Iran’s Govt Scrambles to Contain Unrest as it Spreads to More Towns and Cities

PTI

The large-scale protests against the Iranian government over the custodial death of a 22-year-old Kurdish woman who was arrested by the country’s notorious “morality” police for allegedly violating the strict law on headscarves has reportedly spread to about 80 cities and towns.

Hundreds of protesters, mostly women, took to the streets following the death of Mahsa Amini — a Kurd native — chanting anti-government slogans that target the core of the Islamic regime and its Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

The death toll in the violent clashes with security forces has reached as high as 26, Iranian state TV indicated on Friday. The unrest, said to be the worst in recent years, has also spread to about 80 Iranian cities and towns.

At least five security personnel have also been killed and several others injured while trying to confront protesters in Mashhad, Quchan, Shiraz, Tabriz, and Karaj, it added.

Amini’s tragic death has fuelled an outpouring of long-simmering anger over restrictions on personal freedoms in the Islamic nation.

In the past days, some protesting women have set their headscarves on fire on the streets in what can be described as an unprecedented act of disobedience, while men burned banners of the Supreme Leader in several towns including religious cities of Qom and Isfahan.

Protesters also tore and burned posters of Qaseem Soleimani – the Revolutionary Guard commander who was killed in a US drone strike in January 2020 – in his hometown Kerman. The late commander is celebrated as a symbol of the Iranian regime’s strategic power projection in Syria and Iraq.

Iranian law requires all women to wear a head covering and loose-fitting clothing while in public places. The rule has been enforced since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, and it is obligatory for every woman in the country.

Amini from the north-western city of Saqez died in hospital on September 16, after spending three days in a coma. She was with her brother in Tehran when she was arrested by morality police. She fell into a coma shortly after collapsing at a detention centre.

There were reports that police beat Amini’s head with a baton and banged her head against one of their vehicles, Acting UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Nada al-Nashif said.

The police have denied that she was mistreated and said she suffered “sudden heart failure”. But her family has said she was healthy.

Meanwhile, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has said the death of a woman in police custody must be “steadfastly” investigated.

Speaking on a visit to the UN General Assembly in New York, Raisi accused the West of hypocrisy for raising concerns over Amini’s death.

Raisi has said that he would not allow the country’s security to be “threatened”.

“We will not allow people’s security to be put at risk under any circumstances,” the BBC quoted him as saying, shortly after returning from the UN General Assembly in New York.

He said that Iran’s “enemies” wanted to exploit the current unrest.

Raisi also said the government would listen to criticism over Amini’s death, but would not be influenced by “rioting”.

The heart-breaking death of Amini has captured immediate attention of the nation, with a woman protester describing the sense of feeling as “If we don’t become one, we will be taken down one by one.”

Mehri, a middle-aged woman sitting at the park with her headscarf taken off and laying on her shoulders, said, “I want to go to the demonstrations but I can’t due to my physical condition. But I don’t wear my scarf on the streets anymore.”

When asked whether she took part in the protests, Zahra, a lady in her 50s, said, “What’s the point? The blood of our youth is wasted and nothing will come out of it.”

A man in his 60s, who identified himself as Sarabi, said, “We should take the path of peaceful and continuous protests. Emotional outbursts that wear out too quickly won’t get us far. We need a systematic approach. At this point strikes will be more effective.”

Meanwhile, the state-owned Press TV reported that thousands of government supporters took to the streets in several cities to condemn “acts of vandalism by anti-government protesters” in the past few days.

While the systematic corruption has torn the economic fabric of Iran which is already crippled by stringent US sanctions, social injustice adds fuel to the flames of discontent.

Anti-government protesters allege that technocrats are marginalised in favour of religious socialites and connections overshadow credentials and qualifications for professional progress. Debilitating inflation and unemployment are affecting every family and class. Class gap widens every day and more people feel helpless in the face of deteriorating, they allege.

It is in this climate that social coherence is building among the suppressed and overlooked majority in Iran.

This is the fifth wave of generational mass protests the Islamic republic has witnessed since its inception in 1979.

