From the BBC:
“Iran signals determination to
enforce hijab rules”
(Protests swept across the Islamic
Republic following the death in custody of Mahsa Amini in September)
Authorities in Iran have been making
clear their determination to enforce the compulsory hijab on women. It comes
after months of protests demanding an end to the restriction. A hardline
Iranian MP has issued an ultimatum to the judiciary to come up with measures to
put a stop to women flouting the rules on headscarves, within the next 48
hours. The mass protests that erupted across Iran in September have largely
been quelled for now by brute force. But some women continue to defy the rules
on wearing a mandatory headscarf in public. Videos and pictures posted online
show the upswell of frustration and anger with the restrictions is still a
potent force in Iranian society. A video posted this week shows a man throwing
a tub of yoghurt in the face of an unveiled woman. His action was met with
outrage by male and female bystanders.
Protests swept across the Islamic
Republic following the death in September of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman
detained by morality police in Tehran for allegedly wearing her hijab
"improperly". Thousands have been arrested and four protesters have
been executed since December. But the authorities show no sign of relenting. The
interior ministry announced this week that there would be no retreat or
tolerance on the issue. The statement said that the hijab remained an essential
element of Islamic law and as such would remain one of the key principles of
the Islamic Republic of Iran. The unyielding rhetoric echoed that of the head
of the judiciary, Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei, who recently said that women who
do not wear the head covering would be prosecuted without mercy. Now, a hardline
MP has said that legislative measures must be taken to enforce what he called
the "divine decree" of the hijab. Hossein Ali Haji Deligani said that
if the judiciary did not provide such action within the next 48 hours, then MPs
would put in motion a bill to fill the legal vacuum. He said that it would be
in line with a report by the parliamentary cultural commission on
"chastity and the hijab".
The protests widened to encompass
calls for a complete overhaul of the Islamic Republic - but it remained rooted
in the issue of the hijab. The image of Mahsa Amini has remained the most
potent symbol of the movement, which for a while was able to shake the
foundations of the theocracy that has ruled Iran for more than 40 years.
^ I hope the Ordinary Iranian Men and
Women continue to protest against the Iranian Government, the Religious Police
and the Forced Hijab Wearing. ^
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