The Iranian regime is sending out contradictory signals on disbanding of the moral police tasked with ensuring that the strict Islamic dress code is followed by every woman. The continuing street protests, despite a brutal crackdown of the young women, has shaken the regime to the core. Not that it is in danger of being toppled, yet there is nervousness all around in establishment circles. The regime hopes to draw a smoke screen about the ground reality in Iran and give out misleading information to fend off western criticism.
According to Shiva Nazar Ahari, an Iranian journalist, blogger, human rights activist, and former political prisoner, the government has not yet disbanded the moral police. ``The government has already denied this claim. We should note that the moral police is not the only tool that controls women through it. They are saying now, that we should stop giving any services to those not obeying the hijab rules. So even if the moral police are abolished, it does not mean that the Iranian women are free to wear whatever they want, because there are tens of other tools that suppress them. The weekend announcement was nothing more than an advertising show for western consumption. The demand of the people inside Iran is beyond the moral police. This is a ploy by the authorities to stop protests.’’
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In a low-key announcement, Iran’s attorney general Mohammad Javad Montazeri was quoted as having said that the morality police had been disbanded. He added that the police “has no connection with the judiciary and was shut down by the same place that it had been launched from in the past.” The police force is under the Interior Ministry(Home ministry in India).
Around the world, this is being seen as a rare victory for the protesting young Iranian women, with the regime forced to buckle under pressure. But as the young lady points out even if the force is disbanded, women will continue to be targeted by the government. The 750 or so strong moral police had got a fresh mandate since the election of hardline President Ebrahim Raisi in 2021, who wanted to enforce a strict Islamic code of behaviour. The previous moderate government of Hassan Rouhani was much more open-minded on these matters. But apart from Montazeri no other source has confirmed this report. The Ayatollah backed Raisi government has not come out with any dramatic announcement or appealed directly to the youth to stop their protests.
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Al-Alam the state controlled television channel has however under view on the issue. It has said that the foreign, meaning western media was misinterpreting Montazeri’s comments. The channel said that ``No official of the Islamic Republic of Iran has said that the Guidance Patrol has been shut." The authorities do not wish to give the impression that they have backed down in the face of unrelenting anger in the streets.
``This is so typical of the Iranian regime. It is a master at subterfuge and can draw circles around an issue that is not to its liking. The regime is sending out contradictory messages, ’ a well-known expert on Iranian affairs, who did not wish to be identified said. ``But yes, the authorities are worried about the sweep of the movement. The current protests have lasted longer than the other anti-government movements in Iran. We have to now wait and see what happens next.’’
Discussions are on within the establishment about how best to tackle the current protests and there are different opinions. However, in a controlled state like Iran, Montazeri could not have spoken out of turn. Reports from Iran suggest that since the protests began, the moral police have not been seen in the streets especially in Tehran and other larger cities.
The movement was triggered by the death of 22-year-old Masha Amini, arrested and tortured in Tehran, for wearing her head scarf loose and allowing strands of her to be shown. What is more, she was wearing skinny jeans. Her death was the spark that ignited the deep-seated resentment of young women and led hundreds of young people to defy the bullets and beatings of the police. Though Amini was a Kurd, the protests spread across the length and breadth of Iran and shook Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s authority. Cries of death to the dictator were frequently heard during the protests.
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The fact is that the government is worried over the protests now centered around universities including in Tehran. Earlier it could dismiss the movement as it was based mainly in the provinces, despite scattered protests in the capital. The authorities could tackle it when it was confined mainly to Kurd areas or say it was confined to Sunni pockets. But this time with the universities involved it cannot be dismissed as a protest spearheaded by minorities with foreign funding. Alarm bells began ringing in government circles with the involvement of the majority Shia population. The re-think on the moral police has to do with anxiety about the movement taking on a larger all-embracing fight on gender, ethnicity, social, economic and political rights of people.
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Not that there were no protests before but this is the most serious since the Islamic Revolution of 1979. The last serious movement against the regime was during the 2009 presidential elections. Supporters of Mir Hossein Mousavi felt the vote was stolen from him by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who was backed by the Ayatollah. But the movement fizzled out after the political leaders were imprisoned. Similarly in 2019, when oil subsidies were removed to an already overburdened population, there were protests.
The present movement has been prolonged and shows no sign of abetting. How will the government tackle the movement which is exposing its weakness? We need to wait and watch.
