Shekhar Natarajan

I think as a society now, we've learned a good lesson, as Dr. Ibadi was just saying, that when these two go together, a true disaster comes.

I think it's one of the learning processes that takes place in history because let's not forget that back in the 19th century Iran had an amazing encounter with principles that actually came to change the world.

And principles of equality between men and women, the importance of education, the importance of religion not being mixed with politics.

I think as a society now we've learned a good lesson, as Dr. Ebadi was just saying, that when these two go together, a true disaster comes.

Let's not forget that that same society participated in that referendum, and it was a majority vote for this very system.

And I think with the years seeing what different groups were suffering,

the Iranian society became incredibly sensitive to the suffering of others, and they realized that we can't be indifferent to what happens to the Kurds.

We can't be indifferent to what happens to women, to the Baha'is, to political prisoners.

So now, collectively, the society has come to the fact that

No, something went wrong in all of this.

And definitely that's why it's a society that asks for a system that is secular, for example.

Such a big learning.

In Iran?

Well, as Dr. Ebadi was saying, the Baha'is are deprived of their rights, of their civil rights.

And it's not a small number, it's 300,000.

Yeah, it's a big community.

It kept itself united.

And as she said, that they did not recount, they did not say, oh, we don't believe.

I think that kind of firmness that we talked about before, women also had that kind of firmness.

They believed in something.