‘Trail of Light’ visits indigenous peoples[edit]
Groups of indigenous Bahá’ís have been traveling throughout the Americas since 1982 as a part of the Camino del Sol (Trail of Light).
Their purpose is to meet with members of other tribes, to share one another’s cultural and religious heritage, and to promote a stronger sense of unity among the various tribes.
The first trip, in 1982, was made by Bahá’ís from North America representing the Navajo, Eskimo, Makah and Tlingit peoples who traveled through Mexico and Central and South America.
In 1983, Bahá’ís from the Quechua, Aymara, Bri-Bri, Kuna, Guaymi and Mapuche tribes of Central and South America traveled northward into the United States, Alaska and Canada.
The goal of the Trail of Light team in 1984 was to visit the people who are native to Mexico, the country with the largest and most diverse indigenous population of any in the Americas.
To begin, the Trail of Light team first visited Mexico City and nearby towns where its members were always received enthusiastically.
The next stop was the east coast state of Veracruz where extensive advance preparations had been made by U.S. pioneers who met with local officials and family heads, securing the required permission and generating considerable interest and support for the team.
In Veracruz, the team visited an archaeological site known as Tajin, the site of a group of pyramids built hundreds of years ago by ancestors of Totonac Indians who still live nearby.
At Tajin, team members from Costa Rica, Panama and the U.S. sang traditional tribal songs, danced, and talked with the nearly 200 residents who gathered near the pyramids to listen.
That same afternoon, the Trail of Light visited the Totonac village of Rancho Tajin where they again shared the music and customs of their peoples in the primary school playground.
Pictured during an orientation session at Villa Virginia Bahá’í School in Panama are members of the ‘Trail of Light’ teaching team who recently visited Mexico. They are (left to right) Andrés de León, a Kuna India from Panama’s San Blas Islands and former administrative chief of his island; his wife, Adelina Kantule de León, who is wearing a distinctive mola, the much-admired embroidery characteristic of Kuna dress; Arsenio Bejarano, a Guaymi Indian from Chiriquí, Panama, who carries the shoulder bag and wears the hat typical of his region; Jacqueline Delahunt, a member of the Lakota Sioux tribe from South Dakota who now lives in Washington state; and Nemecio Reyes, a Bri Bri from Costa Rica who is carrying the bag native to his people. The team was accompanied on its visit to Mexico by Counsellor Carmen de Burafato.
The Totonac villagers, at first shy and reserved, gradually warmed up to their visitors, approached the Bahá’ís and took seats on the grass around them. At the close of the presentation, the villagers were invited to take part in a “friendship dance” with the Bahá’ís. About 15 of them joined hands and moved slowly in a circle to the beat of a Totonac drum over a public address system.
Afterward, Counsellor Carmen de Burafato, who accompanied the Trail of Light team, addressed the group, giving special attention to the children as she told them they have a great responsibility to be attentive in school and to work hard, for the betterment of themselves and their families and of mankind as a whole.
United States[edit]
Persecutions New Yorker magazine topic[edit]
This article about the persecution of Bahá’ís in Iran appeared in “The Talk of the Town” section in the February 4, 1985, issue of The New Yorker magazine.
The Bahá’ís of Iran—an indigenous, industrious religious group numbering about three hundred thousand—are in extremely serious trouble, both as individuals and as a whole. The cause of their difficulties in Ayatollah Khomeini’s Islamic Republic of Iran is essentially their singular religion, which is a nineteenth-century heretical offshoot of Shiite Islam, the traditional majority faith in the country. Proclaiming the oneness of all religions, the oneness of God, and the oneness of mankind, the Bahá’ís’ founder, a Persian nobleman known as Bahá’u’lláh, preached equality of the sexes, racial harmony, and universal education, among other tenets abominable to the Persian establishment. For such preachings, he was imprisoned, tortured, and then exiled until his death, in 1892. Ever since the religion was founded, the history of the Iranian Bahá’ís has been one of sporadic persecution, and now, under the rule of Ayatollah Khomeini, they are in peril of collectively following an even worse fate than their founder’s. What it all adds up to is, pure and simple, the world’s foremost contemporary example of the genocide of a noncombatant people.
Consider these offenses against the Bahá’ís:
The lingering prejudice against them in Iran has become institutionalized. As that nation’s largest non-Islamic minority, they have been virtually outlawed—deprived of whatever rights and liberties are still available under the Khomeini regime. Merely being a member of the Bahá’í community is now, in effect, a crime. Bahá’í property
| Reprinted by permission: © 1985 The New Yorker Magazine Inc. |
has been confiscated. The young are denied education in state-run schools. The adults are prohibited from performing meaningful labor. And, because Bahá’í marriages are not recognized, Bahá’í wives are classified as “prostitutes” and the children are labeled “bastards.”
