Bam and the Mullahs


Corruption feeds earthquake devastation

Tens of thousands of people are dead in Bam, Iran, a city with many earthquakes in its past. Why were they living there? And why did their buildings collapse so readily?

Amir Taheri offered an explanation in the New York Post this week.

Bam was first devastated about 1900 years ago, and then again in 1911, 1950 and 1966.

After the last quake steps were taken to ban new housing. For six years in the 1970s no building permits were issued. Then came the Islamic Revolution.

"The revolutionary turmoil of 1978-79 provided racketeers with an opportunity to seize large chunks of land in Bam and use it for poorly designed and badly constructed houses and shops. The racket was backed by a group of powerful mullahs who, in exchange for a cut in the proceeds, issued fatwas (religious opinions) that canceled government orders that banned house-building in the city.

"The mullahs claimed that the shah had wished to keep Bam empty because of a secret plan under which the city would be turned into a Zoroastrian center. They also dismissed warnings from the National Seismological Center in Tehran that opposed the repopulation of Bam. The mullahs claimed that the Hidden Imam would protect the new inhabitants of the city against all disasters.

"Thus, more than half of those who died in the earthquake could be regarded as victims of a racket ran by mullahs and their associates with the help of religious prejudice and superstition."

Taheri goes on to discuss the abject poverty that exists in the region despite the almost $500 billion Iran has received in oil revenues over the past 25 years. There is also concern that a nuclear power plant is being built on the same fault line that left Bam in ruins.

Posted: Fri - January 2, 2004 at 02:21 PM          

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