Mahsa Amini was a 22-year-old Iranian Kurd. She was detained in Tehran by the morality police for allegedly not covering her hair properly. She died in custody three days after her arrest. The police claimed she died from a heart attack during mandatory training on the hijab rules. But when images of her emerged in the hospital in a coma with bruises, they quickly went viral and provoked widespread anger.
The protests which have now been going on for weeks are the largest mass demonstrations Iran has seen for years. Mahsa Amini’s death has become a lightning rod for many people across the nation, who are fed up with a religious regime that interferes in nearly every aspect of their lives.
What Actually Happened to Mahsa Amini?
The morality police or guidance patrols are a unit of Iran’s police force. They’re responsible for enforcing the Islamic dress code in public spaces.
According to the law, all women must wear a head covering and lose clothing. A lot of this is open to interpretation, which gives the morality police a huge amount of arbitrary power on the receiving end of that power, and most women although men can also be arrested.
Those detained are often given training on the hijab and how to dress according to Islamic values. The rules are ultra-conservative and activists have for many years railed against a system of control, which interferes with what should be a really basic right, how you dress your body.
The death of Mahsa Amini has resonated with people across Iran and ignited anger that has been boiling below the surface for many years at religious laws, which are hugely oppressive.
Anti-Hijab Protest in Iran
Protesters calling for justice and democracy have been met with a systematic and brutal crackdown. But people haven’t been deterred because as well as being fed up with the clerical regime and its repressive rules. People are also angry at dismal living conditions made worse by years of US sanctions.
Iran has seen widespread protests before but what we’re witnessing at the moment is different. These protests are mainly led by women and they have support across the full spectrum of Iranian society. Iran’s Supreme Leader claims all of this has been orchestrated by America the great Satan and the Zionist but there’s no evidence that’s the case.
In fact, what is happening in Iran cities appears to be very much an organic movement of people who are not scared to defy the regime’s rigid Islamic laws.
The veil or hijab has long been a symbol for many of oppression, and many women are now ripping off and burning their head coverings in protest. No one knows how all of this will end, but it is the most significant challenge the Islamic Republic has faced since it was founded.
Photos Source- USA Today
Related Articles:-
