Tue 14 May 2019:
Plainclothes of Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) Basij members on Monday May 13, attacked Tehran University students protesting new hijab (veiling) regulations imposed on campus. The gathering started from morning local time, to protesting compulsory hijab regulations on campus. The university’s Regulations Committee is imposing repressive rules, according to the students. The Students continued their protest by gathering in the auditorium of the School of Fine Arts, demanding the president and vice president to answer. In response, Bassij forces attacked the students and brutalized them.
May 13 – Tehran, #Iran#IRGC Basij members attacking Tehran University students protesting new hijab (veiling) regulations imposed on campus.@cvoule@Maina_Kiai pic.twitter.com/ORQLYMNfLU
— IRAN HRM (@IranHrm) May 13, 2019
Videos on social media show students chanting slogans about their rights to choose what to wear and generally about freedom of choice. The students also chanted slogans against unemployment and abuse of women. One of the students was seen holding a sign reading, “Freedom of choice is our right.”
May 13 – Tehran, #Iran
Tehran University students holding a large rally, protesting new hijab (veiling) regulations imposed on campus.
Chants:
“College students would rather die than accept shame” pic.twitter.com/MH1V5JfkWF— IRAN HRM (@IranHrm) May 13, 2019
The state -run ISNA news agency also reported the protests saying the university students have held a campus protest against authorities’ increasing pressure on women to wear mandatory headscarves in public. The report says the students — both men and women — briefly scuffled with another group of Tehran University students who support the country’s conservative dress code. ISNA quoted the university’s vice-chancellor Majid Sarsangi as saying that “There has been no change in the university’s dress code.” He also denied claims by students about the presence of the “Dress Code Patrols” at the university, adding that “disciplinary forces warned students to respect the rules about Ramadan.” Sarsangi claimed that two opposing groups of students with different ideologies have clashed with each other.
During the past few weeks, Tehran University students have witnessed a growing number of IRGC Basij members deployed to the campus, accompanied by plainclothes intelligent agents. The measure sought to harass female students over their clothes and head coverings and enforce the compulsory veil through cracking down on female students. Security forces were stationed all across the campus to enforce disciplinary rules and to terrorize the students, especially the female students. The measure undertaken by Tehran University officials met with extensive protests by Tehran University students as it flagrantly violates the students’ privacy and their basic human rights. It is worth noting that the U.S. State Department recently designated the Islamic Revolutionary Guards, IRGC, as a “Foreign Terrorist Organization” (FTO).
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