The following is the full text of the speech delivered on January3, 2006 by Ayatollah Khamenei the Leader of the Islamic Revolution in a meeting with members of the Council of Cultural Revolution.
In the Name of Allah the Beneficent, the Merciful
First and foremost, this annual meeting is an opportunity for me to meet with you dear friends and valuable members of this extremely important council and to encourage you and express my appreciation for the efforts that are made by the council itself and the other people who are active behind the scene - including the secretariat and the other organizations that cooperate with the council - many of whom are not present in this meeting. This meeting is also an opportunity for me to listen to the comments of the friends who attend this meeting and to discuss the points that I have in mind.
The main point that I would like to raise today is what I have said before repeatedly, namely the importance of this council and the importance of culture in our country. I have repeatedly discussed this point, just like other friends have. However, I feel that it is necessary for all of us, for myself, for the heads of the three branches of government, for you members of this council and for those who are in charge of cultural affairs in the country to repeat and highlight this point one more time.
Now I would like to share a memory. Around two, three years ago one of my dearest friends who used to work in this council spoke to me about the culture in our country and the issue of education and the problems and aberrations that had appeared gradually in our society. He made legitimate demands in this regard. I told that dear friend of mine what I could do about those demands is what I have done so far, namely creating this council, appointing insightful and motivated people to make decisions about the culture of our country, offering legal assistance and increasing the credibility of this council and whatever else that is needed. This is the work is that is entrusted to me and the rest is up to you.
I told that friend I would tell Allah the Exalted I appointed the best people I knew and I put them together in the form of this council. You will have to answer to God: think carefully what you will say to Him. What I am trying to say is that the responsibility of this council is very heavy because of the importance and weight of the issue of culture and science, but culture is the more important issue here because science and education as well as the orientation and quality of science and the different approaches to it are affected by the wider culture of our country.
I believe that the roots of the Revolution run as deep as religious beliefs of our people. The roots of the Revolution cannot be eliminated by different superficial sentiments and movements. We are witness to the development and growth of a generation of youth who are pious and interested in researching the Revolution. We are witness to the emergence of experts in this area. This cannot be denied. Such experts are emerging in our universities, in our Islamic seminaries and in our society. However, if superficial problems are not addressed, they gradually become serious. If we fail to eliminate a small cavity that has appeared on the surface of a tooth, the cavity will run deeper and will gradually affect the core of that tooth. This cannot be denied either.
The new conditions that have emerged in our country -as well as the establishment of a government and the general orientation that can be witnessed in the wider society and among our government officials - can be interpreted as a promising sign that the conditions are right to rectify an incorrect orientation that has existed in the country. This is not to say that everything can be predicted with certainty in this regard. On the contrary, everything depends on what we do, but the conditions are right because certain slogans have been put forth that are in line with the principles of the Revolution and the people have responded to these slogans. I have repeatedly raised this point.
In the election that was held a few months ago, the vast majority of our people voted for the values of the Revolution, both those who voted for Mr. Ahmadinejad and those who voted for Mr. Hashemi Rafsanjani. This is because Mr. Hashemi is one of the prominent personalities of the Revolution. He is a revolutionary cleric and in fact many of the people who voted for him voted for these values. It should not be assumed that seventeen million Iranians voted for the slogans of Mr. Ahmadinejad and ten million other voters refused to do so. This is not the case. Rather, the vast majority of the people showed their commitment to Islam, revolutionary values and Imam Khomeini's (r.a.) ideals. And the people support the government that has been established on the basis of these slogans and is repeating and pursuing these slogans. The people embrace the slogans that are promoted by the new government. This shows that the conditions are very good and we should make use of these conditions. In these new conditions, I believe that it is necessary for the members of this council to further increase their dynamism, vitality, motivation and creativity. It is not acceptable to have a cultural organization that has been assigned as the headquarters of cultural warfare in the country - and such warfare is inescapable at all times and in every part of the country - which suffers from lack of dynamism, lack of progress or stagnation. I cannot imagine this.
The report by the dear brother Mr. Keinejad was a good report. However, a report on the legal proposals that have been approved is different from the realities that are supposed to result from these proposals. These proposals should be reflected in realities. For example, you have specified responsibilities for the IRIB and these responsibilities should be carried out by the IRIB. You have specified certain responsibilities for our schools and universities or for our cultural organizations and these responsibilities must be fulfilled. But you should also take the distant future into account, namely the future that has been described in the Twenty-Year Strategic Plan. Those who start school today will be 26, 27 years old at the end of the Twenty-Year Strategic Plan. This year is the first year of the plan. What kind of youth do you want those 26, 27 year-olds to be? If you want them to be innovative, creative and courageous, if you want them to be morally good, if you want them to be physically, intellectually and psychologically healthy, if you want them to be resourceful and insightful, if you want them to feel responsible towards their country, their people and their future, you should start preparing a plan to help children develop into such youth. You should prepare this plan and announce it to the organizations in charge.
