Of the 195 countries in the world, 57 are Muslim-majority. Of these, Sharia law is strictly followed in 8. But there are only 2 countries where it is mandatory for women to wear hijab when they leave the house. These two countries are Shia-dominated Iran and Taliban-ruled Afghanistan. In Iran, severe punishment is given for breaking this law of a woman. Him From applying 74 whips to 16 years in jail can happen till. Despite such strictness, Iran’s 72 percent of the population It is against making hijab compulsory.
By the way, the controversy regarding the hijab in Iran is not a new thing. This trend has been going on for almost a decade. But this time the death of 22-year-old Mehsa Amini in police custody has provoked the ‘Anti Hijab’ movement even more. Amini was arrested for roaming the capital Tehran without a hijab. She went into a coma shortly after her arrest and died in police custody three days later (September 16).
Now women are running anti-hijab campaigns everywhere in Iran. A crowd of women gather at any square and square in the city and collectively take off the hijab and register a protest. In a fundamentalist country like Iran, bypassing the dreadful punishment, women are protesting on the streets for their rights.
Iran was not like this four decades ago
Iran was not like this until 43 years ago. Due to the dominance of Western civilization, there was openness here. There was no restriction regarding the dress. Women could come and go anywhere wearing anything. 1979 brought the era of Islamic revolution for Iran. Religious leader Ayatollah Khomeini took the reins of power by removing Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and implemented Sharia law across the country.
When did the protests against Hijab start?
Sporadic protests started in Iran as soon as the hijab became mandatory, but this movement got its real wind in 2014. In fact, Iran’s Political journalist Masih Alinejad posted a photo of himself on Facebook while walking in the streets of London. Hundreds of Iranian women commented on Alinejad’s photo. Impressed by this, he posted another photo. This photo was from when Masih Alinejad was in Iran. Even in this she was not wearing a hijab. Iranian women also started sending them their photos without hijab and thus a movement was born. Alinejad now lives in America.
70 lakh people joined the campaign
For protest against the hijab in 2014 My Stealthy Freedom A Facebook page named The women gathered through this page took many initiatives on social media like ‘My Forbidden Voice’, Men in Hijab, My Camera is My Weapon. The White Wednesday campaign was launched in May 2017. The women involved in this campaign protest against the hijab by wearing white clothes. Today, about 7 million people from all over the world are associated with this campaign. Of these 7 million, 80 percent are from Iran.
Iranian people against hijab
In view of the continuing strictness in Iran regarding the hijab, Assistant Professor of Tilburg University in the Netherlands AMMAR MALEKI conducted a survey in 2020. 50 thousand people of Iranian origin became part of this survey. The results of this survey, which lasted for 15 days, surprised everyone. The results found that 72 percent of Iran’s population is against making the hijab mandatory.
Same rule for non muslims
By the way, many female activists are fighting for the rights of Iran’s women by putting their lives at risk. But Elnaz Sarbar His name is at the top of this list. Elnaaz is also associated with the ‘My Stealthy Freedom’ campaign. Elnaz says, ‘I was born after the Islamic Revolution in Iran. Since childhood, I have seen the tradition of hijab. No woman gets entry in school or office without hijab. In Iran, the punishment for not wearing a hijab in a public place is 74 lashes. It doesn’t matter whether you are a Muslim or belong to any other religion. The same rules apply to tourists as well.
They got punished for not wearing hijab
, On 12 July 2022, Iranian actress Roshno was arrested for not wearing a hijab. He was tortured for several days and apologized on National TV.
, On March 8, 2018, in the capital Tehran, a woman protested against the compulsory hijab and took off her hijab and hung it with the help of a stick. The woman was sentenced to 2 years. He didn’t even get parole for 3 months.
, On 2 February 2018, the Iranian police arrested 29 women roaming in public places without hijab. Iranian police called it part of propaganda by Iranians living abroad.
