Neda, the girl who died so the world knew

Three years ago, on 20 June 2009, Neda, the Iranian girl, bled to death on the streets of Tehran, shot by an Iranian pro-government militiaman during the protests to the fraudulent presidential elections.

She was one of hundreds of people who were slain by the Iranian brutal government, just because she aspired for change. Right before she died, her gaze was captured on a cameraphone, circulated the web, and caught the attention of millions around the world and became the most watched death in the history.

In the days after she died, the international media went hysterical about this tragedy. Presidents and Prime Ministers condemned it, the Iranian people called for justice, the Iranian government denied it. But her death had moved millions. The world now knew. They knew that in the mysterious land of Iran, there also lives a generation who is so much like their peers around the world, a generation who wants to find joy in life, wants to have a voice, and is ready to give up everything in the quest for freedom.

However, three years have passed now. The green movement has been suppressed violently, hundreds of people are in prison, hundreds in anonymous graves, and those who have a grave are under constant surveillance lest people pay homage to them.

Three years have passed and the world has moved on. Their only concern about Iran is for the nuclear ambitions, for which no evidence exists. In the meantime, those who shouted for freedom have fallen into despair, feeling that the world has forgotten them. In the meantime, the world no longer remembers Neda, the girl who stared into the camera seconds before she died, saying ‘look at me, don’t forget that they killed me, because I wanted to have a voice.’

The media has moved on, they no longer care about the most watched death in the world, it’s the time of Euro games, and then Olympics.

And the brutal Iranian regime looks back at all the crimes and injustice it committed in the last three years, and realised that no one really cares anymore. The fundamental regime smiles and says, ‘I did the right thing to kill all those who protested. I’ll do the same next time. After all, everyone would forget the bloodshed before the next Olympic games