The Bahá’ís are summarily accused of being agents of the enemies of the Islamic Republic of Iran; namely, Americans, Zionists, loyalists of the late Shah, Iraqis, Communists—indeed, anyone who differs with the Ayatollah. The fact that the Bahá’í World Centre is in Haifa, Israel—where it has been ever since Haifa was part of the Ottoman Empire—is proof positive, in the eyes of the ruling mullahs, of a Bahá’í-Zionist conspiracy.
Bahá’í shrines and religious sites are often taken over for other purposes or are desecrated and destroyed.
To divert attention from Iran’s economic miseries and the unending war with Iraq, the mullahs have incited Shiite mobs to loot, terrorize, beat, and sometimes kill Bahá’ís in well-organized pogroms.
Many Bahá’ís physically and financially able to flee the country have done so, leaving their possessions and their relatives behind.
And lastly, with a design not seen in four decades, the Iranian government has set about erasing the Bahá’ís and their culture from the land. Recently, wholesale arrests and imprisonment of Bahá’ís have led to torture and to execution, by firing squad and hanging. The torture, under the guise of interrogation to uncover anti-Iranian activities and the names of other Bahá’ís, involves such devices as the bastinado, the rack, the rubber hose, and psychological torment. In the case of female prisoners, the Shiite guards carefully cover the victim’s body with a chador as they whip her, so that they will not have to view a woman’s bare flesh—a sight that is anathema to a good Shiite man. The only aspect of this eradication of a people which remains to be carried out is a more efficient, mechanized method of extermination.
If all this is reminiscent of another people at another time in another country by the hand of another despot, one should not be surprised. The world is notorious for blithely forgetting even the recent past. Just before invading Poland, in 1939, Adolf Hitler is reported to have told his associates that since public opinion soon ignored the genocidal slaughter of the Armenians by the Turks during the First World War the same public would ignore the obliteration of other peoples by the Germans during the coming war. Today, international bodies and individual governments routinely deplore the Bahá’ís’ plight with puny appeals and redundant calls for further inquiries, and news of recent Bahá’í executions continues to consist of two-inch items on back pages of the world press.
What will be done? Possibly nothing. What can be done? Something can always be done. Genocide—defined as the intentional destruction of any national, ethnic, racial, or religious group, in whole or in part—was declared an international crime by a United Nations convention in 1948. The edict has been ratified by 96 countries—including Iran (which was a signatory in 1956)—but not by the United States, the one nation that could perhaps put some teeth into it. The Senate’s 36-year refusal to approve the genocide convention, despite even the flagrant reminder of its importance in present-day Iran, has in recent years been the obstructionist work of Jesse Helms, the newly re-elected God-fearing senator from North Carolina. But, Helms or no Helms, the Senate could act. Even a first, small step, like ratifying the convention, would be something.
Philippines[edit]
A teaching trip to the island of Panay[edit]
Auxiliary Board member Willi Remollo of Tacloban, Leyte, was accompanied by several Bahá’í youth of Tacloban last November on a visit to Iloilo on the island of Panay. The events of the trip and some of its results in the important province of more than a million inhabitants are told in a report to Dr. John Fozdar, a member of the Continental Board of Counsellors in Asia, dated December 10, 1984:
“By land and sea we arrived in Iloilo safely, though our trip from Tacloban to Cebu (an island lying between Leyte and Panay) was threatened by big waves, for a typhoon caught us in the open sea, which almost brought the small and very old ship M.V. Evelyn to sinking. Through the aid of the Ancient Beauty, we passed through the turbulent weather and took refuge for 10 hours in Biliran Island. But because we had decided to proceed to Iloilo without minding seeming barriers, the Blessed Beauty got us there safely though nauseated and wobbly. Anyway, such a difficulty will pale in comparison with Bahá’u’lláh’s tribulations and sufferings ....
“... At the moment of writing (two youth) are still in Iloilo helping the Spiritual Assembly and the Area Teaching Committee of Panay, Capiz and Antique to fill their goals, especially the enrollment of the youth in the various colleges and universities so that there will be more manpower and young blood to serve our beloved Cause ... On December 5 they had firesides, radio broadcasts and meetings with students in the University of Iloilo, University of the Philippines in the Visayas and leaders of Kabataang Barangay.