While the ongoing demonstration is dubbed by some as an act of feminist activism triggered by public demand to defend women’s rights; Iranian men stand shoulder-to-shoulder with their mothers, sisters, daughters, wives, and lovers to see it through.

Women celebrate their dream of freedom by dancing and singing while throwing their headscarves to the fire and grieve the death of Amini as well as other protesters as they cut long locks; while men stand guard.

A female reporter on Islamic TV Channel of Yazd County took off her scarf in front of camera and another national TV host was laid off and his show suspended due to his support of protests.

A day after Amini’s death shops and businesses in every city across the whole county of Kurdistan went on a strike, despite threats made by security forces. Two days later Tehran Bazaar joined the strikes.

During the protests, universities, including University of Tehran and Shahid Beheshti, were at the forefront of unrest with students chanting the most radical slogans such as “Mullahs should sod off”.

Three prominent universities – Tehran, Khaje Nassir, and Shahid Beheshti – have returned to online classes for the upcoming week in an attempt to pacify the protesting students.

The last major protest in Iran – also known as ‘Bloody November’ – started in 2019 following a 50% –200% increase in fuel prices.

(Courtesy: Newsclick.)

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‘They May Kill Me but I Won’t Wear Hijab Again’: Iranian Women Fight for Freedom

Deepa Parent

“My heart would start beating fast and I would start sweating whenever I spotted chador-clad women on the subway. I knew they were the morality police, just by looking at their shoes,” Nergis, a 21-year-old Tehran resident, tells The Quint.

“Everyone’s out there to stifle our voices. We’ve been in an open prison since childhood. Why should we live like criminals,” she asks.

For days now, Nergis has joined the hundreds of women and men protesting against the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini at Keshavarz Boulevard in Iran’s capital.

Popular among university students, Keshavarz Boulevard has been the go-to spot for some of the largest anti-government protests over the years. On the evening of 20 September, to show solidarity with the women across the country and to seek justice for Mahsa, women students burned their headscarves.

The Iranian Police responded with tear gas, rubber bullets, and batons to “punish” the protesters. Nergis was one of the victims.

But despite the crackdown on the protesters, anti-government demonstrations continued for the seventh consecutive day on Thursday, 22 September.

‘I Was Beaten With Batons’

Nergis arrived at the protest site at around 6 pm on 20 September and joined the crowd chanting, “Death to Khamenei,” verbally attacking Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Soon afterward, she recalls, the riot police surrounded the protesters and released tear gas to disperse them.

“An hour after the protest started, the police shot at us. They used tear gas and chased us on motorcycles. They shot me with rubber bullets and beat me with batons. Even after this violence, the chants of ‘death to Khamenei’ only got louder and louder,” says Nergis.

When the police chased them away, some took cover in a park nearby.

In a country like Iran, where a social media post could land you in prison or worse, protesting and chanting death to the Supreme Leader are rare occurrences.

For years, Iranian women have had to marry against their will, keep mum about domestic violence, and adhere to the regime’s dress code. Has the simmering anger and yearning for freedom pushed Iranian women to a “point of no return?”

Nergis says, “Mahsa’s death has fuelled our fight for freedom. I always protested on social media, but now we’ve reached a point of no return. We have no fear.”

“My body is in pain after the police beat me with batons yesterday. I hardly slept and had to cover my bruises from my family. Yet, I am on my way to Keshavarz Boulevard to call for an end to Khamenei’s dictatorship. This time, we won’t back down. They can’t kill all of us,” Nergis told The Quint.

‘Hijab a Symbol of Oppression’: Chants From Tehran

Witnesses confirmed to The Quint that the riot police were patrolling the streets of Tehran until the early hours of 21 September and have been following protesters home. When protesters regrouped that evening, they again held up black scarves and chanted: “Hijab is a symbol of oppression.”

Nergis revealed that the riot police once again shot at and beat some of the protesters on their heads. They had gathered at Keshavarz Boulevard as well as other Tehran landmarks like Valiasr Square, Enghelab Square, and Vasal Street.

“Today, the number of protesters was five times more, and so was the oppressive regime’s police. More brutal than yesterday,” Nergis adds.

