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| The Hindu Phenomenon |
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RETREAT AND RAGE |
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dual significance of the Islamic revolution in Iran has been missed
for a variety of reasons. To begin with, it was dismissed as a Shia
affair made possible by the tradition of martyrdom in Shiaism, as
illustrated by self-flagellation in the observance of Moharram, and
the autonomy the Shia clergy in Iran, unlike the Sunni ulema, has
obscured by the war with Iraq, which to an extent, took the form of
the age-old Iranian-Arab conflict. Even when the war was finally
over in 1988, no attention was paid to the pre-eminent position Iran
had in the meantime acquired in Sudan, which had been converted into
a champion of Islamic fundamentalism.
Thus, it was only when Sudan's role,
with Tehrans's backing in the training of Algerian and Egyptian
fundamentalists in particular came to be highlighted in 1991 that
Iran's potentiality came to be properly appreciated. Indeed, judging
by the media, the spotlight turned on Iran finally in 1992 when it
made massive purchases of state-of-the-art weapon systems from
Russia and reports began to circulate that it was trying to acquire
nuclear weapons and missile capability with the support of China. |
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