Page 9 - Pakistan Link - November 15, 2019

OPINION NOVEMBER 15, 2019 – PAKISTAN LINK – P9

n By Prof. Dr Nazeer Ahmed Signs from Allah: History, Science and Faith in Islam The mobilization of Bakhtiari
Concord, CA dervishes set off alarm signals in
n June 2, 1908, a joint 120: The Constitutional Revolution in Persia - 6 London and St. Petersburg. Hoping
delegation of Russian and to preserve a semblance of power
OBritish ambassadors met for the Shah, they advised him to ac-
the Persian foreign minister and commodate the nationalists and re-
threatened that instate the Majlis, if only to buy time.
Russia would in- But the Shah remained stubborn and
tervene militarily noncommittal. The Czar sent a blunt
unless the threats warning to the Nationalists that un-
against the Shah less the northern armies stopped
ceased forthwith. their march, the Russian army might
The next day, under intervene. A contingent of Russian
cover of panic creat- troops did land at Anzali on their
ed in the capital by Russian agents way to Tehran. But this saber rat-
and paid hirelings, the Shah fled tling failed to impress the Bakhtiari.
from his palace to the King’s Gar- The northern armies moved on Qiz-
dens located outside the city, un- win, on the approaches to Tehran,
der a Russian armed escort. On while the southern armies advanced
June 4, he invited some of the no- upon Qum, the spiritual capital of
tables of the Majlis to meet with Persia. On June 12, 1909, advanced
him and discuss matters of mu- columns of the Bakhtiari troops en-
tual concern. Upon their arrival, tered Tehran. Resistance from the
the treacherous Shah ordered Cossack brigade was heavy but after
the Cossacks to arrest them. On several days fighting, the Cossacks
June 7, the Shah declared martial hauled off to the King’s Gardens leashed the notorious Shahseven of European property, but otherwise surrendered and the Shah took ref-
law and put a Russian, Colonel and strangled. Included among tribe upon Tabriz. The unruly men staying clear of the civil war between uge in the Russian embassy. There
Liakhoff, in charge of maintain- those killed on that fateful day were of this tribe were known for their the Shah and the Constitutionalists. was jubilation in the capital. The
ing order in the capital. He sent a the great orators Aqa Seyyed Jam- love of plunder and loot. They at- A British gunboat appeared off the leaders of the conquering armies
message to the Majlis demanding aluddin and the Malikul Mutakkal- tacked the villages around the city, Persian Gulf port of Bandar Abbas met on July 16, 1909 with the ulema
the shutting down of the free press limun, both from Isfahan, who were killing the men, abusing the wom- to show the flag, while a column of and the available members of the
and the expulsion from the capital the backbone of the mass move- en, looting their belongings and Russian troops entered Azerbaijan Majlis and deposed Muhammed Ali
of the political leaders and the edi- ment that had organized schools were successful in cutting off all and marched to Tabriz without op- Shah. His young son, Ahmed Mirza
tors of major newspapers. and social services in Tehran and roads into and out of the city. The position either from the constitu- was placed on the throne as Sultan
These demands were impos- the provincial capitals. Constitutionalists garrisoned the tionalists or the Shah’s forces. The Ahmed Shah.
sible to meet and as negotiations The Shah promoted Colonel town and stopped the advance of siege of Tabriz was lifted, food sup- Thus ended the Constitutional
continued, the Shah ordered the Liakhoff to be the martial law of- the Shahseveners. As the siege of plies were brought in, the Shahsev- Revolution that began with the To-
movement of more arms and am- ficer for Tehran. Determined, cold Tabriz progressed, and food sup- eners were dispersed and the city bacco Concession of 1891, and af-
munition from the city to the King’s blooded and ruthless, Liakhoff let plies in the city became scarce, the resumed a semblance of normalcy. ter a struggle lasting 18 years, suc-
Gardens. On June 23, a brigade of loose a reign of terror in the capital. Shah, to put additional pressure The fall of Tabriz did not mean ceeded in eliminating the tyranny of
Cossack horsemen, under com- Houses belonging to deputies, their on the Constitutionalists and force the end of the uprising. In Isfahan to the Shah. It brought the rule of law
mand of Liakhoff and his Russian relatives and sympathizers were Tabriz into submission, dispatched the south, and Rasht to the north, to Persia where previously there was
staff, entered the courtyard around looted and hundreds were killed contingents of Silahkhuri and Cos- new armies arose under the leader- rule by dictate. It succeeded in pre-
which were located the Majlis build- in cold blood. Tehran turned into sack troops under the command of ship of the Bakhtiari dervishes. The serving the independence and terri-
ing and an adjoining mosque. The a city under occupation and wit- Russian officers. Undaunted, the city Bakhtiaris were a Sufi order and had torial integrity of Persia in the face
deputies were locked up in the Ma- nessed the dance of death and de- held on, the Silahkhuri troops were fought through the centuries on of the avowed intent of Britain and
jlis building. Liakhoff ordered the struction for several days. beaten back, the Cossack advance the side of justice and fair play in Russia to partition and occupy the
placement of heavy guns at strategic News of the reign of terror in was brought to a standstill; the siege the many feuds and wars that had land. It awakened the latent nation-
locations around the courtyard and Tehran reached the provinces and dragged on for months. raged in Persia. They were resolute alism of the Persians and it presaged
started a bombardment, which soon a national resistance movement be- More ominous were the moves warriors, tough, resilient, like their the nationalist movement of Mosad-
reduced the Majlis building and the gan. Tabriz, the second largest city of the Russian army to the north. brethren Naqshbandis in the Cau- degh in 1954. And it propelled the
mosque to rubble. A large number in Persia, was in the vanguard of The Czar was no lover of constitu- casus and the Jazuliyas in far-away ulema to the forefront of the na-
of deputies and several defending this movement. The Constitutional- tional reforms. The recent success West Africa. The southern armies tional struggle, an element that was
youths, were slain. Those who were ists, under the leadership of one Sat- of the Young Turks in Istanbul in from Isfahan were under the proven to show itself with volcanic power in
not killed, or who could not escape, tar Khan, occupied the administra- forcing Sultan Abdul Hamid II to and capable leadership of Sardar e the Iranian Revolution of 1978.
were taken prisoner and hauled tive headquarters and declared that reinstate the Ottoman constitution Asad and Shamsam us Sultan. The (The author is Director, World
away, chains around their necks. they no longer recognized the Shah. (1908) had given the Czar additional northern armies from Rasht were Organization for Resource Develop-
Some of the deputies sought refuge The surrounding villages joined the cause for concern. But the Russians under the command of the equally ment and Education, Washington,
in the British embassy but were re- uprising so that Tabriz, in essence, also knew that any foreign inter- capable Nasrus Sultana Muhammed DC; Director, American Institute
fused entry. Others, like Hajji Mirza became a city-state, opposed to the vention in Persia would meet with Wali Khan. Both armies, after over- of Islamic History and Culture, CA;
Ibrahim, were shot while resisting Shah and run by the constitutional- mass opposition. The Czar therefore coming local resistance from the Member, State Knowledge Commis-
attempts by the soldiers to strip ists. chose a cautious approach, acting Shah’s forces, were poised to march sion, Bangalore; and Chairman, De-
them naked in public. Some were In response, the Shah un- with Britain to ensure the protection on Tehran. lixus Group)

