The sixth of December; STUDENT DAY

By Hasse-Nima Golkar

The sixth of December (the 16th of Azar in Iran) is called “STUDENT DAY”
In the 1940s, after England’s forced abdication of Reza Shah Pahlavi (father of Mohammad Reza Shah) from his dictatorial position of power, a free forum emerged in the political situation in Iran until the early 1950s.
This opened an opportunity for the leftist movement to operate openly in the political sphere. In those days, two strong and large student organizations existed. One was the supporters of the “Toudeh Party,” the extended arm of the Soviet Union, and the other was “The National Front of Iran,” belonging to Mohammad Mossadeq, whose government was overthrown by the joint US-England bloody coup on August 19, 1953.

On December 6, 1953, US Vice President Richard Nixon paid an official visit to Iran to receive an honorary doctorate of law at the University of Tehran. The day before, university students at the Faculty of Engineering protested this visit. In response, the army and police forces of the Shah’s monarchist dictatorship, aiming to intimidate and suppress the student movement, surrounded Tehran University and fired sharply at the students. Hundreds were arrested and wounded, and three students were murdered.

After this bloody event, and because of it, the strong and worldwide student movement abroad, consisting of different political orientations (Iranian Students’ World Confederation 1962–1979), named this day “Student Day.” Since then, it has been celebrated and respected by the Iranian student movement, both at home and abroad.

The fascist Shia Islamic Caliphate State in Iran, shortly after taking power in 1979, sought to confiscate, infiltrate, and Islamize the student movement. Under the guise of a “Cultural Revolution,” all universities and colleges were closed for several years. Later, in 1999, student housing at the University of Tehran was brutally attacked by civilian security police in a ferocious manner, much like the Shah’s regime. Hundreds were injured and arrested, and at least seven people were killed.

Iran’s left-wing student movement has always been, and still is, a supporter of the working class. Historically, given the intellectual nature and class affiliations of student movements worldwide, their political behavior has always been unstable, oscillating between support for the working class and the bourgeoisie. Nevertheless, divided left-wing and anarchist students have maintained constant popular resistance against all dictatorships and have fought for freedom, equality, and justice.

Despite all these dark years, the Iranian Student Movement has survived and is still standing on its own weak legs.