Iran’s women offer inspiration in fight against bigots here
AT the height of the violent terror that engulfed France in the late 18th century after the overthrow of the monarchy, the radical leader Georges Danton was appalled at the bloodshed. “The revolution devours its own children,” he said. Those words find an echo in the extraordinary scenes unfolding today in Iran, where rebellion is now spreading against the revolutionary Islamic government.
First established after the downfall of the Shah of Persia in 1979, the brutal theocracy has become a global byword for puritan cruelty and repression. Now, amid growing unrest, the pillars of religious despotism are starting to crumble.
What makes this uprising so remarkable is that women, the prime target for the regime’s savage bullying and intimidation, are leading the charge against the mullahs as protests mount against the official dress code.
Discontent against institutionalised misogyny – epito- mised by the requirement of all women to wear the hijab – has been growing for years, but it reached a new level of intensity following the announcement by President Ebraham Raisi of a further crackdown against rule infringements.
Patrols by the morality police were to be stepped up. Pictures of violators were to be published online. Women without the hijab were to be barred from entry to banks, government offices and public transport. In the subsequent protests against this, more than 300 people were arrested.
BUT the real anger exploded last month after the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police custody. Having been arrested by the morality guardians for wearing her hijab “improperly”, she was said to have been tortured before her killing. Official claims that she died of heart failure only fed accusations of a cover-up and fuelled the fury of anti-Government activists. Huge demonstrations swept through all of Iran’s 31 provinces, organised by women who have symbolically removed their hijabs or cut their hair.
When the rock climbing athlete Elnaz Rekabi returned this week to Tehran from the Asian championships, having been denounced as an enemy of the state for competing without a headscarf, she was greeted by a cheering throng.
In a land ruled by fundamentalist mullahs, these acts of defiance have required astonishing courage. One campaigner gave this account of a local protest, “the police started shooting people before they even got the chance to chant their slogans.”
Indeed, human rights advocates estimate that 215 people, including 27 children, have been killed so far by the Iranian authorities, while others put the death toll at around 400, along with 20,000 arrests. This week it was reported that Asra Panahi, a teenager from the Azeri minority, was fatally injured after security forces stormed her classroom demanding girls sing an anthem in praise of Iran’s supreme ruler.
But the brutality of the repression has strengthened the opposition. The regime is now under threat as never before. “I saw the people’s determination for their cause. I saw the fear in the eyes of the security forces,” says one witness.
The compulsory hijab is about far more than just a piece of cloth. It is a potent symbol of the regime’s radical, intolerant ideology, so its rejection could herald the downfall of Khamenei, Raisi and their barbaric cabal. Even since 1979, revolutionary Iran has been a menace to global peace, security in the region and the existence of Israel. More than 1.2 million people are thought to have died in the long war with its neighbour Iraq in the 1980s.
As well as bullying their own people, the zealots in Tehran have promoted terrorism and colluded with tyranny.
THEIR supply of deadly drones to Russia in its war with Ukraine and their quest to create a nuclear arsenal are examples of their contempt for democracy.
But the women’s courageous protests in Iran should also provide inspiration for the fight against the bigots here, where women’s rights are under fire from two contrasting forces. One is the aggressive transgender doctrine, which denies the biological reality of sex but also seeks to airbrush out women’s autonomy and identity.
The other is the growing influence of radical Islam in British society, reflected in the informal acceptance of Sharia Courts and the effective return of blasphemy laws under the guise of combatting “hate” speech. Dogmatic oppression must be challenged, whether at home or abroad. With epic valour, Iranian women have shown the way.
‘The Islamic Republican regime is now under threat as never before’