The clergy's involvement (an aspect of the Iranian Revolution) Research Paper

The clergy's involvement (an aspect of the Iranian Revolution) - Research Paper Example Hence, according to our opinion how could this man provoke a revolution? The Revolution In 1978, the youngsters and the working class of Iran protested and challenged the Shah’s army SAVAK, the most hated and powerful army used for repression in the entire world. When the masses were on roads, many soldiers of this army threw their uniforms and weapons away fearing the retaliation from the people. The reasons for their fear were due to the fact that they have been involved in brutal acts against innocent people of Iran. (Stempel 110) Under the rule of the Shah, industrialization of the country took place which resulted in massive unemployment, which ultimately played an important role in the revolution. The movement led by the oil workers was very important. At the crucial moments, these workers did not move since they knew the importance of oil industry for Iran, hence leading to the end of the Shah’s regime. This was the first time in the history of 14 years that thou sands of Iranians dwelling in slum areas, protested against the Monarch. The movement was basically started by the labour working class and the less-privileged classes of the urban population opened the gate of the protests in July 1977. This also involved other sectors of the society like the traditional clergy and the intellectuals who were disturbed by the attitude of the foreign companies and the economic boom in the country. The largest recorded protest in the history took place with around 2 million people on September 7, 1978 in the city of Tehran. To these protests, the monarchist regime retaliated by killings of thousands of innocent protestors and imposing martial law in the country. This resulted in strikes by the working class. One of the massive strikes was of the 30,000 people from the working class of the oil industry, which affected the country’s economy to still. This was the opening up of another massive strike where the working class started taking over hos pitals, factories, universities and offices of the country. A committee of the democratic workers was organized and named as Shoras, their purpose was to either sidestep or confront the owners and the managers. The committees were also formed around local mosques consisting of the slum dwellers, which played an important role in assisting the clergy taking control of the movement. They also guarded their neighbourhoods from Shah’s army. The significant forces were People’s Mujahidin guerrillas, people’s Fedayeen and communist Tudeh party, who played a key role in mobilizing the urban revolts. In February, 1979, with the help of a rebellion from the Shah’s army, made it possible to pave the way for Ayatollah Khomeini along with clergy and liberal capitalist politicians for gaining control and seize power. Ayatollah Khomeini, who had just returned from the exile, successfully captured the leadership of the movement which was initiated by the labour class. H owever, Mroue (159) observed that there was no coordinated attacks on the capitalism system by the strike comittees. Also, to ntoe that there was not much coordination observed with the institutions of the civil society. This was the gap which was filled by the religious bodies, which held a previlidged status in the Iranian society whereas other forces were shattered. Role of Islamic Clergy in the Revolution Fading of the ancient traditions of life and the growth of capitalism introduced several reactions both within