After 4 decades, Sunnis still have an Accumulation of Unanswered Demands

During a meeting between members of the Sunni parliamentary fraction and the parliamentary vice president, Dr. Jalil Rahimi Jahanabadi criticized the failure of Iranian officials to meet the demands of Iran’s Sunnis during the past four decades since the Islamic Revolution in Iran took place and warned of dangerous consequences of such failures.
He told the Iranian vice-president: “After 43 years of expressing the unanswered demands of the Iranian Sunnis, our words have become repetitive for you and your promises are repetitive for us. The Sunnis of Iran became disappointed and now they do not accept any excuse from the parliamentary representatives and scholars for their failure in this field”.
“Sunnis in Tehran are not allowed to build mosques; they offer their prayers in the streets, apartments and rented houses. Sunnis aren’t appointed as vice-president, ministers and provincial governors and etc. Among more than 100 ambassadors of Iran, there is only one Sunni ambassador. Such a treatment isn’t acceptable for our society and for Muslims of the world”, Jahanabadi added.
The member of the Sunni fraction of the parliament asked the officials: “Why it is asked about the sect in employment forms even for employing a janitor; isn’t this a violation of people’s rights?! Why the books published for the Sunnis have nothing to do with our tenets?”
Addressing the parliamentary vice president, Dr. Rahimi said: “After more than four decades, Sunnis are still deprived of key positions. What’s wrong with the presence of a Sunni member in the president’s cabinet?”
He further criticized the policy of the state-run Radio and Television regarding the Sunnis’ rights and said: “While IRIB belongs to Sunnis and Shiites and is supported by national funds, the Iran’s Sunnis are barred from IRIB programs, and moreover, their sanctities are sometimes insulted by IRIB”.
The member of the Foreign and Security Committee of the parliament further noted: “Although the Sunnis voted for the fundamentalist’s faction in this term of the presidential election, but unfortunately there is still no change in the allocation of positions to the Sunnis compared to the past. Such a treatment has caused frustration among Sunnis, especially among scholars and among our young generation. Such problems are likely to have dangerous security consequences”.
He said in his last points: “Any way, those who prevent the presence of Sunnis in the official posts, they disappoint the Sunnis and drive them away from the system”.