“My visit to Iloilo was quite fruitful .... On November 26, Radio Budyong gave us one hour and forty-five minutes to talk on the air about the Bahá’í Faith on the morning program ‘Ini An Kamatuoran’ (This Is the
‘... At the moment of writing (two youth) are still in Iloilo helping the Spiritual Assembly and the Area Teaching Committee of Panay, Capiz and Antique to fill their goals, especially the enrollment of youth in the various colleges and universities ...’
Truth) ... interviewed by the followers of the many sects of the Christian religion present inside the radio studio, after we had been given 15 minutes to talk about the Bahá’í message, history, Founder, teachings and principles and the Faith’s relation to other previous religions.
“We were only supposed to talk about the Faith for 15 minutes, but because the Blessed Beauty opened the doors for teaching, the debate between the ... (two churches) scheduled that morning was put off to the following day, November 27, because the Baptist minister must have felt awkward to argue ... while the Bahá’ís present in their midst called each believer in the one true God to religious unity. So 15 minutes became one hour and forty-five minutes. More questions were asked of us from both the audience in the studio and listeners in their homes.
“Firouz, Stephen, Rey and I made the first step of opening the doors of the Faith to the faculty and students of the University of the Philippines in the Visayas by getting the support of the chairman of the Student Council and the director of the Office of Student Affairs for a convocation with the students and teachers and a radio talk informing them what the Bahá’í Faith is all about .... We also went to the different local papers for them to publish a press release about the Bahá’í teachers visiting Iloilo. In one instance, we had a 25-minute interview with one of the journalists while we waited for the person in charge of press releases. This journalist’s impression of the Faith was quite positive .... All four local papers we went to accepted the news for printing.”
In Tacloban, Mr. Remollo continues, the personnel of the local radio station, DYVL, promised that any Bahá’í visitors, national or foreign, would always be welcome for an interview by the station. He reports that the visit to Tacloban by Dr. Fozdar was inspirational and has kept the Bahá’ís there winning victory after victory for the Faith.
On the Philippines’ specific goal of teaching the Chinese, he says: “Cecilia and Eng’s visit was fruitful. More and more Chinese now know the Faith. Many students in the University of the Philippines in Tacloban too heard about the Faith through them, especially the freshmen because they gave lectures to some of the classes. We hope to maintain our friendship and contacts with the Chinese ... to be in touch with them always.”
Austria[edit]
Two hundred people including 110 youth and visitors from four countries attended the Austrian Bahá’í Winter School last December 25-January 1 at Harbach.
Participating were members of the National Spiritual Assembly of Austria and members of the Auxiliary Board.
Using the theme “International Youth Year,” the school program included opportunities to consult on the nature of future society.
In a message to the World Centre, the National Youth Committee of Austria indicated that the school session “... will initiate wide participation of youth in their work for tasks set out, also in field development, and will open new possibilities for them to serve His Cause ...”
Marshall Islands[edit]
A pioneer returns home to Lae Atoll[edit]
In September 1984, after seven years, I returned home: home to one of the smallest places in the world; home to a village of 200 people; home to the sparkling coconut fronds under the moonlight; home to the wonderful, majestic breadfruit trees with their bold, sun-reflecting leaves; home to the calm lagoon; home to an atoll consisting of 17 islets with a total land area of less than half a square mile; home to the cool ocean breezes and warm afternoon sun; and, finally, home to my large extended “family” who originally welcomed me into their households in 1969. But this time I was returning as a Bahá’í! How wonderful this was, and how fortunate I was to be able to return.
As the plane descended and for the first time I saw Lae Atoll (Marshall Islands) from the air, instead of from a ship, I wondered what the next two to three weeks would bring, how things had changed, and how life in general was for everyone on the atoll. From the air, it looked like a small, irregularly shaped bracelet—a much different shape than I had ever pictured in my mind—and the combination of vast ocean, coral reef and sandy, porous pieces of land with abundant vegetation again caught my interest, for atolls are wonders to behold and never cease to intrigue one with their interworkings of natural elements, their great vulnerability to the ocean, and their ability to support many
| This personal account of teaching on Lae Atoll in the Marshall Islands was written by Carol Curtis who returned to Lae early in 1984 after an absence of seven years, this time as a Bahá’í. Ms. Curtis was a Peace Corps member in 1969-71 when she first came to Lae Atoll as an elementary school teacher. In 1975 she returned for a three-month visit that “extended into three years” before returning to the United States. |
kinds of life.
As I left the plane and greeted many people as they slowly began to recognize me, the biggest change was immediately obvious—the airplane and small airstrip which had come into service in 1983. Before, all travel had been on the field trip ships that take anywhere from five days to 3-4 weeks to reach Lae, depending on the route. These ships arrive every 3-4 months and remain the basic means of transportation because the planes are continually breaking down and are quite expensive.