The head of this council is the President, who is also the head of the executive branch. The head of the legislative branch and a few members of the Majlis are also present in this meeting. Therefore, there is no need to wait and it is necessary to start moving towards the goals. Basically, this is the reason why the heads of different branches of government and high-level government officials are assigned to such positions, otherwise I am well aware that for a council that is supposed to engage in large-scale planning, high-level government officials and important personalities, who are busy with other responsibilities, cannot afford to spend a lot of time on such things and work hard. It is up to real members to spend their time in such councils and debate different issues. Therefore, the reason behind the presence of the heads of different branches of government, ministers, the head of the Management and Planning Organization and other such managers and officials in this council since its establishment under the leadership of Imam Khomeini (r.a.) is that this council is not reduced to an organization without authority, an organization that offers opinions out of concern for the country without having the power to take action. The purpose is to help this organization implement its decisions. Imam Khomeini (r.a.) said the same thing. He said that the proposals by this council must be implemented. I have stressed the same point repeatedly.
Last year I said in this meeting that the responsibility for cultural reform lies on your shoulders. I said that this council is the main headquarters and that your tactical support is the secretariat and the organizations affiliated with it as well as the satellite committees, expert panels and other such groups. I also said that the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Science, Research and Technology, the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance and different other organizations are the front line of executive work. You gentlemen accepted my comments. That is to say, it was not the case that I said those things and some of the friends refused to accept them as true. The friends who were present in the meeting did not say that they had no faith in cultural reform or that the responsibility had to be shouldered by some other organization. I know for a fact that after the meeting there were discussions in this regard and the friends who engaged in those discussions unanimously agreed that what I had said was right. The plan for cultural reform of the country should have been prepared by now and it should have been discussed already. The work should have been completed. The necessary decisions should have been made. The macro strategies - and not just the wishes and dreams - should have been specified in detail. This is the main point that I wanted to discuss with you.
I am truly interested in this meeting. This is because the council is a genuinely cultural organization. You know that I have the experience of attending these meetings every week for seven, eight years and after my presidential terms I have been attending these meetings at least once a year. I love these meetings. This council represents the cultural peak and summit of the country and you are my friends. Some of the friends have been in this council for a long time and I named some of them. Some others like Dr. Fazel are among the earliest members of this council. When I was serving as a minister, I used to sit next to him in the meetings. I did not mention his name and of course there might be some other people whose names I have not mentioned. Some of the friends have been serving in this council for several years and some others have been serving for two, three years. Yet others were introduced into this council after the inauguration of the new government. I discussed these points because this meeting is a friendly meeting and the things that I said were coming out of my heart and I had to discuss them with you in person. The work that you are doing is massive and the responsibility that you are shouldering is heavy. This responsibility has to be fulfilled. This work has to be completed. Some people might not have time. Some others might have other things to take care of. But it is necessary to make use of them in the satellite committees or in the expert panels.
The decisions that have been made so far in the area of scientific progress or the expectations that have been discussed in this regard should be translated into action. That is to say, these decisions and expectations should be followed up and implemented. For example, if you want to cooperate with universities in the area of production of knowledge, you need to put a person like Dr. Zahedi in charge. You need to specify a timeframe and demand reports every two, three months on the progress that has been made. He should report to the council and if you do not find his report satisfactory, you should complain to him. And if you find his report satisfactory, you should take the next step or you should require him to take the next step. It is necessary to act in the same way in the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, the Ministry of Education and different other organizations.
The Council of Cultural Revolution must be a dynamic, active, strategic, vibrant and hard-working council and it must constantly follow up different cultural affairs of the country. This is the main point that I had in mind. Of course, the point is not new. It is something that I have mentioned repeatedly, but sometimes repetition is necessary. Praying is an example: you recite Sura al-Fatiha and the dhikrs and perform Ruku' and Sujud in the morning and you repeat the same things at noon, in the afternoon and at night. This is because repetition is important sometimes. Praying is so important that it must be repeated frequently so that one's mind is refreshed by the memory of these truths and one is provoked into action.
