We are alos what we've lost

"We are also what we lost"
Where do we start telling our story? Start it from formation of a town may be Northern Iran prior to Arab or Mongol invasions. Bring to light history of resistance against Arab invaders. We've not come up with our version of what happened to our culture, to our psyche as a nation. Whoever writes that story must pay detailed attention to different anti invader freedom seeking movement against Arab and other invaders. There was early work by Sadegh Hedayat to write storied and plays like (maziar). we have to reconstruct a national identity a cultural identity we have to psycho analyze results of what happened to a nation collectively. A national identity out of this discourse which is not victor's version of who we are. We should begin by story of our own families maybe every one of us should begin there, find a voice within our close family,if not a close friend of family. We have to overcome years of dust dust of lies and misinterpretation and outright misleading distorted images drawn by invaders of who we are.
In more recent times we have to overthrow all the distractive propaganda dished out by our so called intellectuals Muslim or no Muslim left in distorting our national identity under guise of so-called proletarian internationalism or political Islam.
Some might argue on positive role of Marxist or pseudo Marxist intellectuals in Iran we should reexamine their practices and work from our main perspective of rebuilding national confidence and identity. Revolutionary or counter revolutionary left alike acted irresponsibly and according to a set prescribe agenda from Comintern or later dominating revisionist parties. Those intellectuals who left tudeh party in early fifties equally failed to achieve or even strive in this direction. Ale ahmad with his total embrace of anti democratic anti nationalist elements put his stamp of approval on historically proven enemies of constitutional revolution and mass movement struggling for emancipation from years of superstiotion, despotism and feudal dominated cultere and economy. We have to reexamine his "socio-feudal" thought and draw from secular and democratic traditions of constitutional revolution. Expose those who sided with the despotic monarch and colonial powers their treacherous activities must be brought in to daylight and be exposed for what it represented. What led intellectuals such as ale Ahmad to reach such conclusion? Was this just a back lash against pro British elements within constitutional revolution or was it just a lopsided caricature of Tudeh party and their bosses in Kremlin which led them to these preposterous positions? We can't sit here on this side of history and lament on what ifs we have to go deep, find roots of our problems. We can't blame our predecessors while we ourselves our carriers of the same disease. If they blindly followed Stalin and Cominform how different have we been in our intellectual attitudes tailing behind this or that international trend. Here we see no originality in either secular or religious circles. We adopt ideas copying this or that fashionable thinking. One prescription cure all or sanke oil approach to delicate particular problems. We easily accept Post Modern thought if one even remotely could pin point what that really is or how it would apyly to our particular conditions.
We are still ignoring our own cultural identity crisis.
Years ago a fried who had just come from France was all Foucault Drida… completely immersed in post modern colors and accent. He was from a small village near masjid soleiman I asked him, do you know people in your village still are wrangling with basic life necessities like drinkable water? They don't have access to any medical facility or are living in shacks? Should we really get lost in these fruitless arguments when as a nation we lag behind basic achievements of modern society.
On the other hand we have Islamists who criticize the nationalists like Malcolm as stooges of western liberalism and chastise them for copying the western thought meanwhile what remains a paradox is that where did they bring their religion from? How they betrayed our national interests and capitulated to British or later Russian colonial powers under guise of "saving Islam from infidels" in face of all historical evidence its amazing how intellectuals were silent or far worse supportive of treacherous role played by major figures such as sheikh Noori. Glorifying lackey of Russian colonialism as hero in anti colonial struggle by prominent intellectuals like ale Ahmad was beginning of an end for responsible intellectual intent.
Al Ahmad hatred of Tudeh party or his impatience for secular liberal inclined project led him to take a social feudal stand, one which we have yet to overcome. His downfall led to continuation of an eclectic path, mixing secular democratic agenda with most reactionary backward elements within democratic movement.
Very few intellectuals stood up to these predominant eclectics of sixties anti monarchist movement. Adding to this dilemma 25 years of despotic rule of U.S sponsored Pahlavi dictatorship. Facto of the matter remains secular project never came to fruition at best it was a mismatch of effort by individual intellectuals. Some genuinely committed in their effort like Hedayat, Kassravi, Dehkhoda and more recent work by mirfetroos.
We have to build on their tradition and move our nation out of the present quagmire of lies and deceit by islamists and their allies. In countries like Sudan, Iran, Pakistan where populace has had first hand taste of theocratic despotic. rule our secular democratic discourse will find many adherents, knowing full well that political Islam's project has hit the thick wall of reality and total bankruptcy of grand façade apparent to so many worldwide.