Students, community gather for Iran vigil

For a moment, there was only violin, guitar and a sea of flickering candles.

The din of the area around the Sample Gates on Friday night faded into the background as about 40 students, faculty and community members surrounded professor Shahyar Daneshgar on guitar and junior Josiah Bizhan on violin as they played protest music.

The crowd assembled at about 9 p.m. Friday for a peaceful protest of the June 12 announcement of disputed presidential election results in Iran.

Government officials named President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad the winner of the election over opposition leader Mir-Hossein Mousavi.

Since then, protesters have flooded the streets in Iran, saying election results were fixed. At least 17 people have been killed in the protests.

The Sample Gates vigil, organized by Iranian students, appealed to attendees like Ph.D. candidate John Dechant because it was a peaceful way to support protesters in Iran.

“Following Iran means a lot to me,” Dechant said. “It hurt to see everything going on and people getting killed for peaceful protesting.”

Chris Bates, a recent IU graduate, said the vigil showed Bloomington’s empathy for the situation.

“We understand the American government shouldn’t and can’t get involved,” Bates said. “It’s their 1776. But the media allows instant access to what’s going on over there. It’s hard to see a revolution happening and not do anything. We can still support the cause.”

In addition to Bizhan and Daneshgar, sophomore Jeremy Gotwals played a song about Iran after only recently learning about the situation.

“It’s my job as a musician to support dialogue and ensure atrocities like this don’t happen,” Gotwals said. “It’s important we support Iran and the people of Iran. Our fates in the world are linked.”

He said he intends to continue writing songs about Iran and bringing them to Bloomington.

Bizhan, who recently returned from another vigil in Atlanta, said the vigil was mostly about moral support.

“It’s something peaceful,” Bizhan said. “It’s a demonstration to promote the idea that we want freedom and peace for the people of Iran. We’re not being political or violent.”

Bizhan said issues in Iran weren’t just political issues but “human issues.”

“It’s my duty as a human being to pray for those being violently suppressed,” he said. “It’s important for me to support those on the side of freedom.”

After the demonstration, Daneshgar invited attendees to a discussion at the Runcible Spoon about future demonstrations and a panel discussion planned for Tuesday.

“We’re all global citizens,” graduate student Yasemin Gencer said. “We’re all watching.”