Red Roots Collective Statement

This statement was read out by the Red Roots Collective at the Iran demonstration in Manchester yesterday 11 Feb 2023)

 

We are the voice of workers, oppressed and subaltern! We reflect the power of powerless people! But this reflection is not simply a voice. Within the of voice of voiceless people, a force is growing. A force which is carrying on the Zhina’s revolution. Our goal for this street action is collective self-organization of this revolutionary force.

We speak about two things: Our voice and our force. Our links and our Perspectives

We are linked to leftist and feminist collectives, that organize the voice of voiceless people, independent from the mainstream political oppositions.

We are linked to women, workers and activists inside Iran that are continuing their fight both inside and outside the prisons of Islamic Republic. Sooner or later, the walls of Islamic Republic prisons will fall.

We are linked to workers organizations and trade unions in our local areas. We are linked to more than 5 million workers that are on the strike in Britain. To more than 10 million workers on strike in France. To all the activists that do not consider democracy separate from Socialism and socialism separate from democracy. To all the activists that have progressive and emancipatory ideals.

We remember very well the revolutionary events of 1979 in Iran! Those who call this event “conspiracy” or “insurgence” are fearful to remember the power of powerless people in the early months of revolution in Iran. The revolutionary power of neighborhood resistance committees. Workers Shuras (councils). Women’s organizations. Students shuras. But we remember that 1979 event was a popular revolution. And we remember that how, from the very first weeks after the revolution, the Mullahs, by the leadership of Khomeini, began to repress, execute, torture and murder the revolutionary power. That is why in the commemoration of the revolution, we both celebrate the revolutionary power of people and condemn the repression of people by Islamic Republic.

The grand revolution of 1979 was against the tyranny of Pahlavi regime. We consider the tyranny of new dictatorship in the form of Political Islam as the defeat of that grand collective event. Although in this revolution the Pahlavi regime collapsed, but Iran’s society in its way toward political and social freedom, has encountered with a religious dictatorship which took power in collaboration with imperialist powers.

Islamic Republic is the embodiment of oppression and we are in an antagonistic battle with it. However, we know that this regime is not the only embodiment of oppression which we are fighting with. State terrorism, from Beijing and Moscow to London and Washington, is being done by all the capitalist states in this truly unjust world. We want all sanctions and foreign, military interventions to be stopped (specially in our region, middle east). But we know very well that this interventions would not stop until we defeat capitalist states and build a system based on democratic socialism.

Emancipation is possible, only by the hands of people. Our saviors are our friends and comrades who, hand in hand and shoulder by shoulder self-organize and struggle to negate oppression, fascism, and militarism as our red lines!

Now, after 5 months since the beginning of Jina uprising, the Islamic Republic prisons are overloaded. Islamic Republic is fearful that this situation will activate and politicize the prisons as one of the sites of struggle and resistance. So, with the excuse of national reconciliation Islamic regime wants to release many political prisoners. But there is no reconciliation with the murderer! We will not forget hundreds of people that have been killed by Islamic regime during Jina Revolution. We will not forget hundreds of people that have been killed in 2017 and 2019 uprisings.  

We know that western Imperialists have always funded and supported the most reactionary oppositions to manage the political changes in Iran, in line with their colonial objectives. This is the same route that has been passed in Iraq and Afghanistan. The same route that has been passed in Iran 1979 with Khomeini to restrict independent, feminist and leftist forces from managing the society. 

Western and Eastern imperialism will not change their behavior, because war, selling guns and developing military-industrial complex is an inseparable part of global capitalism.

But we, the people, learn to develop our struggles. We strongly stand against the residuals of Pahlavi regime, reactionary sect of Mojahedin, centralists and Fascists.

In the name of Woman, Life, Freedom

Which has brought together all the oppressed identities,

Revolution is our right

Women show the way to fight

Revolution is our right

Workers show the way to fight


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