As the first few days passed, I visited everyone on the island, explored the land to see the effects of two typhoons and a two-year drought that had occurred during my absence, walked on the reef at low tide (my favorite time) and began slowly to teach the people about the Bahá’í Faith. There had been Bahá’ís living on Lae before, but none were there when I came and no one on Lae had ever become a Bahá’í.
The Marshall Islanders are generally conservative Protestant Christians with a few hundred Catholics, and in the last 10 years several other Christian sects have come seeking converts. The idea of Manifestations other than Jesus and religions other than Christianity is new and strange to them, but the people on Lae were more than willing to listen to what I had to say, and many had questions and great curiosity and interest since they had been hearing the word “Bahá’í” on the radio for the past several years.
“Mama,” to whom I had sent Bahá’í booklets several months before with prayers and The Hidden Words translated into Marshallese, immediately told me how beautiful the prayers and writings were, and said she realized from Bahá’u’lláh’s writings that He certainly was Someone wonderful even if she couldn’t quite accept Him yet as a new Messenger from God. This from a woman who has been a deacon and elder in the Protestant Church since she was a young woman and has never had any contact with other religions.
I spent time teaching one of my friends who had finished college in the U.S. and had lived with me for a time in 1981 on the Navajo Reservation where several people had begun slowly to teach him about Bahá’u’lláh.
But for me the most surprising and wonderful revelation came from my 16-year-old friend, Helti, whom I have known since she was one and one-half years old. Her first child (a girl) was born less than two weeks before I arrived, and although her husband was temporarily away from the island, she was so happy, fresh and open that everyone felt good just to be around her—especially me.
As I began to tell her about Bahá’u’lláh she was confused, full of questions, but quite curious. The second time we talked I explained the enrollment card to her, and she turned to Navy (her mother-in-law) and asked if she were going to sign. I was so surprised I asked Helti what she wanted to do, and she replied that she wanted to sign the card. It wasn’t her decision to sign that amazed me as much as it was her joyousness, courage, conviction, willingness to be first, lack of hesitation, and the great light of beauty that shone from her eyes as she made that decision! All this from a 16-year-old girl who has lived all her life on an isolated atoll in the Pacific, grown up in a conservative Christian-Marshallese traditional village with almost no contact with the outside world—but the truth and power of Bahá’u’lláh’s teachings reached her heart, and she was open to receive them. As Helti signed her card, Navy made her decision to sign too.
I write so glowingly about Helti be-
[Page 11]
cause the experience serves to remind
me how wonderful it is to be able to
teach the Faith. It is such a beautiful
experience. I’ll never forget Helti’s radiant face!
As the next three weeks went by, everyone on the island was busy preserving breadfruit, for it was breadfruit season. Preserved breadfruit is made by peeling the skins, cutting the breadfruit into pieces, soaking them in ocean water, laying them on the ground on coconut fronds for two days to drain, and finally, burying them in leaf-lined pits. The breadfruit can keep indefinitely this way if the leaves lining the pits are replaced every few weeks.
When the breadfruit season ends, bwiro (the preserved breadfruit) becomes the islanders’ staple food, so it is vitally important to preserve as much as possible. For many years now I’ve realized that no one could possibly live on atolls if it were not for the hardy coconut, breadfruit and pandanus trees. These trees are quite amazing: the coconut tree for its versatility of use; the breadfruit for its abundance of food; pandanus for its long, slender, strong leaves used for weaving mats, thatch for houses, clothing and other products, and its fruit; and all of them for their ability to grow in sandy-poor soil and their great resistance to brackish water, salt spray and winds. The other essential element is the ocean which, in times of no land food, can sustain life with its abundance of fish and other kinds of sea animals.
The nights have always been my favorite times on Lae. It is slightly cooler, and the sky is brilliant with what seem to be millions and millions of stars and a moon that seems to be as much a part of everyday life as the sun. One night everyone at our house wanted to hear songs, so I taught a few Bahá’í songs, but mostly they seemed to be fascinated by the words “Alláh-’u’Abhá” and “Ya Bahá’u’l-Abhá,” repeating them over and over again.
Often in the evening I would visit with another friend and her family, and we would talk about the persecutions in Iran and the meaning of life. The people were appalled by the happenings in Iran. Such torture, violence and injustice is simply inconceivable to a Marshallese.
