Memoirs of Akbar Hashemi - November 16, 2000 - Hashemi's Account of the Events Surrounding the November 13 Ceremony Hosted by the Office of Consolidation of Unity at Tehran University

Hashemi's Account of the Events Surrounding the November 13 Ceremony Hosted by the Office of Consolidation of Unity at Tehran University

The opening of the Congress for the Rehabilitation of the Disabled at the University of Welfare Sciences.

Meeting with Sheikh Habibullah Mohammadian, the representative of Ayatollah Khamenei in Sistan and Baluchestan, and Seyyed Sadeq Hosseini, the representative of the Supreme Leader in Sunni affairs, along with Mowlavi Abdolhamid Ismailzahi.

Full Daily Entry: Yesterday, last night, and today, it rained in Tehran and many parts of the country. This year's rainfall is good; much better than last year and even better than in the past 32 years. We went to the University of Welfare Sciences in Evin to open the Congress for the Rehabilitation of the Disabled. We visited the exhibition there. During the session, Dr. Gholamreza Ansari, the head of the Welfare Organization, welcomed us and praised the establishment of this university during my presidency and the period of reconstruction; it now has 1,800 students and branches in Mashhad and Isfahan. I also spoke in detail about the necessity and importance of paying attention to the conditions of physically and mentally disabled individuals, particularly in terms of granting them dignity and independence, and involving them in scholarly endeavors for prevention, rehabilitation, and aid.

A researcher who created a useful device for the blind—working with Braille and capable of speaking while typing—requested that I purchase five of them as gifts for the university. I told Mr. Ansari to proceed with this.

In the evening, a group of Shia and Sunni scholars from Sistan and Baluchestan came. Mr. Habibullah Mohammadian (the representative of the Supreme Leader and Imam of Zahir) and Mr. Seyyed Sadeq Hosseini (the representative of the Supreme Leader in Sunni affairs in Baluchestan) along with Mowlavi Abdolhamid Ismailzahi (the Imam of the Maki Mosque and Friday Prayer Leader in Zahedan) spoke and thanked me for the serious attention given to the province during my tenure. I also discussed the necessity of unity and referred to important projects during the reconstruction period in the province, such as the initiation of the Kerman-Zahedan railway, the construction of the Pishin dam, the IranShahr power plant, development in the south through fishing projects and the establishment of fishing ports, the free trade zone, the Khash cement factory, important projects in Zabol, and the water transfer line from Zabol to Zahedan, among others.

The Guardian Council has once again rejected the Parliament's amendment regarding the interpretation of the Press Law, and it will likely go to the Expediency Council. The Office of Consolidation of Unity held a gathering at Tehran University for November 13, and after it concluded, some individuals shouted slogans aggressively.