Leader: People foil very dangerous plot against nation (3)

Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, on Wednesday November 27, granted audience in Tehran to a nationwide gathering of Basij forces on the occasion of the annual week that commemorates the founding of this popular Volunteer Force, forty years ago by the Father of the Islamic Revolution, Imam Khomeini (RA).

He told the audience that thanks to people’s vigilance and presence on the scene, a very dangerous plot hatched by the avowed enemies of Islamic Iran, was foiled.

The following is the third and last part of Leader of the Islamic Revolution’s memorable speech.

Ayatollah Khamenei recalled: “Imam Khomeini (RA) had called the Basij “a Good Tree”. In Ayahs 24 and 25 of Surah Ibrahim, the holy Qur’an informs us: “Have you not regarded how Allah has drawn a parable? A good word is like a good tree: its roots are steady and its branches are in the sky.

“It gives its fruit every season by the leave of its Lord. Allah draws these parables for mankind so that they may take admonition.

“Now, I wish to offer some words of advice. Forty years have passed in the life of Basij. Therefore, it is time to benefit from experience. You should pay as much attention as you can to the experiences of the past 40 years and you should benefit from it. I have written down some words of advice. Fortunately, the friends in the meeting are attentive. The honourable officials of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) and of Basij are aware of the tasks that should be carried out. These are the words of advice that I have written down:

“The first word of advice is that you should be ready in all areas – in the areas that I mentioned including defence in hard, semi-hard and soft arenas. Basij should prepare tactics and strategies in all neighborhoods of the country. In the face of various incidents, you should prepare tactics and strategies: in the area of hard and semi-hard defense and in other various areas. You should not be caught off-guard. You should try not to be caught off-guard in any incident.

“The experience of the committees in the 1980s is a good experience. So, you should benefit from it. The Islamic Revolution committees in the 1980 were present in different neighbourhoods and places. They were present everywhere and at all times. Whenever an incident took place, one would see the brothers in committees. Of course, they were beginners and they did not at all have your awareness and your capabilities in the present time, but they are always present. This constant presence is very important.”

The Leader of the Islamic Revolution said: “The next advice is that you should never behave in a reactive way during a soft war. Of course, one should respond to the enemy, but behaving in a creative and innovative way is better than behaving in a reactive way. You should always be one step ahead of your enemy. You should guess what the enemy wants to do and what move he wants to make and then, you should preempt his moves before he even begins them. You should act like a professional chess player who guesses what move the opposition wants to make. Before the opposition makes that move, he does something to lock his moves in a way that he will fail to go ahead with it. You should always move ahead of your enemy.

“You should not allow your relationship with the mosque to be undermined. Basij is an offspring of mosques. People used to be sent to the frontlines from mosques. The pure bodies of martyrs used to be returned to mosques. They were mostly trained in mosques. Therefore, you should not be separated from them. Of course, you should behave in an Islamic way in mosques. Presence in mosques should not lead to division, conflict and disputes.

“You should cooperate with the organizations which move in the direction of Basij goals, but which are not part of resistance forces. Inside the country, there are certain organizations in universities, outside universities and in different places which move in the direction of the goals of Basij-e Mostaz’afeen, but which are not part of Basij resistance. You should cooperate and interact with them.

“You should promote the services of Basij among the public. Basij has rendered great and numerous services, but many people are not aware of them. Most do not know of them. For example, Basij has rendered a great service in a certain area. The people living in that area know about it, but others do not. They have sent me some interesting figures. Of course, it is not Basij that has released these figures. I have it from other sources. There are 11,000 geographically-based jihadi groups which have undertaken 40,000 service projects, half of which have been carried out. Notice how great these figures are. There are 11,000 jihadi groups and so many public services have already been rendered!”

Ayatollah Khamenei said: “Lately, Student Basij has launched a problem-oriented movement, one based on specialized contributions, with 4,500 students. This is what we always advise students. It is a great and important task. This has always been one of my words of advice. Student Basij has become active in this area. Twelve thousand interest-free qarz ol hasanah funds have been established in different neighborhoods. I guess that the figure is higher, but they have said to me that the figure is 12,000, but I reckon that more than 12,000 qarz ol-hasanah funds have been established.

“The Basij of the Tribes and the Women’s Basij came first in the Malik-al Ashtar Festival. All these are sources of honor. A few months ago, on the 40th anniversary of the Revolution, the Basij of Academics published a letter containing 900 signatures in response to a writing by a few hopeless and devastated – so to say – individuals. They wrote something and in response, 900 university professors entered the arena and published a detailed, well-reasoned and superb letter. This means presence on the scene. It means timely and judicious presence in the arena.

“The Basij of Ministries has put up service desks at Friday prayers. They approach the people and answer their questions. With 30,000 agricultural engineers – notice how astonishing the figures are – the Agricultural Basij has undertaken the production of five basic products: wheat, barley, corn and a few other basic products. These were some of the examples that I cited. The honorable officials of Basij should inform public opinion of these achievements in an artistic manner so that the people know that as well as ensuring their safety against thugs and those whose mission is to sabotage, to ruin, to set fire to buildings, and to destroy public and private properties, people’s houses and the like, and as well as working alongside the police and different other organizations in order to defend security, Basij renders these great services as well. These are very important matters that our dear people should certainly know about.

Towards the end of his speech, the Leader of the Islamic Revolution said: “Another word of advice is that as well as being spread out, Basij should be agile. You should not let the Basij Organization become entangled with common bureaucratic hurdles. There are many bureaucratic hurdles and obligations that cripple organizations. You should not allow Basij to become crippled.

“The last point is that you should know that Basij is fully exposed to enemy plots and enemy infiltration. You should not forget this. Due to the significance of Basij – which I explained earlier – the enemy is doing its utmost to plot against Basij and to infiltrate into it in order to create problems for it from the inside. Of course, this great movement is a battle and a confrontation. You should also know that by Allah’s favour and grace, you will defeat everyone.

“God’s mercy be upon our magnanimous Imam who planted this pure tree and this blessed sapling. God’s mercy be upon the martyrs of this path, upon the managers who worked hard for the sake of Basij over the course of these years and upon all the members of Basij.

“I hope that God will help all of you succeed and that He will make Basij Week and Basij Day a blessed occasion for all of you.”

AS/ME