Some of the other changes I noticed during my brief stay were the two stores, whereas before there were none; more sickness (or so it seemed), possibly brought on by more movement of people as a result of the planes; changes in lifestyle; a new generation that has grown up since I was last there and seems much more confused about life than the young people of 15 years ago; political divisions where none existed before, because politics is so new to the Marshalls; and much less influence, regular attendance and acceptance of the authority of the local church. The people on Lae Atoll are searching, especially the younger ones, as much as people in New York City or New Delhi or anywhere else on earth. And of course, this is where the exquisite words of Bahá’u’lláh can help us understand what life is about and lead us to a more spiritual way of life.
As my time to leave grew closer, six more people became Bahá’ís including the friend I mentioned before who had been with me in the U.S. and his wife. We held a short Feast, said prayers together one Sunday morning, and continued to deepen in the evenings. Navy continually told me that she was serious and sincere about her decision to become a Bahá’í and was happy to have learned about Bahá’u’lláh and His teachings, even if other people didn’t understand her decision and conviction. She has always impressed me as a strong, hard-working, capable woman with great interest in anything about the world and life; her statements meant a lot to me and made me happy for Lae to have someone like her.
While I was on the atoll a young boy became quite ill and I would go to his home to say prayers for him, in English, because the long healing prayer and others haven’t yet been translated into Marshallese. His grandmother, who understands no English, said she always felt better after I had read a prayer. One evening I was told that Jack, the young sick boy, had asked for me that afternoon and wanted me to come each morning and evening because, he said, he too felt better every time the prayers were read.
Meanwhile, the airplane broke down in Majuro so flights were canceled, but because there were sick people who needed to be evacuated from Lae and Ujae (an atoll about 30 miles away) a field trip boat was re-routed to pick them up. I needed to return to Majuro (I was already one week late for work), so I decided to leave on the boat. So once again I was saying goodbye to everyone on Lae, not really wanting to go, completely overwhelmed as before by its beauty and serenity, but ever so happy for having been able to return for three short weeks and for knowing that the words of Bahá’u’lláh had touched a few hearts on Lae and that I would return again whenever I could.
As the boat started up and prepared to leave the lagoon, and the ocean gently rocked us, I stood on the top deck, in the rain, staring at the atoll and saying the Tablet of Ahmad as deeply and sincerely as I could for the people of Lae and the rest of the world.
The world[edit]
Ontario’s Gahendena Center is opened[edit]
| Uganda
DEEPLY GRIEVED PASSING DEVOTED MAIDSERVANT GOD, KNIGHT BAHÁ’U’LLÁH, CLAIRE GUNG. HER DISTINGUISHED RECORD SERVICES HOLY CAUSE AS FIRST PIONEER LEAVE HER HOME COMMUNITY SIGNALIZING INAUGURATION AFRICAN CAMPAIGN IN RESPONSE BELOVED GUARDIAN’S CALL, WON HER ACCOLADE MOTHER OF AFRICA. HER NOTABLE ACHIEVEMENTS IN PIONEER FIELDS IN UNITED KINGDOM, TANZANIA, KENYA, ZIMBABWE, MALAWI AND UGANDA DESERVE HIGH PRAISE, PARTICULARLY HER CONTRIBUTIONS TO EDUCATION CHILDREN IN SPIRITUAL HEART AFRICA. PRAYING HOLY SHRINES PROGRESS HER NOBLE SOUL ABHÁ KINGDOM. MAY VALIANT SOULS ARISE FROM AFRICA’S FERTILE SOIL FOLLOW IN HER FOOTSTEPS. Universal House of Justice
February 10, 1985 |
The Gahendena Bahá’í Center on the Six Nations Reserve in Ontario, Canada, was officially opened last October 13, and plans are being discussed for several areas of development at the Center and its surrounding 100 acres of farmland, woods and orchards.
The Gahendena Project began when the land and buildings, which include a house, a barn and sheds, became available to the Spiritual Assembly of Six Nations. Gahendena is a Mohawk Indian name that translates as “keeper of the commons.” It is the Indian name of the donor of the property.
Objectives of the project include preserving Native culture, promoting traditional Iroquois agricultural lifestyles, integrating Native spiritual values into the process of consultation, and mass conversion of the people of Six Nations.
The barn is being renovated to serve as a meeting place, and it has already housed children’s classes and two Native Council meetings. A children’s garden project at the Center provides weekly Bahá’í education for 13 children from three communities.
Bahá’ís in the area have been offered firewood and maple syrup from the Center, and there is a plan to develop these products on a commercial basis.
A community vegetable garden has supplied the needs of believers on the Reserve and other Native friends. Some land has been cleared and two fields plowed for future large-scale agricultural efforts.
The National Spiritual Assembly of Canada and some nearby Assemblies have contributed financially to the development of the Gahendena Center.
