After hijabs burned by Iranian women, make way for mullahs’ turbans. anti-regime protesters are now targeting the traditional headscarves of these senior officials of the Islamic Republic of Iran. A way to deliver an additional blow to the symbols of an Iranian regime rocked by an unprecedented wave of protests that has been going on for nearly two months, which wants to attack the foundations of the regime.
Videos appear on social networks. Both children and adults film themselves in the streets following the mullahs, quickly removing their turbans before fleeing. The scenes take place both in Tehran and in smaller cities in Iran, such as Shiraz or Isfahan.
Between dark humor and challenge
A gesture that might seem malicious if it weren’t pointedly political. The pillars of the Iranian regime, the mullahs, the Muslim scholars perform high legal, educational or religious functions in Iran. They control its key institutions and give Iran “the regime of the mullahs“. These Muslim dignitaries wear a cloak and turban, which is black if they are descended from the Prophet’s family, and white if not.
“Protesters can no longer march in the street against the government, which is extremely dangerous for them. the regime arrests everyone.“, explains Azadeh Kian, a Franco-Iranian sociologist, director of the Center for Teaching and Documentation and Research of Feminist Studies at the University of Paris-Cite. Therefore, for him, the message behind this action is clear. “They make space publicimpossible to livefor the mullahs, because the latter were able to prevent the protesters from loudly criticizing the government.
“This is a very important provocationhe responds. Attacking the mullahs’ turbans means attacking one of the symbols of the Islamic Republic of Iran“. If practice in the West is met with a smile, “So it looks very threatening in Iraq“, Azade Kyan explains. The country is predominantly Shia, and Iraqi Shia politician Moqtada al-Sadr reacted with concern to these new forms of protest, expressing alarm at the lack of respect for the traditional pillars of Islam, the mullahs.
Is the initiative really widespread today? “It’s hard to say– answers Azade Kyan. Social networks that transmit videos of these protesters tend to “strong virtual scale for initiatives that have less real-life response“. “It is likely that these activities, which are finding some success on the Internet, are still relatively localized and limited in time.“.
Meanwhile, some members of the Islamic clergy have taken to wearing protective covers over their turbans to prevent them from being removed by protesters, CBS News reported on November 10. A mock Twitter account titled “Turban Throwing Federationwas even created to link to videos of these headscarves flying after protesters were hit.
The initiative is being discussed in the local press amid accusations of desecration of religious figures and encouragement to condemn the repression of the Iranian system. In any case, that gesture is not new, it is painted, writes the Iranian Reform newspaper Etemadreports Courrier International, its origin is from an initiative takenby radical groups associated with conservatives“, especially when they have “threw away the turbans of the clerical members of the reformist government in 2009“. The latter’s hats were thrown to the ground by conservatives during the Green Movement, a strong social and political mobilization following the June 2009 false re-election of the ultra-conservative Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the presidential election.
At least 326 people were killed during the protests
A massive wave of protest spread across the country after the death of Mahsa Amin, a 22-year-old Kurdish youth who was killed by the morality police for wearing the veil, was convicted of “inappropriate“. Demonstrations on an unprecedented scale have seen women take off their hijabs to burn them, parade headless in cities and cut off their hair. A gesture loaded with symbolism since 1979, Iran has forced women to wear the hijab, an Islamic headscarf that covers the hair but leaves the face visible.
According to a recent report by Iran’s human rights organization (IHR), at least 326 people, including 43 children and 25 women, were killed by security forces in the country during the crackdown on protests. On Wednesday, November 16, 3 new death sentences were handed down to protesters in Iran, bringing the number of people sentenced to death to 5 since Sunday. According to figures provided by Iran’s justice system, more than 2,000 people have been charged in nearly two months, half of them in Tehran.
Source: Le Figaro
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.