Now I would like to discuss a few points that are related to cultural issues, the issue of science and the council itself. Regarding the council, Mr. Keinejad reported that the council has an active public relations office. This is good news. One of the points that I have written down to discuss today is that it is necessary to report to the public - and particularly to our outstanding university and seminary personalities - in a timely and frequent manner. This was in fact a response to the question that I had in mind and thankfully I received the answer before I had to ask the question. However, I receive reports from different organizations saying that the work of the council is unknown to them. This shows that the work of the public relations office of the council is not satisfactory and perfect. You need to improve in this area. The conditions must be such that our elites can feel they are constantly in contact with the council. This attracts their cooperation. That is to say, if it becomes clear to our elites in universities and Islamic seminaries on what important issues the council has focused its efforts, then they will probably start thinking about those issues and will be able to help. They will be able to cooperate with the council and they might think of certain things that the council might have overlooked. Our elites will be able to remind you of the issues that might have mistakenly disregarded. Therefore, reporting to the public will attract the cooperation of our elites. Also, our elites must not feel that you are sitting behind a wall and that there is no way for them to get in touch with you. Let them feel that they are in fact members of the council. Let them feel that they are present in this council. Let them feel that they are involved. Therefore, I believe the issue of public relations is very important.
Another point that I have written down to discuss in this meeting is the issue of reforming the education system and rectifying the old system that has been implemented in the country. Dr. Shariatmadari referred to the same issue in passing although his main point was something else. In the meetings that have been held here to discuss various cultural matters, different people who are concerned about the country have repeatedly pointed out that we need to transform the current old and memorization-based system of education and turn it into the kind of advanced education systems that are common in the world today. Currently there are new systems in the world to educate children, teenagers and youth - both in high schools and in universities. After all, we need to start somewhere and transform and rectify this old system that has been implemented in the country since sixty years ago. We either need to replace it completely or make gradual changes in it. If there is a center that should prepare plans and make decisions in this regard, it is the Council of Cultural Revolution. This is among your responsibilities.
The other issue is the issue of scientific progress of the country. I deeply and firmly believe that the problems of our country will not be resolved unless through scientific development and promotion of science in the country. We have no choice but to bridge the decades-long gap that has been created between us and the advanced countries. We see how scientifically advanced countries bully all other countries by relying on their knowledge and scientific progress. We see how they disguise wrong as right thanks to their scientific progress. For example, illegal wiretapping without a court order, torture in Guantanamo, putting people in captivity and transferring them to different places, kidnapping people in European countries without the permission of their governments or on the basis of an agreement with intelligence services throughout the world, attacking different countries in order to steal their oil and plunder their resources, killing human beings - all of these things are being done by one superpower or another in the world and they do not even bother to deny what they do. While we reason, present arguments and debate, they do what they want to do without caring about the consequences.
Why? Because they have achieved scientific progress, which has equipped them with military weapons, wealth and political power. If we want to help our nation and the Islamic Ummah reach a point where we can announce our righteous stance in an equally open way, we need to become the scientific authority for the other Islamic countries. The responsibility lies on our shoulders. We are the ones who have both hope and faith. We are the ones who both feel capable enough and have the necessary instruments. We are a good and gifted people. With so many gifted and capable youth, we need to take a long leap and make a profound and fundamental achievement in the area of science and then open the doors of science to the other Islamic countries. Therefore, the issue of scientific development of the country is an important issue.
About promotion of theory-building and production of knowledge, which is among your responsibilities, I will ask Mr. President to offer financial support so that a separate council is created for this purpose. By Allah's favor, you will help as well. Think hard about this so that you can help the satellite council do its work in this area and implement its plans. You must not allow such things to be reduced to expression of wishes. Sometimes some of our government officials come to me and speak to me about their areas of responsibility. They say, "We should do this. We should do that." I tell them, "Brother, I am the one who is supposed to say you should do this or that. You are supposed to tell me what you are actually doing, what you have done and what you want to do. There is no point in telling me what should be done." As the organizations that are in charge of this responsibility, it is obvious that these councils should do these things. What remains is the actual work. It is necessary to take action.
Regarding science, there are two points that I would like to stress. One is fundamental science and the other is humanities. When we take a look at the modern world, we see that it is mathematics, physics, chemistry and biology that have helped the advanced countries achieve this high position. We need to focus on these areas. Of course, since the Revolution and even before, we have trained a large number of medical doctors, engineers and lawyers. These areas are as necessary for a country as the existence of air and water. However, we need to pay attention to the fact that training medical doctors, engineers, lawyers and teachers would only cater to the everyday needs of our society. We need to train researchers so that they pave the way for our future progress. An engineer builds a structure for our current needs. If we do not have doctors in the country, we will have to do the same thing that was common during the time of taghut and employ doctors from countries like Bangladesh. The same is true of engineers. Thankfully, in the area of building roads, dams and important structures, we have engineers who are capable of addressing our needs. Similarly, we have great doctors who are capable of things that nobody in our country would have dreamt of in the past. However, these areas only address our consumption needs. They are like the money that we put in our pockets to spend here and there. The other areas are like centers for printing money and we need to invest on those areas, particularly in our universities. Therefore, it is necessary to pay attention to fundamental science in our universities.
