Iranian Students Gearing Up For Nationwide Anti-Hijab Protests
Amid intensified measures to enforce hijab in Iran, several grassroot student groups across the country have called for a protest rally against mandatory hijab on April 15.
Amid intensified measures to enforce hijab in Iran, several grassroot student groups across the country have called for a protest rally against mandatory hijab on April 15.
The student groups said gatherings, sit-ins, and theatrical performances will be held on Saturday as a response to the new forcible measures by the government.
"After the end of Nowruz holidays and the reopening of universities, the Islamic Republic has started to implement the so-called 'verbal reminder’ of hijab observance, inside the university campuses,” read their statement.
In fact, the clerical regime and its hardliner supporters issue threats to women and new restrictive measures almost daily to try to force then to wear hijab.
As part of humiliation tactics, hijab enforcers have been placed at universities across the country to prevent students who do not observe the compulsory dress code from entering campuses. Clashes between students and the hijab enforcers were also reported in the past several days.
“The brutal behavior and the presence of repressive forces at universities, the gender segregation of entrance gates for male and female students, the absolute disregard of the students’ rights, and finally the heavy presence of repressive forces in and around universities to deprive us from one of our most basic rights (the right to choose clothing) will not be tolerated any longer," added the statement.
The call for protest was issued by over a dozen groups and organizations formed by students from several cities, including those in Esfahan (Isfahan) University, Esfahan University of Medical Sciences, Tarbiat Modares Beheshti, Al-Zahra and Sanandaj universities, as well as the University of Tehran.
Iran's universities were one of the main centers of protests during the nationwide uprising following the death of Mahsa Amini in custody of hijab police in September 2022. In order to suppress the protests, the security force repeatedly attacked the universities and arrested hundreds of students. A large number of students have also been banned, expelled and suspended by university administrators.
According to Iran’s Student Union Council on Tuesday, more than 430 students have been suspended or expelled following the recent protests across the country “through an illegal process.”
The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) says that 637 students from 144 universities have been arrested since mid-September. There are other sources which have put the number at well over 700.
Earlier in the month, the ministry of higher education announced that universities will no longer offer educational, welfare and other services to the students who disregard the hijab.
Earlier in the week, the student organizations of the University of Arts called the new measures "cheap, insulting and intolerable.” Many female students have received warning text messages, as the country announced new surveillance measures to catch hijab rebels this week.
The students are angry about the regime’s crackdown but have repeatedly announced that they would not back down from their newly achieved freedom.
Political scientist Jahanbakhsh Mohebbinia told Rouydad24 website that "Iran is moving in a direction that it would be a surprise if there are no killings in a week or in a month, and this is a dangerous situation for the country."
Speaking about the reasons why the 2022 protests in Iran led to violence, Mohebbinia said Iranian society has been always living with violence in recent decades. For nearly half of a century no one in the government has paid any attention to what the people want and not only those in the government, but everyone else including judges, university lecturers, taxi drivers and so on have always wanted to exercise their authority on the people. This creates an accrued hatred that can lead to an explosion.
The protests showed that the Iranian nation is now reacting to the existing authoritarianism, Mohebbinia argued. The people think the government is playing games with them. The government on the other hand, ignores the world's realities and if we continue this route we are going to end up in a quagmire and collapse. And particularly when the economy collapses, you cannot do anything to save the country.
Mohebbinia added that when the government suppresses the protests, the wounds and hatred will be accrued, and the society will never see peace again. "I know that some people were even pushing the country toward a civil war." He advised that the government should hesitate when it thinks of another round of suppression because there is a potential for a civil war.
Many have been warning during recent weeks that the government's insistence on enforcing the compulsory hijab will inevitably bring two parts of the society at a dangerous logger head. He further charged that former US National Security Adviser John Bolton came up with the idea of a civil war in Iran when the government failed to handle the protests wisely. However, the accusation could be the academic's tactic to avoid a reaction by the government. As long as a pundit says something negative about the United States, he can secure a measure of protection for criticizing the government.
Mohebbinia said that the government should not approach the protests in Kurdistan or Khuzestan violently while even the capital Tehran has the potential for starting a civil war, similar to what happened in Yemen and Syria. He warned: "When you fan the fire of insecurity, economic crisis and cultural differences, the country could be divided into ten countries."
Meanwhile, reformist commentator Abbas Abdi warned that the regime’s zeal to enforce the hijab cannot succeed. "It is undoubtedly impossible to impose religious values by using force or introducing new laws."
Abdi said it is hard for the religious government in Iran to accept that that the people have turned away from religion during recent decades. Abdi probably did not want to mention that it was the mismanagement and inefficiency of the Islamic Republic as a religious government that has annoyed Iranians.
Abdi said that in the absence of real opinion surveys, the government does not admit that religion has lost its power. However, he said that observations show that fewer people in Iran go to mosques or fast during Ramadan or pay their religious 20 percent tax (Khoms). He added that fewer Iranians nowadays give religious names to their children compared even to 10 years ago.