The hijab has a controversial history

WOMEN suffer discrimination in many Arab countries. They are seen as mere possessions by some men. Their place in society is the home, they cannot do certain jobs, their education is either restricted or banned and they have to cover their faces in public.

Women are treated like minors. They have to be accompanied by a male in public places. Until recently, women couldn’t even drive a car in Saudi Arabia. It’s to protect the women, say conservative Arab nations.

Women who are brave enough to demand their rights may even be killed. Malala Yousafzai was shot by the Taliban because she was fighting for girls’ rights to education. Miraculously, she survived and became the youngest Nobel Peace Prize Laureate.

When the Taliban took over Afghanistan, girls were banned from school. Iran has a morality police to enforce a strict code of dress in the country. Anyone who breaks the dress code is arrested and punished.

Mahsa Amini, a young woman, defied the dress code, going out in the public without covering appropriately with the hijab. She was arrested and subsequently, died in hospital.

The police say she fell ill but her family maintain that she was beaten to death.

Her death has ignited anger and ugly, violent demonstrations have spread across this country.

In solidarity, men and women took to the streets in cities across the country, burning the hijab. Police fired on the defiant protesters and more than 30 of them have reportedly been killed, inflaming public anger.

The hijab has a controversial history. As far back as 1936, Iranian ruler Reza Shah, in an attempt to modernise Iran, banned the wearing of headscarves and veils. Many women resisted. They wanted to wear the hijab. When the Shah dynasty was overthrown, the hijab was reimposed. Now the younger generation want it banned. They have come a full circle. But killing for not wearing a hijab?

THYAGARAJ MARKANDAN | Kloof