n By Dr David Ayers Marriage and the Gender Gap in Higher Ed: Fact vs. Fiction riage market by a shortage of simi-
Grove City, Pennsylvania larly educated men.
tinue to look for men whose income with college degrees are increasingly percentage went from 26 percent in Meanwhile, research shows that
significantly lower per- exceeds their own. Thus, we are not likely to marry men without them. the 1970s to 40 percent in the past women with college degrees who
centage of young men are surprised to see that many pundits decade. Meanwhile, the comparable marry “down” are not more likely to
A now obtaining college de- are now asserting that the relative The GSS verifies that percentage of men with college de- get divorced. And according to the
grees compared to women. We shortage of college-educated men women with college grees married to women without GSS, at least in recent years among
have known this for is hurting women. How? First, by degrees plummeted dramatically, those 25 to 40 years old, they are
some time now. As supposedly lowering the marriage degrees are increasingly from 54 percent to 17 percent. More not less likely than those who mar-
Jon Birger pointed rates of educated women. Second, likely to marry men women are marrying “down” educa- ried college-educated men to iden-
out in his 2015 by pushing many such women to without them. For tionally, while less men are doing so. tify their marriages as “very happy.”
Date-onomics, and marry men with less education. This However, the GSS also shows The idea that women who make this
as the mass media supposedly leads to less than ideal example, among those that college-educated women are choice typically suffer a great deal
trumpeted widely, unions. Apparently, agonizing about ages 33 to 42 during the much more likely to be married, because of it is not supported by the
among Americans in their 20s the plight of higher-status women and less likely to be cohabiting or GSS or recent divorce studies.
with college degrees, women out- being “forced” to either “marry past five decades, this just single. From 2012 through 2018 Looking at whether both a
number men by about 5.5 to 4. down” or avoid marriage altogether percentage went from (when the GSS measured cohabita- woman and her husband both have
A re-circulation of this data on is a real 21st century thing, and not 26 percent in the 1970s tion), among women 25 to 40 years a bachelor’s degree or not ignores
Twitter recently produced a great just a Downton Abbey plot line. old with bachelor’s degrees, 57 per- a lot of important facts, including
deal of commentary. That was fol- I investigated all of this for a to 40 percent in the past cent were married, and 8 percent men’s much ballyhooed relative job
lowed by a new study by Daniel Li- recent two-part series I authored for decade. Meanwhile, the cohabiting. This compares to 48 or income prospects. In 2017 for
chter and others that documented the Institute for Family Studies. My percent and 9 percent for college- example, the median salary for elec-
a shortage of single men with the analysis looked at the experience of comparable percentage of educated men of that age group. tricians, plumbers and wind turbine
kind of income and job prospects married Americans interviewed by men with college degrees It is those without college degrees technicians was between $52,000
that women say they are looking the prestigious General Social Sur- married to women without who are being left out of marriage and $54,000. All have top-end sala-
for—which likewise produced a lot vey over the past five decades and the most. Only about 4 in 10 men or ries much higher than this, and low-
of media chatter. at recent published research on the degrees plummeted women ages 25 to 40 without bach- end salaries equivalent to recent
These days, both men and divorce rates of college-educated dramatically elor’s degrees were married, while college graduates with humanities
women prefer to marry someone women married to men without de- almost 1 in 5 were cohabiting. Col- degrees. All are male-dominated
with a bachelor’s degree. And de- grees. For example, among those ages 33 to lege-degreed women are certainly fields; none require a college
spite feminist denials, women con- The GSS verifies that women 42 during the past five decades, this not being pushed out of the mar- MARRIAGE, P21
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