A UNIVERSITY education may be taken for granted as the right of every individual, but this is not the case in Iran. The Iranian Government is still denying people of the Bahai faith access to higher education. Bahai followers make up the largest religious minority in Iran, whose predominant religion is Islam. The vast majority of the population are Shi'ite Muslims.

The Iranian Government had built hopes that this year Bahai students would finally escape discrimination and become accepted into universities. However, the reality has proved somewhat different. Bahai students cannot gain entry to university without first recanting their faith. It used to be the case that all students had to state their faith on the entrance examination, where there was no option for Bahais, and if any student stated their faith on the form then they were systematically dismissed. It seems that the Government are now employing more surreptitious methods. Now students must take an examination in one of Iran's four officially recognised religions, these being Islam, Christianity, Judaism, or Zoroastrianism. Bahai applicants were assured that taking the exam on Islam did not mean that they were of that faith. Yet since students have taken the examination, officials have declared that it amounts to a declaration of their chosen exam's faith.

Historically, things have been much worse for the Bahai people. In the early 1980s more than 200 Bahais were killed, hundreds were imprisoned and thousands were deprived of jobs and education solely because of their religious belief. International pressure eventually halted most of the atrocities, but Bahai people still face harassment, interrogation and have great difficulties finding employment. The Boar had drinks in Xananas with a Bahai student from Iran who is currently studying at a local university. We cannot use her real name or give away any specific details about her studies as it may compromise the safety of her Iranian family. For the purposes of this article, we shall call her Leila.

Leila explained the obstructions in education that she had suffered throughout her life. "You don't have the same rights as other students. It was hard for my family to register me at school so they sent me to private school. As they paid there were less problems. I managed to get entry to high school at the first level but could not get to the second level because I was Bahai".

"For university education, as a Bahai, the only real option is distance learning through the Bahai Institute where you post homework and assignments monthly. I passed the entrance exam there and did one year of study before I decided to leave the country and continue my studies. It was really hard and completely different from the way I had learned in high school. You are alone from the beginning there. But I did learn more about investigating things for myself. We just had books and notes. There was still some contact between students and we would meet secretly in peoples houses". The Bahai Institute for Higher Education was established in 1987 to meet the needs of those systematically denied access to higher education. It has an infrastructure of various classrooms, laboratories and libraries scattered throughout Iran, but mostly works through home learning. The Government have continually tried to squash Bahai efforts towards further education and raided the Bahai Institute in 1998, arresting staff and confiscating much of its equipment and records. However the Institute has prevailed with a large number of students, run by academics that operate outside of the Government's educational system.

Leila admits that it is very difficult for her family to fund her studies in England, but recognises, "I have a good situation, much better than my friends in Iran". Leila says, "I didn't want to leave Iran. All my family and fiends are there. Middle Eastern culture is so different but there was no other way to continue my studies. I would love to return to Iran and live with my family again but I will have problems finding a job so I still can't go back, even after University. I may do a Masters".

Leila uses the Bahai community in Britain for moral support and has found Bahai friends at her university. Leila is in contact with members of the Bahai Society at Warwick, and the community meet once a month for a social, called a Feast, which operates like a discursive house group and shares devotional prayers.

Of her family, Leila said, "My Mum and Dad have had a hard life. My father could not continue his studies at University because of the revolution. They did their best however and now survive by running a private business. My father is interrogated every year. They are constantly under pressure from the secret police. I cannot talk about the politics of the Government with my family over the phone or through emails. Everything is under Government control. We don't want any more pressure from them".

So why doesn't Leila just publicly renounce her faith, return to Iran and enjoy an easy life? "It is the right of everyone to choose what they want to be. I give that freedom to myself. If I don't then how can I ask others to give me freedom? The logical way forward might be to do as you say but under that logic you deny all your beliefs and characteristics. If I deny this then my life will be meaningless".

Explaining why she became a Bahai, Leila told me, "We have a chance before the age of 16 to choose whatever we want to believe in. My father has a big bookshelf with books about many religions and he encouraged me to read them. When I chose Bahai he told me to pray for a better life with improvements. I think the Bahai religion is suited to the time in which I am living. Bahais are not allowed to fight. There is no Jihad. I compared Bahai to other religions and found it the best one for me".

Leila has found that the problem in Iran comes from the Government rather than the people. "I've never had problems with friends as they are all so kind. I have had problems with teachers, especially with tests and entrance exams. We are not allowed to explain the Bahai situation to anyone unless asked. When the Government limits knowledge, everyone wants to know more. The Bahai want to get their rights in the right way, not through disruptive protest. We will write letters to Kofi Anan. If everyone leaves Iran then there will be no one to ask for their rights. My family choose to stay in their homeland and defend their rights".

The Bahai Society at Warwick University proposed a new Union policy at the General Meeting last week about Iran's 'Denial of Access to Higher Education'. The Policy quotes the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights which states that "everyone has the right to education. Higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit". The declaration also states that all are entitled to this "without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion" and so forth. Iran is in flagrant breach of human rights. There were not enough students at the Union General Meeting to make the policy an official Union stance, but indicative votes showed that the vast majority of the students support the motion.

Asis Khabirpour of Warwick's Bahai Society is keen to build an academic awareness of the situation in Iran as it is essential that the international community pressurise the Government into a more equal and accepting system, no longer discriminating against its 300,000 person Bahai population. Asis told The Boar, "The Bahai society is currently trying to raise awareness for the human rights violations that are being enforced against the Bahai in Iran. The Iranian government spreads many rumours about the Bahai faith, propagating many things about them that are simply not true. One very popular accusation is that the Bahai are spies of the Americans. Another one states that the Bahai are a secret political party trying to overthrow the government. Clearly neither of these are true. In fact, it is even forbidden for Bahai to engage in Party Politics. The greatest worry of the Iranian government, which is based on the foundations of Islam, is that the Bahai faith becomes so popular that it will cause the clergy, which plays a large part in governing the country, to loose their power. What the government doesn't understand, is that the Bahai faith embraces Islam and accepts Muhammad as a prophet. Bahai mean to do no evil towards Muslims, and for that matter, to no one".

Some of the animosity towards the Bahai may stem from the fact that they preach that Bahá'u'lláh was the final prophet, while the Muslims are still waiting for the final saviour to arrive. The Bahai faith teaches progressive revelation and purports that each age of mankind needs a new religion and prophet to guide the people to the one will of God, and so accepts the prophets of all the other major world religions. The Bahai assertion of equality between men and women and all peoples may also undermine the stringent Government regime. The Bahai encourage the independent investigation of truth and the Government may well fear it's Islamic Republic loosing control from the clergy to autonomous individuals if this ethos becomes popular.

The Iranian Government specifically aim to stunt the development and social advancement of the Bahai people. Warwick's Bahai Society are encouraging student solidarity with university applicants in Iran being denied higher education on the basis of faith. Khabirpour hopes that the student community will stand together to ask the Government to stop its duplicity in entering Bahai students as Muslims, and expelling them when they assert their true faith. The Bahai Society are encouraging universities to send letters of protest to their MPs, the United Nations and the Iranian Government. This work is being done in association with the campaign 'Closed Doors' being run by the Bahai International Community.