DUBAI: In order to punish women who refuse to don the required Muslim dress, Iran’s rulers are turning to original, less intrusive methods out of concern that they will reignite the country of its worst political unrest in years.
The techniques, which were implemented in response to widespread anti-government demonstrations last year, combine the use of security cameras with the rejection of say services to offenders, replacing the morality police, whose actions served as the focal point of the upheaval for months.
According to Egyptian activists, the measures haven’t done much to combat the hijab’s opposition and, if they lead to business closures, they could increase economic pressures.
Roya, 31, a personal tutor in the northeastern city of Rasht who was detained for three months after being arrested during demonstrations in November, said,” Walking unveiled through the city is today my way of keeping our rebellion dead.”
” We are never afraid of the risks made by the regime. We desire rights. According to Maryam, a high school student in Iran’s northern Kermanshah city,” this path may continue until we reclaim our country from the clerics.”
What would happen in the worst-case approach if I were to walk down the street without a dress? Check? I could care less.
Morality authorities operating out of trucks that patrolled crowded social spaces harassed ladies who refused to wear the dress for decades. The mixed male and female crew of the vehicles would keep an eye out for” unIslamic dress and behavior.”
However, after the demonstrations confronted Iran’s priestly rulers with their worst validity crisis since the 1979 Islamic revolution, residents told Reuters that the vans have largely disappeared from the streets of the cities they used to police.
Additionally, according to Iranian officials, the battle against those who violate the dress rules will no longer be led by conscience police patrols.
NEW ACTIVITIES
Officials are installing monitors on the streets in place of vans to track down unveiled women, offering a more covert way to spot violations of Iran’s strict dress code.
A government attempt to both the private and public industries not to provide services to” violators” is another fascinating strategy. There have been cautions of severe fines and even imprisonment.
However, in the midst of the protests, which began after the death of an Egyptian Shiite woman who was detained for reportedly breaking hijab laws at the age of 22, a growing number of women have defied the law by removing their veils.
The protest was fiercely put down by security forces, and the city protests partly stopped in February.
Her passing in September while being held by conscience police sparked years of repressed rage in society over things like economic hardship and tightening social restrictions. & nbsp,
In a screen of civil disobedience, women next usually show up in malls, airport, restaurants, and city while wearing only their underwear. & nbsp,
Different lawmakers and politicians have forewarned that if authorities continue to concentrate on punishing women who don’t wear the hijab, the protests may continue. When Mohammed Baqer Qalibaf, the speaker of Parliament, said on April 14 that pursuing the issue of the dress did not fight with developing the business, he drew criticism from academics and officials.
The totalitarian government’s large economic base of traditional and religious people, according to Saeid Golkar, an associate professor of social science at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, was the goal of enforcing the hijab law.
Roya has been prohibited from leaving the country and called in several years for doubting since being released on bail.
” I may end up in jail once more, but it’s for it.” Roya declared,” I’m willing to pay the price for my country’s freedom.
Due to security concerns and the potential repercussions of speaking to strange media, Roya requested anonymity, just like the other hundred women who were questioned for this story.
In the revered Shi’ite town of Mashhad, Minou, a 33-year-old woman who claimed she was beaten and her brother was detained by security personnel during the protests, said,” I go through unveiled every day to show that the opposition to the rulers is now dead.”
Socioeconomic PROBLEMS
According to an Egyptian insider who is familiar to important decision-makers, the new anti-Hijab strategies may make Iran’s economic problems worse.
According to state media, thousands of businesses have been shut down for times, including a 450-shop shopping center in Tehran, whose employees were serving unveiled women in violation of the required dress legislation.
Iran has experienced almost nonstop protests by workers and retirees for decades over an inflation rate of more than 50 %, increased unemployment, and unpaid wages. The market has been negatively impacted by US restrictions and poor management.
The ministers of health and education have stated that services will not be provided to those who disobey the Muslim dress code, while Iranian state television have broadcast images of women without dress being prohibited from using public transit.
Asghar, 45, in the heart of Isfahan, said,” My grocery store was shut down for a few days by officials for serving unveiled ladies.”
” I have to work to support my family. I hardly ever get by. I don’t give a damn if my clients are covered or not.
Shadi, 20, claims that going to class at a university in northeastern Iran has turned into” a daily fight for freedom.”
” I have been threatened with being fired from college by the college administration… But until we have freedom, I won’t back down ,” she said. The following are: & nbsp, , SNP, BSP, NBP, A & NBPS,