Proposals for the future include the cultivation of existing orchards and planting of new trees, and the creation of a tutorial school and a crafts and hobbies center.
Thailand[edit]
This photograph was taken during one of the sessions of a Joint Youth Camp held last December 7-10 in Songkhla, Thailand, and attended by 63 young Bahá’ís from Thailand and Malaysia. The camp, which was opened with a Unity Feast expressed in music, included sessions on public speaking and drama as a means of teaching the Faith. Other activities were workshop sessions, a public meeting to observe Human Rights Day, games, and songs around a campfire.
Kenya[edit]
Participants in a Bahá’í National Youth Conference held last December in Nakuru, Rift Valley Province, Kenya, are pictured in front of the Nakuru Bahá’í Center, a complex that was expanded in 1984 to include a 100-bed dormitory.
Marshall Islands[edit]
Seventy Bahá’ís from 19 communities attended the eighth National Teaching Conference last December 24-29 at the Bahá’í National Center in Majuro, Marshall Islands.
Speakers included Fred Pedro, chairman of the National Spiritual Assembly, and Auxiliary Board member Betra Majmeto.
Presentations were made on the history of the Faith, the role of Bahá’í youth, Bahá’í laws, consultation, living a Bahá’í life, goals of the Seven Year Plan, and the Bahá’í Faith and the Bible.
Plans were announced for a National Bahá’í Women’s Conference to be held June 23-29 in Ebeye, Kwajalein Atoll.
The National Spiritual Assembly of the Marshall Islands announced goals of forming 30 local Spiritual Assemblies by Riḍván 1985 and of becoming financially self-supporting by Riḍván 1986.
On the final evening of the conference, the friends enjoyed a large potluck dinner to which the public was invited. Entertainment included performances of traditional Marshallese dances and songs.
Hawaii[edit]
Frank Fasi (second from left), the mayor of Honolulu, Hawaii, displays a proclamation marking January 20 as World Religion Day in Honolulu. With Mayor Fasi are members of the Bahá’í community of Honolulu (left to right) Lillian Chou, Samieh Labib-Wood (holding her daughter, Samira), and Paul Sjoquist.
Tony Pelle, the public information officer for the National Spiritual Assembly of the Hawaiian Islands, has been named a member of the Governor’s Task Force for International Youth Year.
Mr. Pelle is chairman of the task force’s Organizations Committee.
Dominican Republic[edit]
More than 90 people attended the National Bahá’í School of the Dominican Republic last December 23-30 in Licey Al Medio.
It was that country’s best-attended Bahá’í school ever, and had as its theme “Changing Your Life for Bahá’u’lláh.”
One of the activities was a marathon race in which each runner had a sponsor who contributed an amount of money to the Bahá’í Fund based on the runner’s performance. One of the most successful fund-raisers was a 13-year-old boy who ran 13 laps around the marathon course.
Twelve hours of continuous prayer for the friends in Iran was offered simultaneously in both the men’s and women’s dormitories during the school session.
Following the close of the school, two teaching teams traveled to the towns of Moca and Dajabón where a total of more than 30 people became Bahá’ís.
By the time the teams left Dajabón, Bahá’í children’s classes and a youth group had been established. One of the youth group’s first activities was to visit the local jail and teach the Faith to the prisoners.
People from all areas of the Dominican Republic attended a Bahá’í National Teaching Conference last November 10-11 in the town of Bani.
In classes, participants analyzed the role of the individual in the local and national communities in conformity with the over-all conference theme, “Your Role in the Divine Plan.”
The program included a Unity Feast that was open to the public.
Sikkim[edit]
Top photo: Students are shown in a class at the Bahá’í Primary School in Singtam, Sikkim, which has already earned high esteem among the residents of the Himalayan valley in which the school is located. Bottom photo: An exterior view of the Bahá’í Primary School in Singtam. The four-classroom school, which started in 1984 with 66 students, soon will be expanded to double its present size. When four additional classrooms are added, it will be able to accommodate 100 more children.
Guatemala[edit]
Seventeen Auxiliary Board members from Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Belize and Nicaragua along with Counsellors Hidáyatu’lláh Ahmadíyyih, Carmen de Burafato and Artemus Lamb attended an annual institute for Auxiliary Board members and their liaison Counsellors held last November 10-12 in Guatemala City, Guatemala.
Topics for consultation included Bahá’í scholarship, deepening in the Cause, reverence, and social and economic development activities.
Before the close of the conference, each of the Auxiliary Board members had a chance to consult with his or her liaison Counsellor about their respective country’s remaining goals of the Seven Year Plan.
