Oriana Fallaci, a high-profile Italian journalist, has hinted that she was much impressed by personality and character of the founder of the Islamic Republic Imam Khomeini.
Fallaci, the famous Italian journalist, made remarks after conducting an historic interview with the great Imam in September 1979.
The great Imam delivered very logical and explicit answers to her queries on variety of topics and range of issues.
Fallaci also heaped praise on Imam and admired the spiritual power and patience exercised by Imam and she described it as of great significance and memorial interview
We bring some brief phrases from this historic interview as under:
Fallaci: Your Eminence, Imam Khomeini! Iran is in your hand and your words are fully accepted and become law in this country, taking an executive form. In the country, there are some people who think there is no freedom in this country. What is your Eminence’s comment?
Imam: Iran is not in my hands; it is in the hands of the nation. The nation may freely turn to anyone who serves them and who works for their interests. There exists freedom of thought and expression in this country, but not the freedom for devising conspiracies and corruption.
Fallaci: Those who do not fear you and I saw in front of your house and also in Tehran crying “Khomeinī, Khomeinī,” generates some feeling in one emanating from some sort of fanaticism. Do you not see this threatening to progress of man and growth of human being?
Imam: It is not fanaticism. It is freedom to express friendship. This is, borrowing your words, democracy in friendship. They have felt that I act according to their interests, that we do not want to oppress them and that we do not want to force them to do something. It is not a rigid fanaticism without any logic and foundation. I will not feel any threat in this.
Fallaci: Is it all right to conceal women under Chadors (long grown covering women from head to too)?
Imam: Firstly, it is optional for them. They have chosen it. What right do you have to strip them of this option? We communicate to women to turn out with chador or Islamic dress. Out of the 35 million populations, 33 will come out wearing Islamic mode of dress. What right do you have to bar them? What sort of dictatorship are you applying to women? Secondly, we do not press for any specific covering. For women of your age, there is there is no strict regulation. We are checking the young women wearing strong make-up and trailing behind them a throng of people. You need not feel pity for them.