December 7 (16th Azar solar Calendar) marks the Students Day in Iran. On this day in 1953 three students activist were shot dead at the hands of the former monarchist regime. This day has since than been remembered by the students as day of defiance against oppression. The Islamic regime has banned this day. In the past few years progressive and militant students, in the face of the all the dangers and threats have in one form or another commemorated this day. This year, the Iranian authorities, in a pre-emptive move, under the pretext of air pollution shut the entire education system for a few days to prevent student protests. In a rally organised at Tehran university on December 11, the following statement was read out and supported by the participants. The original text is in Farsi .KOMONIST The statement adopted by students at the Teheran University Rally on the occasion of the Students Day 16th Azar (December 7) is the day of freedom and resistance against despotism and injustice. We wholeheartedly salute this day. We, along with other oppressed masses in this capitalist society, call for the return of the all wealth, resources and oil revenues to their rightful owners, the people. We, on this day, together with the deprived people, call for the elimination of destitution and hardship. For us, 16th Azar, is the day of human emancipation from all the discriminations based on class, gender and race. In today’s Iran, students are the proponents of freedom and equality for all the citizens. This day, is not a day to praise students but a day to celebrate liberty and equality. We here declare that for us, the students day, is not an official day to celebrate the students’ conformity and submissiveness. It is a day to reaffirm our commitment not to succumb to reaction and suppression. We call and fight for a world free from class exploitation, political suppression and gender discrimination. In this path, we consider ourselves as part of the toiling masses in the country, the world working class and all the freedom loving people of the world. Any other ways of bringing about changes such as reform of current regime, federalism, advocating racial differences and foreign intervention are not acceptable. The only alternative for us is returning to human values and humanity. We, therefore, present the followings as our demands:
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