Back in my time...

Although in the early years after revolution and during Khatami's term in office, atmosphere of the universities in Iran was extremely politics-oriented and politically polarized, in the first half of 70's (right before Khatami elected for presidency) political apathy prevailed in universities.

When I entered Sharif Univ. most of my colleauges were more indifferent about politics than they are now. In those years, I read a book on the history of the constitutional movement (Engelaab-e mashroote) and became aware that how much sacrifice has been made to make the vote a possibility, I started to believe that ignoring this right is a sort of ingratefulness to those men and women who have put everything they possessed at risk to make this happen.We are taught not to throw away even smallest fragments of bread. Of course, we know that small parts of bread will not solve the food crisis in the world. But, bread is a symbol of blessing and has to be respected. Symbols are important! For me, my vote holds the same place of honour as fragments of bread do. I would have been particular about storing the fragements of bread even if, while I had only bare bread for dinner, the rest of the world were enjoying lobster and caviar.

Please don't get me wrong. I am not suggesting voting is a religious or even patriotic duty.

For me voting is completely a personal choice. For me, voting is a symbol and symbols are important! I emphasize again that I am not trying to convince anybody to vote. Otherwise, I would have chosen a different wording! I am just expressing my personal opinion.

As I mentioned in the beginning of the present post, the indifferent mindset of early 70's passed and was replaced by politics-dominated atmosphere of after the "dovvom-e khordaad" era. It is likely that the present phase will also pass and lead to another politically polarized period. Learning each other's opinions on politics in a cool atmosphere can make us immune against potential clashes in a heated one.