Sina Shakib family: Picture of mullahs’ persecution of Baha’I

Ali Ragab

Iran continues to violate human rights against the Baha’i community, as Baha’i student Sina Shakib at the Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science at the University of Isfahan was expelled from the college because of his Baha’i faith and forbidden from completing his education. Despite the fact that Baha’is are deprived of studying in universities, some of these citizens sometimes succeed in entering the university, but after a while they are prevented from continuing their studies under various pretexts and are expelled from the university.

According to a source close to the family, Shakib noticed that his card was locked on April 20, when he entered the educational system to participate in an online class. When he called the university’s education department, he was told that he had been expelled from the university and prevented from continuing his studies in secret documents sent by the Ministry of Selection, according to the Hrana News Agency for Human Rights.

According to the leaked documents, a decision by Iran’s Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution of March 26, 1990 denies Baha’is their university education and denies them permission to pursue their education, as the third paragraph of the decree explicitly states that Baha’is must be registered in universities and prevented from studying if their Baha’i identity is proven while studying.

The issue of denying Baha’is education dates back to the beginning of Iranian Revolution led by Ruhollah Khomeini in 1979. Over the past four decades, the hard-line Iranian authorities have made every effort to deprive Baha’is of this basic right. However, Article 30 of the Iranian constitution affirms that “the government is obligated to provide free education and training for the entire nation until the end of secondary school and educational facilities…free of charge.”

However, sometimes some of the Baha’i believers went to the university due to a wrong or unclear Bahá’í background, but after a while, their beliefs were uncovered and they were expelled from the university.

Other family members of Shakib were previously prevented from continuing their education in various ways, simply because of their belief in the Baha’i faith. His sister Sara Shakib, a former statistician at Kashan National University, was expelled from the university during a similar process in the first semester of entering the university in 2015. Samira Shakib, another sister, faced a flawed letter in the 1997 national entrance examination and was prevented from continuing her education. For years, the mother of this family was prevented from continuing her education at the university because she is Baha’i.

According to a decision issued by the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution, Baha’is are banned from university education in addition to being barred from holding public office.

Every year, there are numerous reports that Baha’i citizens are prevented from continuing their studies in Iranian universities. This includes even those who are about to graduate. Baha’i citizens have not been permitted to enter the university this year.

Statistics indicate that at least 15 of Baha’is have received a message stating that their case is “flawed”. This letter was issued due to the failure to fill out the religion section of the entrance examination application form. The application form for the entrance examination mentions names of religions other than Baha’i, but due to the lack of a name for their religion, Baha’i citizens refuse to fill out other options.

Depriving Iran’s Baha’i citizens of their religious freedom is a systematic persecution. According to Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, everyone has the right to freedom of religion and belief and the freedom to express it individually or collectively, in public or private settings.

According to unofficial sources, there are more than 300,000 Baha’is in Iran, but the Iranian constitution only recognizes Islam, Christianity, Judaism and Zoroastrianism, and does not recognize the Bahai faith. For this reason, Bahá’í rights in Iran have been systematically violated in recent years.