“Meet us today, Monday, at 9:30 in front of the central library, during Ahmadinejad’s speech at the Allameh Amini Hall” – was a sentence written on the bottom of a small flyer handed out hours before Ahmadinejad’s speech at Tehran University. On another flyer, students wrote to Ahmadinejad: “We are coming to remind you that you are stepping into an academic environment that has had its best professors fired by your handpicked officials…; We are coming to complain about overcrowded dorms… ; We are coming to taste justice; We are coming tomorrow to see if you treat us as justly as you treated students at Columbia University. Will you listen to our questions and criticisms just as you listened to their questions, even insults and boos?”
But the President did not treat Iranian students the way he treated those at Columbia University. None of the hundreds of critical students were allowed to enter the room where he delivered his speech. Security officers supervised the proceedings tightly and even barred students from other universities to attend the gathering. Despite these measures, dozens of Polytechnic and Allameh University students were able to pass through security checkpoints into the Tehran University. The student gathering began inside the university and in front of the Allameh Amini hall, where Ahmadinejad was delivering his speech. Soon they were violently attacked by Basiji “students,” none of whom looked familiar to Tehran University students.
About a thousand students – more than the number of students that were listening to Ahmadinejad inside the hall – were chanting in unison: “Fascist president – the University is not your place.” They also chanted, “Death to the dictator,” and “Agent of discrimination and corruption – Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.”
Student representatives from the Allameh and Polytechnic universities delivered speeches at the open microphone and criticized the student suspensions and the President’s policies. Those students who were not allowed to enter the hall marched in the campus while singing “Yar-e Dabestani” and “Ey Iran,” two popular nationalist songs. They turned into the adjoining Enghelab Avenue where events took a different turn. Anti-riot police decided to use “pepper gas” to disperse the students. In response, students began chanting: “Shame on you officer – leave students alone.” They also chanted, “We don’t want a military government.” Minutes later the vehicle carrying the minister of higher education attempted to pass through the crowd. Angry students began chanting, “Incompetent minister, resign, resign.” Minister of education Zahedi quickly fled the scene with the help of his driver and bodyguards.
After 4 hours of marching and protesting, the protesting students dispersed around 2 p.m. One student made a remark that perhaps best describes what is on the mind of everyone today, “We have to wait and see if Mr. Ahmadinejad will seek revenge against Tehran University students the way he sought revenge against Polytechnic University students last year.”