‘Cannot Be a Mute Spectator Anymore’

Mehjabin is a 46-year-old midwife and a mother of two sons. A native of Isfahan, one of the most conservative cities in the country, Mehjabin had followed the regime’s strict hijab rules ever since she was a little girl.

Having moved to Tehran post her wedding in 2007, she noticed that although the women in the capital enjoyed certain liberties, hardliners enforced strict rules on them.

“Young girls in Iran wore loose headscarves and knee-length robes with trousers. I often thought they had so much freedom. But in the past decade, the rules got stricter. They were not only forced by families to obey them but also feared the rude morality policewomen. They would humiliate and beat up girls for wearing bright colours on the train. I can’t be a mute spectator anymore. The deaths of men and women in the 2019 uprising broke my faith in the regime. Mahsa’s death is just the final nail in the coffin,” said Mehjabin, a medical professional

In November 2019, protests erupted across various cities in Iran against the gasoline price hike. According to Amnesty International, at least 304 people were killed.

Government vehicles were torched and millions protested. The country has been on the edge since the uprising, as reports of human rights abuses gained attention across the world. Women activists and critics of the regime have been imprisoned or had to flee.

Protests Spread to Mashhad, Home to World’s Largest Mosque

Since Mahsa’s death, protests have spread from the capital across Iran, including two of the holiest cities of the country – Mashhad and Qom. The former is home to the Imam Reza holy shrine (mausoleum) and the world’s largest mosque. It is also the birthplace of the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei. Qom, known as Iran’s Vatican, is the second-holiest city in the country.

Women and men have confronted the police in these cities and protested by burning headscarves. In Sari, a large group took over the town hall and tore down pictures of Iran’s first Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khomeini.

“I call it the Talibanisation of the Iranian society. Iranian girls are educated and we won’t back down. We always dressed modestly, but this new order has just unleashed a new hell on our women. We will burn this regime down, along with our hijabs,” says Nergis.

(The author is an independent journalist based out of Paris. An alumna of University College Dublin, she writes about international conflict and war. Courtesy: The Quint.)

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Press Release, 23 September 2022

IMSD Strongly Condemns the Repressive Iranian Regime, Questions the Hypocrisy of the Muslim Clergy in India

Indian Muslims for Secular Democracy (IMSD) strongly condemns the Iranian State’s obscurantist, authoritarian laws and their murderous enforcement, as also the denial of the citizens’ right to protest. In this third decade of the 21st century it’s inhuman and barbaric to kill a fellow human being merely for not covering her head.

At the same time, we question the hypocrisy of India’s Muslim clergy in not supporting the Iranian women’s right to choose, an argument it puts forward in the context of the ongoing hijab controversy in India.

The world is witnessing a horrendous turn of events in Iran where State atrocity has caused the custodial murder of a 22-years-old young woman, #MahasaAmini , just for taking off her head cover. No less shocking is the fact that those protesting the murder by peacefully defying the mandatory head covering are being subjected to violence, humiliation and arrests on the streets by the police.

The news and real time videos coming from Tehran and other parts of Iran are heart wrenching. However the heart-warming aspect of these protests is the active support of young Iranian men who are opposing both archaic traditional practices and State atrocities.

In this epochal moment, the Indian clergy and conservative Muslims in general that support mandatory head covering for Muslim women, citing the principle of right to choose attire, must be questioned whether they support Iranian women’s ‘right to choose or refuse head coverings’?

It will be hypocritical of all those who tom-tom this liberal democratic argument that ‘forced removal of burqa, naqab, hijab is against the basic human rights of a woman’, but who do not come forward in support of Iranian women of different faiths who are forced to cover their heads in consonance with Islamic Shariah practices of Iran. It is to be noted here that in Iran the rule of mandatory head covering is applicable to Muslims and non-Muslims alike.

IMSD calls upon the civil society in India to challenge the hypocrisy of those religious power elite who choose the liberal principles of Indian constitution as per their fundamentalist and misogynistic conveniences while they remain tight lipped when these principles are flouted against the progressive aspirations of the citizens in Islamic States.

(Statement courtesy: Countercurrents.org.)