'Cover Or Suffer' Prevails 88 Years After Hijab Abolition In Iran
Exiled Queen Farah Pahlavi says that 88 years after Reza Shah abolished the hijab, Iran’s “backward regime” has not been able to reverse the progress of women.
Exiled Queen Farah Pahlavi says that 88 years after Reza Shah abolished the hijab, Iran’s “backward regime” has not been able to reverse the progress of women.
Abolishing the hijab on January 17, 1936, was only one aspect of the modernization attempts by Reza Shah Pahlavi the founder of the Pahlavi dynasty. He not only freed Iranian women from hijab, but he also paved the way for them to be active members of society as teachers, government officials, nurses, and highly educated professionals.
Later in the dynasty's rule, Iranian women gained the right to vote and run for parliament, preceding many countries in granting women equal rights. However, the modernization of women and changes in their lifestyles were significantly reversed with the ascent of fundamentalist Shiite clerics to power in Iran in 1979.
In a statement released on the occasion, Farah Pahlavi praised Reza Shah for helping Iranian women to shine and “to free them from the dungeons of prejudice." She said the occasion is a landmark in the evolution of Iranian women's modern identity, adding that "many Iranian women today praise the two kings of the Pahlavi dynasty without even having lived in their period." The women, she said, demand Iran's return to the track of progress of that period.
Farah Pahlavi, characterized the current regime of Iran as "evil" and reiterated that "Finally, light will overcome darkness and Iran will be back on the track to freedom, welfare, and progress."
The modernization process initiated by Reza Shah in the 1920s propelled Iran from the depths of the Middle Ages into the modern world. Women became active and productive members of Iranian society in this evolving nation, as people transitioned from carts to trains and enrolled in newly established universities to acquire modern skills, bringing the country in line with the rapidly developing global landscape.
A modern justice system brought an end to clerical rule, limiting their involvement to solemnizing marriages and divorces, which still required registration at the Judiciary offices.
One of the initial actions taken by the Islamic regime after 1979 was the imposition of compulsory hijab on women. This was done to facilitate the suppression of women in society and symbolize the reversal of the modernization efforts initiated during the Pahlavi era.
Later, the clerics established their domination on the judicial system by replacing judges with clergymen who often were not trained to handle judicial cases. The law ceased to exist, and every decision was left to arbitrary ruling by clerics who often came from small villages.
Meanwhile, the destruction of the academic system persists as the regime dismisses university professors and replaces them with regime insiders loyal to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Many officials bestow upon each other the title of "doctor," often without having completed high school. It was even exposed during televised presidential election debates in 2021 that Ebrahim Raisi, who later became president, had only received an elementary education, yet he holds the title of "Ayatollah, Doctor Raisi."
The suppression of women is one of the most elaborate examples of how the Iranian regime works. In early January, Roya Heshmati, an Iranian woman presented a dramatic account of how she was given 74 lashes for not wearing hijab. As her story went viral on social media, the regime tried to deny her account. Interestingly, tens of other women came out to tell their stories about being lashed in previous weeks and months.
Critics say that hijab is the Islamic regime's last trench to defend its existence and Islamic identity as it has lost its Islamic credential after major financial corruptions were disclosed. Nonetheless, the Islamic Republic ruthlessly cracks down on women who defy the compulsory hijab using the ‘morality police’ and the IRGC's Basij militia, while also passing laws to enforce hijab with the motto "Cover or suffer." Particularly, since the 2022 Women, Life, Freedom movement, many women have been suffering in jail and receiving lashes as religious punishment, although sharia scholars say there is very little if any about compulsory hijab and its punishment in the Quran.
Speaking to followers, Khamenei emphasized on Tuesday: "Everyone should make efforts to mobilize the people," underscoring the significance of the masses. He pointed out that "A limited number of people, let's say two million [in Gaza], have effectively challenged Israel and the United States, despite the latter’s immense power," unintentionally acknowledging his perceived arch-enemy.
The turnout in Iran's latest elections were between 20 to 40 percent in 2020 and 2021, but conservatives now predict a turnout between 5 to 8 percent in March. Iranians seem to be deeply annoyed by the indifference of the regime and its officials to their demands for more freedom and improved economic conditions.
The inflation rate is officially just under 50 percent, but for some essential commodities, such as foodstuff it is much higher. On the other hand, the regime's brutal crackdown on the 2022 nationwide protests, which left hundreds killed and blinded, as well as the hardliners' insistence in making life harder for everyone by passing medieval laws about hijab, meting out lashing sentences to women, and making the Internet inaccessible, has increased the extent of dissent in the country.
Meanwhile, the Raisi administration's inefficiency to solve the country's economic and foreign policy problems has become more evident with its inability to keep the country safe. Around 90 people were killed and twice as many were seriously wounded in an ISIS attack last week in the city of Kerman, where the government bused in school children and their mothers to pay tribute to the former commander of the IRGC Qods Force, Qasem Soleimani, on the fourth anniversary of his death.
Raisi's blunders elicit sad laughter from people every single day. One day, he states the obvious, saying he has discovered that the mothers of all students are women, while on another occasion, he struggles to read from a prepared speech. On Tuesday, he said that "inefficient individuals in every office should be transferred to another department."
Not all blunders are made by Raisi. His Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi who is under pressure to explain his failure to prevent the terror attack in Kerman, said in an interview that the food delivery company ‘Snap Food’ should change its name because "food" is an English word. He was obviously mindless of the fact that "snap" was also an English word. On the other hand, thousands of other companies also need to change their brand names if the government seriously wishes to do away with foreign words.
Culture Minister Mohammad Mehdi Esmaili also claimed on Monday that a million visitors came to Iran during only one month to enjoy concerts! This comes while concerts are not allowed in some Iranian provinces due to the influence of hardliners such as Friday Imam Ahmad Alamolhoda, who happens to be Raisi's father-in-law. Several Iranian singers including Toomaj Salehi are in jail for supporting the protests, and the best Iranian singers and musicians are in Los Angeles, although their music is popular among people in Iran.
Khamenei, whose Guardian Council has barred nearly all moderate and reformist candidates from running in the March election, and effectively restricted political participation to ultraconservatives, knows that he can no longer ask the people or order them – for instance by issuing a fatwa [religious decree] – to take part in the elections. So, he resorts to ordering officials and institutions to push the people to the polls in any which way they can.
Meanwhile, he tried to intimidate the nation by saying that not voting is playing into the hands of the United States and other enemies of the Islamic revolution.
Khamenei said, "The masses can do anything." But he probably forgot that he ordered his commanders to suppress the masses. Only in one protest in 2019 his security forces killed at least 1,500 people from among the masses. In the meantime, Khamenei has done little to pacify a disgruntled nation that has lost all hope in any positive change.