The clerical regime has launched a new round of ruthless crackdown on women since April 13, under the pretext of combatting improper veiling.
The new plan, called “Noor”, which means “light” has been implemented by the State Security Force to enforce the law, which has not yet been approved by the Guardian Council.
Over the past week, since the start of this plan, hundreds of women who openly oppose the regime’s mandatory dress code have been violently arrested on the streets and taken into detention.
In this episode, we’re going to delve into this issue and its various aspects.
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Let us first hear from a young woman who was brutalized on the first day of this campaign. She posted this recording accompanied with a photo of her badly bruised arm. That would give you a sense of the ruthless treatment of Iranian women and girls on the streets.
I feel terrible. I can’t even talk. Today, they caught me outside the metro station. Since I had already given two written commitments, they forced me to write a third one. They flogged me. They beat me up. They hit me in the head so many times and pulled my hair.
I feel terrible. I just needed to talk to someone.
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That was so sad! Now, the clerical regime’s leader, Ali Khamenei, declared this war on women saying that covering up was a religious and legal obligation for all women, whether they like it or not. Then he said that not only the official authorities and institutions but also all the people are responsible to give warning to women who do not cover their hair.
You’re right. These are his words and his orders. However, please take note that his statement is unfounded.
First, whatever is enforced by coercion is not Islam. The Holy Quran says, there is no compulsion in religion.
The second point is that nowhere in Islam does it say that anyone has the right to disturb a woman for the way she dresses, let alone arresting them, beating them, and even killing them which was the case for Mahsa Amini and Armita Geravand, and who knows how many more that their news did not go public.
The third point is that everyone in Iran knows that this regime is not Islamic, but is a dictatorship, a tyrannical regime that is taking advantage of Islam and religion to suppress the people of Iran and clampdown on their inalienable, democratic rights.
It is essential to recognize that according to both human rights laws and religious doctrines, the choice of wearing the hijab is a deeply personal matter. No individual or authority has the right to impose specific attire on women. The decision to cover oneself is a fundamental individual right, and any attempt by religious authorities to enforce such dress codes upon women constitutes a blatant violation of human rights.
What about the part about legal obligation? They have a new law for Hijab and Chastity, don’t they?
Well, they have been working on this bill for one year now. The mullahs’ parliament increased the number of articles in the bill from 15 to 72.
And I think we discussed this in another episode, that this bill amounts to a horrible gender apartheid imposing many restrictions on women and girls and stripping many of their rights.
However, this bill has not been officially approved as a law. The parliament examined the bill not in open sessions but in closed-door deliberations by the judicial committee. And then it was adopted for a three-year period. But the regime’s Guardian Council, which must approve all legislations, has not done that yet.
So, what the security forces and others are doing is indeed illegal! Right?
Exactly! They have been arresting people on the streets, through facial recognition, and other means for not covering their hair. They have been impounding people’s cars and making them pay heavy fines. And I’m sure our listeners have heard about women being forced to wash the dead or do janitorial work as a punishment for removing their veil in public. And, of course, we had the case of Roya Heshmati who received 74 lashes for walking in the street with a modest shirt and skirt without covering her hair.
All of these measures have been against the law. And the State Security Force, the plainclothes agents, the vice patrols, and everyone who has been disturbing the women who removed their Hijab, their acts have been illegal.
And let’s not forget that even the laws are illegal themselves. This very Hijab and Chastity bill has been dubbed as amounting to “gender apartheid” by UN human rights experts.
The clerical regime’s laws are only designed to preserve the rule of the mullahs and are not compatible with any internal or international standards.
