This email came to me via Haleh Anvari – I decided to
translate the interview:
Wednesday June 24th - A Chat with one of the Plain-clothed club-wielders
“We get 200 dollars a day”
Four days after the elections, there have been anti-demonstration
forces on the streets of Tehran whose accents are unrecognizable. Witnesses say
they are not able to understand what they are saying. Some say they have openly
heard Arabic being spoken by some. Yesterday, I had a chance to chat with one
of the plain-clothed men in a sandwich shop.
Me: Salaam brother.
How are you?
Him: God Bless you, fine, thank you.
Me: Where are you
from?
Him: Torbat
Me: Torbat?
Him: Torbat-e Jam (a small town in the Eastern region of
Iran close to the border of Afghanistan)
Me: How old are you?
Him: 36.
Me: Do you have a wife
and kids?
Him: No. Wife and kids costs money. I am unemployed.
Me: Unemployed? Aren’t
you a Basiji? Doesn’t the army give you a fixed salary?
Him: No. I am not a Basiji. I am unemployed.
Me: But you are
working now, aren’t you?
Him: Yeah.
Me: Why do you have
that club?
Him: They brought us here to hit the anti-revolutionaries.
That’s why they gave us this club.
Me: Who gave it to
you?
Him: Haji. He told me to hit in such a way that they don’t
get up anymore. They’re traitors!
Me: What do you think
about that?
Him: I don’t get involved in these things. I just get my
money.
Me: You get money for
beating people up. That’s great.
Him: Yeah. They gave me money just to beat people up!
Wouldn’t you do the same?
|
Me: How much do they
pay you?
Him: 200 dollars (200,000 tomans) per day. (he smiles)
Me: That’s a lot of
money. What’re you gonna do with all that money?
Him: Get a wife. Or even two, if I can have this kind of
money. Do you know how much that is? 2000 dollars. Maybe I won’t even go back
to Torbat. Maybe I’ll stay here. Haji says there will be more demonstrations.
They will give us more work.
Me: How many days have
you been in Tehran?
Him: 3 days. There are still 7 more days left.
Me: Where are all the
other people from who are with you?
Him: I don’t know all of them. But in our dormiatory we have
people from Mazandaran, Arak, Khoozestan. Also from Torbat-e Hedariye and Khvaf. (he takes a sip from his soda. He asks me for a cigarette. I
give it to him. He lights it and he smokes and talks.
Me: There are Arabs
among them, no?
Him: Yeah. But I heard they put them in a hotel. They say
they are from Lebanon. Last night they gave us Tuna for dinner. The guys said
the Arabs get better food.
Me: Where is your dorm?
Him: I don’t know. I don’t know my way around Tehran. But
it’s far. You have to go this way to get there (he points east).
Me: Have you been to
Tehran before?
Him: No. This is my first time.
Me: You pray?
Him: Yeah, sure. But here, when we are on duty, we’re not
even allowed to go to the bathroom.
Me: Don’t you get
upset when you beat people?
Him: People? Haji says those who are in the demonstrations
are traitors. I believe him. He’s a haji. You know Haji would not lie. (a big, burly guy walks in. He looks
around angrily. He spots this guy)
Big Guy: What are you doing here? Who’re you talking to?
Him: Nothing. I came to drink a Canada (Dry).
Big Guy: Go to your post. Yallah!
He takes his club and goes. He’s had a cold soda and is
ready. I wonder if there’ll be more work for him in 7 days.
