BE SŪ-YE ĀYANDA (Toward the future), Persian daily newspaper and unofficial publicity organ of the Communist Ḥezb-e Tūda (Tudeh party; q.v.), published 1950-53. Its original licensee and editor was Maḥmūd Žandī. During the newspaper’s three-year existence, Be-sū-ye āyanda was suppressed several times by government censors, and its office was attacked by anti-Tūda factions. It was thus forced to publish under protective pseudonyms, using the licenses of other Tūda members or sympathizers; ʿElāj and Dež appeared in 1950, Dež and Novīd-e āyanda in 1951, and, in the beginning of 1952, Šajāʿat, Ṣolḥ-e pāydār, Rastāḵīz-e ḵalq, and Rāhnamā-ye mellat were published in Be sū-ye āyanda’s stead. The paper reverted to its original name for a few issues from the last weeks of Ordībehešt, 1331 Š./April, 1952, until the fall of the Moṣaddeq government on 28 Mordād 1332 Š./19 August 1953. During this period it had also reappeared under such sobriquets as Dež, Novīd āyanda, Rahbar-e mardom, Razmāvarān, Saranjām, Bāng-e mardom, Jaras, and Šajāʿat, the last of which was in circulation during 6-28 Mordād 1332 Š./29 July-19 August 1953.
While journals such as Mardom and Razm (qq.v.), clandestinely published, fulfilled the role of official communist party organs in Iran, Be sū-ye āyanda, which had no formal, organizational ties to the party and could not claim to have since the party itself was officially banned, saw fit to practice political opposition in public on a broader scale. It took on all Iranian governments, including that of Moṣaddeq, various political parties and factions, and most of the other influential journals of the period. As a publicity organ or, as S. Zabih (The Mossadegh Era, Chicago, 1982, p. 161) puts it, “the principal mouthpiece of the Tudeh front organization,” Be sū-ye āyanda worked toward the party’s goals, but remained relatively free of articles on Communist theory. Even its news and editorials went beyond the confines of party literature. Be sū-ye āyanda’s sharp attacks and provocative, sloganesque headlines placed it within the stylistic mainstream of Persian journalism after the fall of Reżā Shah in 1320 Š./1941. Nevertheless, despite its unrestrained partisanship, Be sū-ye āyanda was among the few newspapers of the period which did not indulge in profanity and slanderous attacks on the personal lives of public figures.
Be sū-ye āyanda was originally a four-column, four to eight-page paper, measuring 26.5 x 36 cm and costing one rial. Later it expanded to a six-column paper, measuring 35 x 48.5 cm and costing two rials.
Holdings: Princeton University Library: nos. 726, 730, 781, 784-87, 789, 792 (R. Mach and R. D. McChesney, A List of Persian Serials in the Princeton University Library, Princeton, 1971); Library of Congress: 13 June 1951-4 March 1953 (I. Pourhadi, Persian and Afghan Newspapers in the Library of Congress 1871-1978, Washington, 1979, p. 13); Ketāb-ḵāna-ye Mellī-e Īrān: nos. 1-793 (Fehrest-e rūz-nāmahā-ye mawjūd dar Ketāb-ḵāna-ye Mellī-e Īrān, Tehran, 2536 = 1356 Š./1977, pp. 57-58).
Bibliography:
Given in the text. See also S. Zabih, The Communist Movement in Iran, Berkeley and Los Angeles, 1966, p. 173.
W. M. Ṣādeqī-nasab, Fehrest-e rūz-nāmahā-ye fārsī, sāl-e 1320-32 šamsī, Tehran, 1360 Š./1981.
Search terms:
| به سوی آینده، روزنامه | be soye aynadeh | be sooye ayandeh | be souyeh ayandeh |
| be suyeh aayandeh | be soyeh ayandeh |
(Nassereddin Parvin)
Originally Published: December 15, 1989
Last Updated: December 15, 1989
This article is available in print.
Vol. IV, Fasc. 1, pp. 66-67
