As the protests against the death of Mahsa Amini gather steam in Iran, now thousands of schoolgirls have joined in to demand freedom from the mandatory hijab laws in the Islamic country. Girls in schools are removing their headscarves and showing their hair as a mark of protest.
“Zan, Zendegi, Azadi (Women, Life, Freedom)”, they yelled often throwing away or burning their hijabs in remarkable scenes. Protests by schoolgirls were reported in Karaj, Tehran and the north-western cities of Saqez and Sanandaj.
Today in Iran, schoolgirls chant “Woman, Life, Freedom” (Zan, Zendegi, Azadi) #زن_زندگی_آزادی pic.twitter.com/NHgmO2SQ0h
— Karim Sadjadpour (@ksadjadpour) October 4, 2022
This is days after an Iranian woman named Mahsa Amini was apprehended and brutally beaten by the ‘morality police’ for not complying with the mandatory hijab laws of the country. She later was shifted to the hospital where she succumbed to her injuries. Amini was abducted by the ‘morality police’ who assaulted her under the pretext of ‘re-education class’. Later the Police tried to conceal the matter and claimed that the woman already was a heart patient and had died due to her medical problems.
The incident which happened in the second week of September enraged the entire country. The protests have now reached the Iranian schools and colleges where the girl students are opposing the hijab laws. Several students on October 4 marched on the streets without hijabs and demanded freedom for women. The video of the protests went viral over the internet though the country has imposed an internet crackdown, attempting to blackout the coverage of the massive protest.
According to the reports, Iranians are utilizing VPNs or the Tor connection to get footage of the huge protests viewed by the outside world despite the internet ban. Photos and videos showing women removing their headscarf in Iran’s capital Tehran, as well as recordings of students smashing up photos of Iran’s Supreme Leader, have been uploaded.
Massive protests are said to have happened in Karaj where the schoolgirls not only demanded freedom from hijab for women but also forced an education official out of their school. “Shame on you, shame on you”, they yelled and threw whatever appeared before them including empty water bottles at him. The video of the incident was posted on social media showing the girls chasing the official at the school gate.
Schoolgirls in #Iran chase off director of education. They chant “Bisharaf!” which is an insult in Persian meaning dishonorable and unethical pic.twitter.com/wpEcJb3gz1
— Sofia Ukraini (@SlavaUk30722777) October 4, 2022
Students could be heard crying in another video from Karaj, which is to the west of Tehran, “If we don’t unite, they will kill us one by one.” Meanwhile, scores of schoolgirls halted traffic on a prominent route in the southern city of Shiraz by waving their headscarves in the air and yelling “death to the dictator”, referring to the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the last word on all state affairs of the country.
A girls’ school invites a member of the paramilitary volunteer force Basij, part of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, to address students about #MahsaAmini protests. In response, schoolgirls remove their head coverings and chant “get lost, Basiji”.#مهسا_امینی pic.twitter.com/rYCJRfrp6F
— Shayan Sardarizadeh (@Shayan86) October 5, 2022
A handful of girl students also could be seen standing with their heads uncovered in their classrooms. Some were making an obscene gestures with their middle fingers toward images of Ayatollah Khamenei and Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic.
Visuals of the protests show thousands of angry women taking to the streets, chanting Zan, Zendegi, Azadi (Woman, Life, Freedom) against the mandatory hijab laws imposed by the Islamic regime. They burned the hijabs on the streets and also the posters of Iranian leaders. Ayatollah Khamenei has accused Iran’s arch-enemies, the United States and Israel, of instigating riots. The protests at the schools and colleges, however, intensified hours after Ayatollah Khamenei’s statements.
This is Tehran University, students joined the protest against the murdering of #MahsaAmini by hijab police and chanting:
— Masih Alinejad 🏳️ (@AlinejadMasih) September 18, 2022
Woman, life, Freedom
Iranians are outraged. Yesterday the security forces opened fire at protesters in Saghez city but now Tehran joined the protest. pic.twitter.com/Bf9jcwWICB
Many Muslim women do not choose to wear a hijab. But unfortunately, even the privileged segments of Muslim society do not often have the option of rejecting it once it has become the norm. Women in Iran and other Muslim countries are seeking to abolish the hijab rule, which religious police forcibly enforce upon them.
Following the 1979 Islamic Revolution, the hijab became mandatory in public for Iranian women and girls above the age of nine. Many Iranian women have broken the prohibition and pushed the limits of what officials consider acceptable apparel throughout the years. In recent months, Iran’s state-sponsored ethical patrols have increased their appearance in major cities, intimidating and pulling women from the streets due to their attire choices.
Reminder: Iran wasn’t always an Islamist nightmare. Women weren’t always forced to veil & people had far from freedom…then the mad mullahs took over. https://t.co/cjC7g9Rk2x
— Rita Panahi (@RitaPanahi) September 26, 2022
After nearly three weeks of ongoing protests, it is evident that Iran’s government is under pressure and its opponents are no longer merely politicians or young women. The anti-hijab movement is rapidly gathering support from all over the world. The schoolgirls, most of them too young to comprehend geopolitics and national affairs, are aware of the restrictions imposed on them by the Islamic hardliners because they have been living under the Islamic regime’s oppression.
Reports mention that Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi today called for national unity in the country and attempted to calm public resentment against the Iranian authorities. Raisi recognised the Islamic Republic’s ‘weaknesses and shortcomings’, but reiterated the official line that the turmoil prompted by Amini’s killing last month was nothing less than a conspiracy by Iran’s adversaries.
