Justice, equality, solidarity, freedom and
peace are the demands of all human beings on the planet earth. This was our reason for joining this global
movement. Another motivation was to
bring together all women’s organizations inside Iran for
solidarity inside the country. With the
effort of 21 groups representing women’s organizations, we were able to collect pieces from different
parts of Iran over the course of 4 months.
Then we organized an exhibit, we voted on the choice of the piece to be
sewn to the 40 international pieces. In
the end, that piece was chosen in an atmosphere full of excitement and
love.
A belief in the Global Human Rights
Charter which is a testament to the love
of life, gave us the determination to begin traveling to India to
sew the piece from Iran to the global quilt. First,
there was one person, then two and finally three. Three women set forth with determined
steps. Despite all the problems we had
and could possibly encounter in the future because of the ruling policies in
our country, our belief went beyond any barriers.
We flew on July 15th.
India was an unknown and foreign county to us. But the warmth of Indian women, these
struggling women who each had more than 15 years and some up to 30 years of
experience in the field of women’s rights in India, took away the feeling of
being strangers. Instead we felt kindness
and love.
On July 22 we had a meeting with these dear
friends. Words can not express the
happiness which we felt. When Ms. Roy
read an e-mail from Nancy from the office of the World March of Women which had been sent
from Brazil, and expressed her happiness about our presence, an indescribable
passion and happiness filled us. We
thanked them for assisting us in joining the march.
July 23 was a great day for the three of
us. It was the day when we had to sew
the piece from Iran to the global quilt and proclaim that we demanded justice. The three of us, Iranian women,
proclaimed: Abolish racial
discrimination, Down with misogynist laws.
The moment of delivering the piece
arrived. My entire body was shaking with
happiness and there was a lump in my throat.
The sense of honor which had been gained by all the women of Iran was
indescribable. The Nobel Peace Prize candidate for 2005
approached us and took the piece from Iran
which was accompanied by the
indescribable sense of pride which had filled both of us. I will never forget this moment as the
happiest moment of my life. Iranian
women were able to join the global movement, a task which we had not been able
to perform for 27 years because of Iran’s
political situation. My other two travel
mates were filled with happiness like
me.
In her speech, India’s
Nobel Peace Prize candidate said that the presence of Iranian women in this
ceremony has made them happy. They were
proud that we could come this far to declare our solidarity. She thanked Iranian women.
There are moments in each person’s life
which may not be repeated because of the shortness of life. For us three friends who had attended this
event on behalf of Iranian women’s organizations, this moment occurred. The hands of an Iranian woman sewed the
piece to the global quilt. We were there
with pride and honor to salute all women.
We returned to Iran with
a bundle of experiences. We returned
with the determination to strengthen unity among women’s organizations and to
struggle further in support of the 5 principles of the charter which we believe
in.
Equality is the right of women and men
Justice is the right of all human beings
Solidarity is the realization of demands
Freedom is emancipation from the yoke of
those who worship darkness
Peace is the dream of all orphaned children
no matter how they have lost their parents