Declaration of Socialist students of Polytechnic University in protesting the issuance of strong decrees against Students

Ahmad Ghasaban, Majid Tavakolli and Ehsan Mansoori, three students from the Polytechnic University, after tolerating 5 months of torture and prison, have been condemned to several years of prison for criticizing the government in the regime’s court of injustice. The strong decrees issued against critical students clearly show the government will to oppress the university as part of the society. The power of universities comes from the critics of students. The despotism always fears criticism. That’s why oppressing the universities has a special place in oppressing the society by the government. Issuance of long prison decrees for active students and oppressing the student’s movement is, no doubt, part of torture, prison and oppression for the Worker’s movement activists, women and teachers.

In such conditions, unity and united struggle of students and their insistence on a radical criticizing of the government and its bases of power, is an obvious necessity. These struggles can only be fruitful only with organizing students as an independent grouping. That’s the only way for the students not to be the puppets of power factions and the victim of their conflict; that’s the only way that they can, with capitalizing on their real power, make the government retreat in face of their demands. It is obvious that a group that in face of struggle for freedom and equality, let go of its principles and stances and, opportunistically (with the excuse of lessening the pressure of the government on university and for realizing the student’s demands) bases itself on the reformists inside the government and backs their interests, is by no means eligible to lead the radical student struggles. This is a truth that has already been proven several years in the recent years of student’s struggles.

Establishing severe strangulation in the society and unrelenting oppression of social liberties has everything to do with the regime’s situation in the international aspect and threats of the World Imperialism. There is no doubt that the question of war is one of the main crises facing us. The capitalist system, in order to realize its forceful interest, in continuation of capital-made wars, does consider attacking Iran and giving the power to a puppet government. The excuse of War with Iran, like the wars before, will be regime’s accesses to nuclear weapons, improving liberal democracy or fighting terrorism. What Iranian people have so called got from the conflict between the world capitalism and political Islam is increasing poverty and wide oppression. Surely war would give us nothing but damage, poverty and misery. In these conditions, opposing any kind of foreign intervention in determining the people’s destiny, exposing the real intentions of Imperialism in attacking the country, exposing the pro-war liberals while fighting the ruling reaction, are all definite duties of militant and aware students. In this way, student’s movement linkage to other liberation movements of the society like the worker’s movement, women’s movement and teacher’s movement is a obvious necessity. The only way for emancipation of the status quo, is awareness of masses of people and their intention to change the status quo and building a human society. And we, in the way to emancipation, have nothing to lose but our chains.

Long Live Freedom and Equality

Socialist students of Polytechnic University