Anti-government protest is going on in Iran

 

 

Ajay Roy 

The last eleven weeks have seen a huge protest movement in the Middle Eastern country. Despite the government crackdown, the movement is spreading. Meanwhile, Iran's Attorney General Mohammad Jafar Montazeri recently said, Iran is to disband 'morality police and hijab law under review. But his comments are yet to be confirmed by the government agencies. Western imperialist forces are also trying to take advantage of the situation for regime change.

 

On 13^th September, a 22-year-old Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini was arrested in Tehran. The charge against her was that she did not wear hijab “properly” according to government directives. She was severely beaten by the morality police and died three days later. Then mass protests started first in the Kurdistan province of western Iran. Gradually it spread across the nation. The young generation is participating in it in huge numbers. Especially women are at the forefront of the struggle. They are protesting without hijab in public. "Woman, life, freedom” has become their main slogan.

 

Students of schools, colleges and universities are demonstrating on the streets. Teachers and guardians have joined them. Workers of petrochemical plants have also walked out in protest. Some of the renowned artists and players have become vocal. But the Government is organizing a brutal crackdown. More than 470 people are already dead in the Iran protest.[1] Hundreds have been injured. Eighteen thousand two hundred are arrested. Six protesters are sentenced to death.

 

The Islamic Republic of Iran is following a gender discrimination policy based on religious fundamentalism. As a result, women have been marginalized. But Iranian women have also a long history of resistance. It is noteworthy, present protests have gone beyond the demands for women’s rights. Various socioeconomic issues are now attached to it. General people want social and democratic rights. But their hope for progressive reform is not fulfilled. Rather the present president Ebrahim Raisi’s government has taken a more conservative and reactionary stand.

 

Iran’s repressive theocratic regime is trying to force women to wear hijabs (headscarves) under Sharia law. On the other hand, we have seen in India, the Karnataka state government’s ban on Muslim girl students wearing hijab to educational institutions; and the related communal activities of the saffron brigade. In both cases, women’s rights and liberty of choice have been under attack. Mandatory dress codes are implemented through laws. It is a clear human rights violation.

 

US imperialism and its allies are also trying to take advantage of this situation. They want a puppet government in Tehran and are eager to break Iran’s increasingly close relationship with China and Russia. Meanwhile, the corporate media is campaigning about the hardships of the lives of Iranian people. But they are silent about its main cause i.e. the harsh economic sanctions imposed upon Iran by the western imperialist powers. The Trump administration unilaterally abandoned the Iran nuclear deal and imposed draconian economic sanctions against Iran. As a result, the country faces more economic problems. Collecting food, medicines and other essential commodities has become harder for general people. Inflation and unemployment are rising. One among every three Iranians lives below the poverty line.[2] The government is also busy serving the interest of the ruling classes. They are implementing an anti-people neoliberal economic policy. As a result, the situation has become more complicated. Various sections of society are participating in the protest in large numbers. Western imperialist forces are also trying to take advantage of the situation for regime change. They are conducting misinformation campaigns and creating provocations. But some sections of the international community are expressing solidarity with the ongoing people’s protest. They are also demanding immediate withdrawal of sanctions.

 

08/12/2022

 

Notes

 

[1] Parham Ghobadi, “Iranian protester subjected to mock executions in prison – source”, December 06, 2022, BBC

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-63857604

 

[2] Elham Hoominfar, ‘‘The main losers of 1979, the creators of the new revolution in Iran’’, October 12, 2022, MR Online

https://mronline.org/2022/10/12/the-main-losers-of-1979-the-creators-of-the-new-revolution-in-iran/

 

---