The news of Molavi Abdolhamid’s meeting with Dr. Hassan Rohani was one of the most delightful pieces of news from last week, simply because for years our Shia and Sunni compatriots have suffered from disunion and separation.
The geographical isolation of our Sunni compatriots has, over many years, led to their isolation from management and opportunities at the center, imposing on them conditions of poverty and inequality. The name Sistan and Baluchistan has become synonymous with poverty and lack of opportunity.
The Sistan and Baluchistan province ranks first in underdevelopment. Lacks of opportunities have driven its population to shadow jobs and markets, as well as drug smuggling. The various governments ruling Iran have not shown any enthusiasm in bringing industry and development to the region, and have not provided any plans to further economic, social or cultural programs to promote development in the region.
Shantytowns and ghettos have sprung up in villages and around the city of Zahedan, and lack of security means that few strangers ever visit such parts.
The absence of educated and expert figures from the province in various management roles in the country has become an ordinary event.
Molavi Abdolhamid comes from such a region; a region of people who have been suffering from terrorism, sever underemployment, underdevelopment, and various and persistent forms of discrimination.
Molavi Abdolhamid, the Sunni Friday prayer leader of Zahedan and head of the Dar al-Ulum religious school, is a moderate leader who has shown his commitment to civil means for pursuing the demands of the Baluchi population in Iran.
Molavi Abdolhamid has proven time and again that he formulates the demands of his people in a way that is consistent with the demands of the majority of Iranians. He has voiced time and again that his people’s demands are justice and equality.
In one of his Friday prayer sermons, Molavi Abdolhamid has said: “Tolerate us, and know that just as the Shias are a reality in Iran, the Sunnis are a reality too.”
Now it remains to be seen if the president-elect, who received 73% of the vote in Sistan and Baluchistan, is able to pursue a program to eradicate underdevelopment and discrimination in Sistan and Baluchistan. Will he be able to use this opportunity and reservoir of trust extended to him by the people of Sistan and Baluchistan to promote development, reduce discrimination, strengthen peace and security and preserve this social capital?
Molavi Abdolhamid is a credible and long-term peace partner. He is a moderate who has the ability to lead the Baluchi population through a civil path in pursuit of their demands, and in the process pose as a strong obstacle to extremism in the region. He is the most influential peace partner in Sistan and Baluchistan and the new administration can engage him in a positive dialogue in furtherance of national interests.
Roozonline