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BURGEONING PROTEST AGAINST IRANIAN LEADERS

YB WEB DESK. Dated: 1/15/2020 9:50:53 AM

T K NANDANAN Angry demonstrations spilled over at least two cities in Iran for the third day on Monday against the clerical rulers after the government acknowledged having shot down a Ukrainian passenger plane killing 176 people. The extent of the protests and the amount of violence used to try to stop the protesters were hard to assess because of tight restrictions on social media and the news media inside the country. Videos from previous days have shown porters carrying off bleeding comrades while gunshots echoed in the background. But the authorities in Iran denied that security forces had opened fire. Meanwhile, American President Donald Trump wrote on Twitter to the leaders of Iran, “Do not kill your protesters. Thousands have already been killed or imprisoned by you, and the world is watching you. More importantly, the USA is watching. Turn your internet back on and let reporters roam free. Stop the killing of your great Iranian people.” What is the difference between America and Iran in terms of how the government look at their citizens? While America feels proud of every citizen of its country, Iran never feels so but wants to suppress its people citing religious tenets. In America people are free and in Iran people are not free as they are ruled the iron-hand. Trouble of protest is brewing up in Iran and the outrage over the mistaken downing of a jetliner reignited opposition on the streets and stirred dissent within the government’s conservative base. It may be noted that for the first three days after the crash, Iran denied growing international accusations that it had shot the plane down, and looked as if it was engaged in a cover-up. The Iranian authorities insisted that the jetliner had gone down for mechanical reasons, and refused to cooperate with the investigators. They also began to remove some evidence from the scene. But then, as the uproar mounted, Iranian leaders admitted that they had shot the aircraft down. On Sunday, the unrest spread outside Tehran, the capital, to at least a dozen cities. Security forces fired tear gas, rubber bullets and eventually live ammunition to disperse demonstrators in Tehran. Sadly, several people had been wounded. Unlike previous waves of opposition, some of the outrage this time has come from conservatives who ordinarily support the government as well as from the usual critics. In addition to the domestic outrage, Iran may also face demands for compensation from nations whose citizens were killed on the plane. Ukrainian foreign minister Vadym Prystaiko said, “We have created this group of foreign ministers from the grieving nations. On January 16, we will meet in person in London to discuss the ways including legal, how we are following this up, how we are prosecuting them.” In this regard, Iran is supposed to give a huge amount as compensation from its exchequer. Thus, Iranian leaders have converted Iran into a watertight compartment wherein people are kept in darkness. They have no exposure to the outside world. Besides, the Iran’s economy is in shambles and so, the people are now fed up with the government run by narrowminded leaders and the people’s protest is only a right step to get rid of present short sighted leaders who steer the country.