About 100 people attended a public meeting held on the first evening of the institute at Guatemala City’s Sheraton Hotel.
The speakers at that meeting were Counsellors Ahmadíyyih and de Burafato who discussed progressive revelation and the importance of unity in today’s world.
Pakistan[edit]
More than 325 non-Bahá’ís attended United Nations Day observances last October 24 in six cities in Pakistan.
One hundred seventy-five people including 75 non-Bahá’ís were present for a public meeting at the Bahá’í National Center in Karachi. Among the speakers was a UN representative in Karachi.
The meeting was held on the final day of a week-long exhibit of books and posters at the Karachi Bahá’í Center.
Professors, assistant professors and journalists spoke at the UN Day observance in Nawabshah which was attended by about 150 people.
The event, which included a special program for children, was reported in the local newspapers.
The Greens Hotel in Peshawar was the site of what was described as one of the most successful Bahá’í public meetings ever held in that city.
The observance was planned by the Peshawar Bahá’í Youth Committee in cooperation with the local Teaching Committee.
The speakers included Counsellor Sábir Áfáqí and the chairman of the English department at Islamia College who is a well-known Urdu poet.
The Bahá’í Center was decorated with banners and posters from the local UN office and with posters made by the Bahá’í youth who also sang Bahá’í songs during the program.
For the first time, a Bahá’í-sponsored program was mentioned in a local television report, and the observance also was described in local newspapers.
In Quetta, 158 people including 58 non-Bahá’ís attended the UN Day program sponsored by the Spiritual Assembly of Quetta and held at the Quetta Bahá’í Center.
Among the speakers were a Bahá’í and a health and communications adviser to UNICEF.
More than 100 of some 150 people who attended the UN Day program in Hyderabad were non-Bahá’ís.
One of the guest speakers was M.H. Kata, secretary of the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education in Hyderabad.
Bahá’í youth provided entertainment and a display of books and posters. The Bahá’í-sponsored event was publicized on radio and in newspapers.
About 20 people attended the program in Mirpurkhas where the Bahá’í speakers discussed UN efforts toward world peace and the Bahá’í contributions toward UN social and economic activities.
Youth sang songs about unity, and prayers were recited for world peace and the success of the United Nations.
United Nations representative Mr. Levanchy (at podium) addresses a well-attended public meeting held last October 24 at the Bahá’í National Center in Karachi, Pakistan, to commemorate the 39th anniversary of the founding of the United Nations.
Dr. Sábir Áfáqí, a member of the Continental Board of Counsellors for Asia,
discusses the role of the United Nations
in ensuring international peace and the
unity of mankind during a UN Day observance last October 24 in Peshawar,
Pakistan. The event was planned by
the Bahá’í Youth Committee of Peshawar in cooperation with that community’s local Teaching Committee.
The Bahá’í community of Hyderabad began a small social service project when the Spiritual Assembly’s Women’s Committee decided to provide treats to students at a government school for handicapped and retarded children.
This led to a request from school officials that the Bahá’ís also provide volunteer workers at the school.
Later, at a meeting last September between the school staff and six Bahá’í volunteers, the person in charge of special education at the school thanked the volunteers, saying, “This is the first time we have been supported by Hyderabad, and I am sure many will follow.”
Panama[edit]
Good publicity in newspapers and on radio was received for a United Nations Day observance last October 22 that was sponsored by the Spiritual Assembly of Panama City, Panama.
The guest speaker was the director of information for Central America from the UN office in Panama.
Argentina[edit]
An estimated 20,000 people became aware of the Faith, and its relations with local and national authorities in Argentina were strengthened as the result of a three-day proclamation campaign last October in Buenos Aires.
The campaign was organized by the Cultural Committee of the Spiritual Assembly of Buenos Aires, working with local United Nations offices, the Organization of American States (OAS), and UNESCO.
The campaign, which was titled “Encuentro Americano” (American Encounter), began on Columbus Day, October 12. Its emphasis was on furthering the arts for young artists, evaluating relationships between city children and their indigenous counterparts in villages, and comparisons of family groups among peoples of the United Nations.
Prizes were given to the young artists, and there were simultaneous productions of theatrical and musical performances during the program.
Nearly 100 Bahá’ís from five communities worked throughout the event to assure its success. Local officials and personalities also participated, resulting in excellent press and television coverage.
The Fundacion Escorial, a private foundation directed by Bahá’ís, was a major contributor to the preparation and execution of the three-day campaign.
Bahá’í literature is displayed on a table during ‘American Encounter,’ a three-day proclamation program held last October in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The panel behind the table proclaims the message, ‘One World, One Humanity.’
