The Veil Of Injustice: What Is Iran's Anti-Hijab Campaign Against State's Strict Hijab Law

Recently, Iranian women took part in a nationwide anti-hijab campaign where they posted recordings of themselves removing their headscarves in public, defying the country's strict hijab laws.

They demonstrated on July 12, which Iran observes as the "National Day of Hijab and Chastity," where official institutions and agencies were ordered to promote it for a week.

What is Iran's compulsory hijab law?

Twitter/@BabakTaghvaee1

Following the Islamic Revolution in 1979, hijab-wearing has been made mandatory in Iran since 1981. Women and girls over the age of nine are now mandated to cover their heads.

In public, all women were ordered to wear loose cloth and a headscarf in public. Any violation carries a penalty of between 50,000 and 500,000 rials as fines and a 2- to 12-month jail term (adjusted for inflation).

However, based on the political history of the president in office, the degree of implementation fluctuates from one government to the other.

The degree of mandatory hijab law also varies with location. For instance, while women in the conservative provinces of Mashhad and Qom are constantly monitored, women in Tehran or Shiraz can frequently go without wearing a full headscarf.

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, who has the support of the country's highly conservative religious elite, called the current backlash against the hijab law "an organised promotion of moral corruption in Islamic society."

Tracing back the history

The power relations between society and the ruling Iranian government heavily involved hijab in it.

The hijab came to represent resistance and dissent against Mohammad Reza Shah's monarchy during the Ayatollah Khomeini-led revolution of 1978¨C1979 in Iran.

Unsplash/Representation Image

Although the Shah and his predecessor tried to modernise the nation, many people were opposed to his policies since they disagreed with their religious beliefs. Regardless of a woman's level of religiosity, wearing a headscarf in public became a sign of dissent and solidarity against the monarchy. However, wearing a hijab was not mandatory for protestors, and nor was making it a demand driving the revolution.

According to several reports, Within a few years following the revolution, the Iran-Iraq conflict was cited as justification for cracking down on local opposition forces and adopting strict domestic legislation. A rule that required all Iranian women, regardless of their religious beliefs, to dress in accordance with Islamic principles made headscarves mandatory for women in 1985. The hijab emerged as a tool for enforcing the conservative religious beliefs of the government.

Then Ali Khamenei, the then regime's Supreme Leader, gave Ebrahim Raisi the country's reins following the country¡¯s growing anti-hijab campaign and widespread protests in January 2018 and November 2019.

What prompted the recent protest?

According to Iran's local media, the new regime uses social repression and the execution of non-political convicts as a way of intimidating and controlling protests.

Unsplash/Representation Image

According to the same source, there is a significant increase in the number of executions, since Raisi's appointment as President. At least 18 women allegedly have been executed since then.

President Raisi recently ordered all government agencies to strictly follow a "chastity and hijab" legislation issued in 2005 by the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution, citing noncompliance with hijab rules as "an organised promotion of moral corruption in Islamic society."

Raisi is said to have tightened restrictions on women during the previous month, including mandating them to wear the Hijab.

Authorities have commenced an extensive campaign against women who wear what they refer to as "bad-hijab" this year.

nypost

The term "bad-hijab," in the religious and political hardliners, refers to the women who choose not to cover their heads with the hijab and express their disapproval by wearing short dresses with tight fittings and small, brightly coloured headscarves.

The government announced two organisations in June to handle the "badly veiled" phenomenon. Women were seen defying the law in a number of situations that were shared on social media.

The Guidance Patrols, the nation's "fashion police," have increased their "hijab law" enforcement efforts throughout Iran. Bystanders have taken images and videos of the branch rounding up ladies and warning them about their clothes.

Some officials have authorised additional steps, such as directing government agencies, banks, and public transit authorities to refuse service to "bad-hijab" women, in addition to crackdowns by the "morality police" on the streets.

What is the National Day of Hijab and Chastity?

The National Day of the Hijab and Chastity is celebrated on July 12 every year in Iran to promote the hijab. According to The Jerusalem Post, the day was named ¡®hijab and chastity day¡¯ to mark protests that happened in 1935 in Mashhad after the then-ruler of Iran Reza Shah barred women from wearing Islamic veils.

Reuters/Representational Image

The current regime has reportedly adopted a stricter approach to the hijab laws, according to a report by Reuters. The government once again held a "chastity ceremony" in a stadium in Tehran amid this year's nationwide protests.

However, advocates of women's rights contend that forcing women to adhere to a particular dress code is against their human rights.

They have urged women to take action against the mandatory hijab and to remove their headscarves in the streets and other public areas in reaction to the government's measures. The "NO2Hijab" campaign is the name given to the campaign.

In addition, a video of 13 ladies participating in a ritual called "Hijab and Chastity" was aired on the same day. In the video, the women were dancing to the verses of the holy book of Islam, while wearing green hijabs and long white robes. According to reports, the hashtag #hijab without hijab became the second most frequently used hashtag in the country.