The death of 22-year-old Amini has sparked global outrage. It raises serious
questions on the sorry state of affairs of Iranian women.
SHREYA GARG
Did you know that letting your hair blow in the wind is a crime in Iran?”, asked a woman protesting in Tehran. The words are poignant,
and hard-hitting and capture the angst of Iranian women, their agony, state of despair, and desire to live freely and independently
with dignity.
In an era where women are shaping the world, it is indeed heart-wrenching to know that a 22-year-old woman in Iran died a tragic,
misogynistic death for not covering her head properly with a hijab. MahsaAmini, a young girl, was stopped by the morality police of
Iran for wearing the hijab loosely over her head and taken to a police station to re-educate her on how she should dress properly.
Some reports say her death was caused by a skull fracture from heavy blows to the head, however, Iran's morality police claim Amini
collapsed from a heart attack.
Whatever the cause of Amini's death, one thing is clear, she died under mysterious, unfavourable, and unfair circumstances.
Streets of Tehran have been lit with pyres of hijab and hair of women since then. The outburst is almost like a revolution that should
shake the conscience of the world, for its time humanity decided, cutting across boundaries of religions and regions, and the basic
and essential human rights.
Aggrieved and hapless, the plight of AmjadAmini, the father of the victim, can't be imagined. He tells the mullah performing
prayers over his daughter's dead body, “Your religion denounced her, now you've come to pray over her? Aren't you ashamed of
yourself? You killed her for two strands of hair! … Take your religion and go.” The words “You killed her for two strands of hair” stand
out, for they paint a telling picture of the sorry state of affairs for women in Iran.
The episode indeed begs some serious questions: Why in the 21st century are women being told how to dress? Who are these
so-called custodians of religion who have taken on the mantle to police women on how they should dress? Why does a father have
to bear the loss of an innocent child for no fault of hers? And how justified is it on the part of the authorities in various parts of the
world to keep women in shackles in the name of religion?
Women in Iran are not fighting the hijab, but the imposition of it. Hijab was enforced upon women to promote modest clothing and
prevent any unwanted sexual advances from the opposite sex. It is ironic how a diktat issued to seemingly protect women has in
reality curtailed their liberty and even threatened their life. A society can never make progress, and be truly free and independent if
women in it live subjugated lives like second-class citizens.
Interestingly, this is not the first time that Iranian women are fighting against the compulsion of hijab. Post the Iranian revolution,
women were forced to wear hijabs in public. Later in 1983, they needed to wear headscarves. If they failed to do so, they were
subjected to beatings which were eventually substituted with fines and jail terms. What is disgusting is that all of it was done in the
name of religion.
MasihAlinejad, an Iranian-American journalist, in an interview with a digital news portal, mentioned how women in Iran were fed
stories from early on as to how if they don't wear hijab, they would go to hell. For women all over the world, this would seem appalling
and
shocking, but for Iranian women, among many other Muslim women, this is a reality that they continue to live with. To be sure, one
is not arguing here that women must not wear hijabs. At the end of the day, every woman has the autonomy to take a call concerning
what she wants to wear. However, the act of instilling fear in women from a young age is condemnable.
This is the time when feminists all over the world, cutting across nationalities and religions, must stand in unison with those
protesting in Iran for the sake of humanity. This is the time to appreciate and support protesting women in Iran in their endeavor to
live freely and with dignity. Most of them have lived a good share of their lives behind a veil, which is akin to living in a box and not
knowing what it is like to be outside of it. To their credit, they have shown exemplary zeal to put up a fight for the life they want to
live. What they need now is support. The question is who is going to fight alongside them? They need encouragement, liberation,
and the chance to come into their own to experience life. That can only happen if voices from all over the world speak for the
cause, consistently and forcefully.
(The writer is a postgraduate in
Journalism and Mass Communication and keenly follows and writes on news pertaining to women rights.
The views expressed are personal.)
