AU, the pomp and extra vaganza surrounding the lavish party thrown by Reza Shah Pahlavi known as Shahtnshah Iking of kings) and Aryamehr. (light of the Aryans) to mark the 2500th anniversary of the original Persian empire in 1971 could not mask the dangers, splits and tensions bursting at seams. It was a grand party that cost an estimated $300 million and saw an assemblage of nine kings, three ruling princes. 13 presidents. 10 Sheikhs and 2 Sultans. The posh Persian restaurant Maxim s catered the food Between the courses, to refresh the palate guests were served sorbet vieux cham pagne The Shah s Iranian subjects who for nearly 35 years lived in awe and sometimes fear of his edicts, ultimately broke into rebellion in 1979 in a dramatic uprising Shielded by sycophants, the Shah himself remained blissfully igno rant of the anger and silent revolution growing among his subjects.
What culminated in this fateful tragedy of a powerful king bustling with pomp and grandeur is a point that needs analysis and introspection by all concerned with the task of running the statecraft.
In the years following 1971. the Shah's megalomania grew more unrestrained and a kind of frenzied Insanity gripped the ruler of Iran. With the oil money filling the coffers of Iran and encouraged by Henry Kissinger and Richard Nixon, the Shah went on a wild arms-buying spree. More than $11
billion worth of the mosi sophisticated weapons In the American armory were pm cured to boost up the Shall s image as a ruler of unprecedented strength Sadly enough, all these weapons did nothing to mitigate the festering resentment of Iran's impoverished masses What it did. If anything. It reinforced the Shah s Isolation from his peo pie. Finally popular uprising which have been held at bay far several years by the SAVAK the Shah s torturous and hated secret police force spilled into the streets and It Is only a year after 1978 that I lie Shah was gone and his lav ishly equipped armorv handed ov> i to Imam Avatullah Kl|Hi>elni. the S1i.il> > arch-ri
Good sense prevailed in the Shah, The besieged ruler him self faced with rebellion and counseled by his advisers to marshal his military muscle, chose to flee rather than spill the blood of his people sticking to the fantasy that Iran would soon call him back But that never came about. Driven Into exile he took flight through one country after another: Egypt. Morocco, the Bahamas. Mexico, the United States. Panama and then back to Egypt seeking asylum and fighting cancer Most revealing
to all of us. the one time king of kings was forced to conceal his identity for tear that assassins might track him out and so In New York Hospital he became "David Newsome Outraged by such indignities, his friend and loyal to him till the last moment. Henry Kissinger complained that the Shah was being treated Tike a Flying Dutchman looking for a port of call Despite the fact that the Shah had so steadfastly contributed to the com fort and prowess of the mill lary. during his long years of rule they did not take time to write him off
Distancing himself from the lieopie and going ahead with t lie so-called reform and we) fare programme for the people. Nicolae Ceausescu, an other world-class dictator, of Romania invited his own gloom Ceausescu loved creal ing monuments to his rule. Many would tend to call him a megalomaniac inspired with an evil spirit that alienated him from the people. He was obsessed with the idea of raising Romania's population from 23 million to 30 million by the year 2000. The campaign started as early as in 1966 with a decree that codified severe punishment for the women-folk not abiding by the state law. At first Romania's
birth rate nearly doubled but poor nutrition and Inadequate pre natal care endangered many pregnant women Children were born Into a system that could not care lor them. The country's infant mortality rate soared to 83 deaths in every 1000 births. About one in 10 babies was born underweight. Newborn weighing less than 1500 gms were termed as miscarriages and denied treatment The cruellest command that he issued forbade abortion but it did nothing to promote life
On the other front, people were kept on a low ration of i.hkI stuffs overtly denying them nutritional facilities while stock piling of huge quantities of food and consumer goods for export People were denied the facilities of electricity to heat up their frigid apartments. People's anger burst Into flame and violent fighting erupted between the protesters and Ceausescu s fanatically loyal security forces known as securttate. By the time Ceausescu gave In. almost 7000 people were killed.
Ceausescu was captured and he and his wife faced trial in a summary military court that ended Its proceedings In Jusl two hours and handed down death sentence for the Ceausescus that was carried
>ui immediately by an overen lliiisiastic firing squad vying Io have the first chance
Historical parallels are. of course, never exact But striking similarities are emerging lietween the uprising In Iran Romania and lately In 1990. in Bangladesh when the students and other classes of people regardless of their political and Ideological affiliations, look to streets and ousted ex-President General Ershad. Ceausescu was thrown out of power in about just four days when his fanatically loyal seen rity forces armed wit h very sophisticated weapons like guns with lasers and night scopes fired on peaceful detnonstra tors. The protestors fought back setting off a cycle of violence that killed at least sev eral hundreds, Despite the fact that Ceausescu had a vast store of sophisticated arms and ammunition as well as communi cation network in a labyrinth beneath his stucco pink mansion. he never got the opportunity to make use of that.
, Reports have it that the electronic hardware Included a set of switches that would have enabled the dictator to detonate explosives placed at key locations around Bucharest Revolutions or uprisings of masses dating back from the French revolution in 1789
upu the present time do esn-taui some warnings that are appixaMe till t> day Mmws for example. that when any revolution overthrows a solidly entrenched despotism, at first all the regime's ewe mirs join hands in the strug-
WKHiarchM. nobles. a H«ng business class and a starving pruk-tsrial couilaned to oust a soy.d family And then the revolutionary ..Utes fell to compel in* anxui*. and eventually slaughtering one another Despite the differences in them and pace, upheavals and mass uprising in 1990 in Bangladesh reflected many of the characteristics of 1789 The upheavals in Bucharest and Bangladesh took place half a world apart but came together In history's dialectic. Without a shadow of doula Ilie toppling of Nicolae ' eauseacu. Manuel Noriega of Panama and Hossain Muha mmad Ershad of Bangladesh were triumphs of democratic values and this democracy in Bangladesh born out of so muchdblood-lettbig and hard sacrifices of al) classes of people shall have to be there despite all the bickerings and lends we have with each other.
But the grim reminder is: New hatreds have been etched in blood and this will kindle new violence. No wonder, ihe nation can ill afford to allow religious antagonism, ethnic tension, extremist movement to prop up so menacingly at ihe cost of national unity, cohesion and. above all. development so badly needed for the country.