Portugal[edit]
Shown are many of the more than 50 participants in a National Bahá’í Summer School held last August in Coimbra, Portugal. The guest speaker was Betty Reed, a member of the Continental Board of Counsellors for Europe (standing in center directly behind the young girl holding a photograph of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá).
Sierra Leone[edit]
Sierra Leone, one of nine African countries chosen for special Bahá’í teaching projects, recently began its campaign with a Teacher Training Institute in the village of Yikander, in the Pujehun district.
Eleven Bahá’ís took part in the institute, which marks the start of an intensive year-long teaching campaign named in memory of the Hand of the Cause of God Enoch Olinga.
During the institute, a new Bahá’í tutorial school was dedicated in that same village. It includes two classrooms and a large compound for recreation and future agricultural plots surrounded by a fence constructed from local materials by two nearby communities.
On the last day of the institute, the five full-time teachers and their assistants were each given a photograph of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, and specific goals for the five districts to be covered were reviewed.
Cook Islands[edit]
Sir Thomas Davis, prime minister of the Cook Islands, sent a letter last September 10 to the prime minister of Iran protesting the unjust treatment of Bahá’ís in Iran.
In his letter, Mr. Davis said that no civilized country can condone the persecution of a defenseless minority solely on the basis of its religious beliefs.
“Treatment of the Bahá’ís in Iran,” he wrote, “has tarnished the reputation of the great religion of Islam throughout the world, and is far from the principle of tolerance for other believers in God established by Muhammad and enshrined in the Koran.
“I therefore appeal to you and your government,” he concluded, “to take the necessary steps to protect the Bahá’ís from further unjust persecution and to restore their basic human rights.”
Tonga[edit]
The Hand of the Cause of God Amatu’l-Bahá Rúḥíyyih Khánum had an audience with His Majesty King Taufa’ahau Topou IV of Tonga during her four-day visit to that country last fall.
She also met several times with the Bahá’ís including those who live in outlying communities, and was present at the dedication of a new teaching institute.
The Hand of the Cause met as well with members of the National Spiritual Assembly of Tonga and with Bahá’í youth.
During her stay in Tonga, Amatu’l-Bahá Rúḥíyyih Khánum was interviewed by reporters for a prime time radio news program.
St. Lucia[edit]
Three Bahá’í youth from the United States recently visited many communities in St. Lucia where they helped with the formation of new Bahá’í youth clubs.
Sheila Afnan, Penny Lillejord and Karen Larson spent two months encouraging the young Bahá’ís to increase their activities in a way that will attract the interest of their non-Bahá’í friends, as well as deepen their own knowledge of the Faith.
Trinidad/Tobago[edit]
Shown are participants in the Trinidad Bahá’í School held last August 23-26 at the Persto Paraesto Youth Camp in Freeport, Central Trinidad.
Despite short notice, seven Bahá’ís from four communities in Trinidad and Tobago participated in an ecumenical service planned by an interreligious organization and held on Republic Day at the Sangre Grande Civic Center.
Later, the Faith was represented by a member of the National Spiritual Assembly of Trinidad and Tobago and a Bahá’í youth during a discussion at the Ministry of Youth and Social Affairs of activities to be carried out for UN International Youth Year.
Virgin Islands[edit]
During a recent engagement in St. Croix and St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, renowned jazz trumpeter John Birks (Dizzy) Gillespie, who is a Bahá’í from the United States, took time to meet with Bahá’ís and their guests on both islands.
In an impromptu interview with a radio reporter and free-lance journalist, Mr. Gillespie told how he became a Bahá’í in 1968. The interview was broadcast following the evening news program.
When asked what advice he would give to people who are interested in the Faith, Mr. Gillespie replied that the Faith should be judged not by one’s impression of the Bahá’ís he meets but by turning to the revealed word of Bahá’u’lláh.
Children’s classes that are open to the public, classes on family life and self-transformation, and service-providing youth groups are among the social and economic development projects now under way in the Virgin Islands.
The National Spiritual Assembly has been using the Bahá’í National Center as a place from which to distribute food for poor and elderly citizens and as a meeting place for weekly creative expression gatherings such as poetry readings.
Fund drives for foster care, tutoring and panel discussions on social issues are examples of other projects in which the Bahá’ís are involved.
The friends in the Virgin Islands have also been participating in meetings to plan a new alcohol and drug rehabilitation center location.
United Kingdom[edit]
In England, the Faith has been asked to send representatives to a select group of religious leaders in the Jerusalem Chamber, Westminster Abbey, and to a one-day conference in the Jubilee Chamber, Palace of Westminster, that was organized by the Parliamentary Group for World Government.
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