James Leon |
Tehran, Apr 4 (EFE) they take justice into their own hands in the face of what they consider an affront.
Many Iranians have stopped wearing the mandatory Islamic veil as a form of protest and civil disobedience since the death in September of Mahsa Amini after being arrested precisely for wearing the hijab poorly.
For months the Islamic Republic focused on quelling the protests unleashed by the death of Amini and now, once the revolt has been controlled, they have turned their gaze to the reimposition of the veil, mandatory in the country since 1983.
education restriction
Thus, the Ministry of Education warned on Monday that educational centers will not offer educational services to students who do not cover themselves, an announcement that was made at the restart of the school year after the Persian New Year holidays.
“All universities and higher education centers under this Ministry of Education are exempt from providing educational and social services to the few students who do not comply with the rules and regulations of the universities,” the ministry said in a statement.
The department indicated that “the veil and chastity are an obligation” of the students, who must abide by the laws of the country
Shortly after, the Ministry of Health stated that the universities under its supervision will not serve students who do not cover themselves with a headscarf.
Universities, institutes and even schools were the epicenters of the protests, where many female students removed their veils and made contemptuous gestures at portraits of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and Ayatollah Ruholah Khomeini.
The announcement of the restriction of education was made in a tense atmosphere in the Persian country before the calls of clerics and conservative politicians for the imposition of the veil, whose non-use can be punished with jail.
“The hijab protects the individual and society from harm and deviation. The hijab today is a legal issue,” Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said on Saturday.
vigilante attacks
The president’s statements came a day after a video went viral showing how a man throws yogurt over the heads of two women for not wearing the veil in the town of Shandiz, in the northeast of the country.
The images caused a stir in the Persian country with reformists denouncing the attack and conservatives praising the attacker.
“It is intolerance,” said the cleric and politician Mohammad Ali Abtahi, who was vice president of the country with the former reformist president Mohamed Katami (1997-2005), on social networks.
Faced with the scandal, the Iranian Justice ordered the arrest of the two women for going without a veil and that of the attacker for “disturbing public order.”
It is not the only case in which ordinary citizens take the law on their own and punish women for going without a veil.
A neighbor from Tehran told EFE how they have thrown food scraps at her for going bareheaded on the street and another woman stated that she was punched by a man for the same reason.
On the streets of Tehran, it’s not hard to see people, especially chador-clad women, calling out to bareheaded youths and urging them to cover up.
Added to these actions is the closure of a multitude of stores, restaurants and other businesses throughout the country for serving uncovered women, a measure that has increased in recent weeks.
Iranian newspapers are full of short stories about these closures: “Six restaurants and cafes closed in Babolsar for not observing Islamic rules,” read a recent headline in the reformist daily Shargh.
All this to get women to cover themselves with a veil, a symbol of the Islamic Republic founded by Khomeini and which for many women represents the visible form of discrimination they suffer.