As for humanities, despite all the emphasis that has been placed on humanities, it is managed and treated in the same way as fundamental science and for this reason the same flaws and shortcomings exist in the area of fundamental science as well. We have opened our arms and embraced the ideas that are currently put forth outside the country in sociology, psychology, history and even in philosophy and literature. We need to do something fundamental in the area of humanities and this is not an idea that has occurred to us today. No, the idea has been around for years and it is necessary to translate it into action. Who is responsible for this work? It is the responsibility of this council. It is members of this council who will have to answer to Allah the Exalted in this regard and by Allah's favor, they will have good answers if He asks questions.
The other issue - which is related to the need to focus on fundamental science and humanities - is the issue of input and output in our universities and this is another heavy responsibility of the Ministry of Science, Research and Technology. We should pay close attention to what kind of students our universities attract and in what areas. We should see in what areas we need university graduates most in order to address either our temporary everyday needs or our fundamental long-term needs. It is necessary to make the necessary arrangements in this regard.
Another point that I want to discuss is related to the National Elites Foundation. The National Elites Foundation was initiated thanks to the efforts by Dr. Aref. That is to say, the statute was prepared and the initial steps were completed. The result of the work was sent to this council and to my office in the form of a file. I attached my recommendations to the file and returned it.
When I take a look at the actual work that has been done on the basis of the plan to reform the culture of our country, I do not see anything relating to our elites. You know that our elites - our outstanding students, our Olympiad prize winners and other such elites - meet with me two, three times a year. I provide them with an opportunity to speak to me. What I have gleaned from their comments is that nothing has really been done for our elites. I insist that serious efforts should be made to help our elites. One of the things that can be done is bringing our elites together, which is something that should be done in the foundation. Another is identifying and organizing these elites into teams so that we can make use of their capacities to promote our national interests. There are many places where our young elites could help a lot if they were present there. The problem is that we do not know where to deploy different elites.
The plan that President Ahmadinejad has had in mind from the beginning - that is to say, deploying our youth in different ministries -is of course a very good plan and it should be implemented in an appropriate way. I do not know how much of the work has been completed in this regard. The best people who can help with the implementation of this plan are our elites. We need to find elites throughout the country. We need to identify them. We need to organize them into teams. We need to know whose presence is necessary where. This is one of the things that should be done in the National Elites Foundation. Afterwards, we need to address their research-related needs - which is among the plans of the National Elites Foundation - as well as their personal needs. In this way, we will be able to encourage our elites and this is the only way in which we can prevent them from emigrating to other countries. This is the only way we can prevent the brain drain or whatever you want to call it. It is frequently reported here and there that our elites leave the country and never come back or that some of them return to the country after a while and there is sometimes a little exaggeration in this regard. This is the only way we can prevent this because our elites need to have a source of encouragement. Of course, part of this work concerns our universities and I believe I have discussed this point in the meetings with Dr. Zahedi. I would like to take this opportunity to tell him that it is necessary to take care not to let our young elites feel they are being discriminated against, especially when it comes to higher education, doctoral programs and scholarships. If our youth feel that their capacities are being wasted here, the consequences are devastating and in fact a few such cases have been reported to me.
I would like to add one more point regarding the satellite councils of the Council of Cultural Revolution. I have received a report that explains some of the satellite councils have been very successful and the council for women's affairs is one of them. The same report explains that some other satellite councils have not been very active. What I am trying to say is that you should make the satellite councils as active as you can. The satellite councils should recruit those who can spend a major portion of their time in those councils. It is necessary to prepare reports on the performance of the satellite councils and to benefit from those reports. Such reports can help determine what to discuss in the meetings of the Council of Cultural Revolution. The good news that Dr. Keinejad has for us is that all the agendas and protocols of the Council of Cultural Revolution are organized and retrieved digitally. This is very important because the secretariat and the council will be able to keep track of what has been discussed and approved already.
I hope Allah the Exalted bestows success and assistance on all of you. I hope this great responsibility is auspicious for you. I hope Allah the Exalted makes your time more productive so that you can work more.
Greetings be upon you and Allah's mercy and blessings