FORMER IRANIAN PARLIAMENT SPEAKER ALI LARIJANI CALLS FOR RETHINKING THE COMPULSORY HIJAB LAW

Thu 13 October 2022:

A prominent Iranian politician has called for a re-examination of the application of the mandatory hijab law as anti-hijab demonstrations sweep the country. Former Iranian parliament speaker Ali Larijani added that the demonstrations are deeply rooted in politics and are not merely the result of American or Israeli agitation. According to him, extremist actions breed extreme response.

In an interview with an Iranian news site, Larijani said, “The hijab has a cultural solution, it does not need decrees and referendums. I appreciate the services of the police force and Basij [paramilitary militia], but this burden of encouraging the hijab should not be assigned to them.”

“Do not doubt that when a cultural phenomenon becomes widespread, rigid response to it is not the cure. The people and young people who come to the street are our own children.”

He also talked of Shah’s rule prior to 1979 saying that back then the hijab was not a compulsion and women wore it out of choice.

Larijani’s comments showcase a divide that has now crept into the the political scene of the country following Mahsa Amini’s death and the consequent protests across the country. The 22-year-old was arrested by Iran’s so-called morality police for not wearing the hijab properly and later died in custody.

Iranian administration and supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei have blamed western countries for the unrest. Authorities have also been trying to undermine the credibility of Amini’s family. Protesters had called for a mass rally in Tehran on Wednesday.

Along with the Kurdish towns of Sanandaj, Saqez, Bukan, and Dehgolan, Tehran also experienced violence overnight. Many stores remained closed as well, and security personnel dispersed a protest organized by the Tehran Bar Association.

Additionally, a blockade on the internet has been put in place to prevent crowding. An anti-government rally has developed out of the protests, and measures are being taken to put an end to it.

The death toll has been estimated at over 200 by the Iran Human Rights Center in Oslo.

Protests continued in at least 19 cities in Iran today, the fourth week of protests since Amini’s death.

State security forces have been using lethal force to repress protests, particularly in the province of Kurdistan, where a human rights group reported at least five deaths and 400 injuries amid an ongoing state crackdown intended to repress protests there.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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