Iranian society 'disillusioned, fatigued': Hijab law will 'further marginalise, delegitimize regime' - video Dailymotion

FRANCE 24 English

Visit our website: http://www.france24.com  Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FRANCE24.English  Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/France24_en

Transcript

00:00In Iran, a controversial law proposing stiffer penalties for those who defy

00:04restrictions on the hijab goes to President Mossadegh Pazeshkan today.

00:09The hijab and chastity law outlines fines of up to 2,000 US dollars for women

00:14uncovering their hair and may also result in social media bans and prison

00:18sentences for repeat offenders. Iranian women have regularly flouted the

00:22existing hijab laws since the start of protests sparked by the death in police

00:27custody of 22-year-old Masih Amini in September 2022. Supporters of Pazeshkan

00:33have urged him to scrap the law and he himself says it is ambiguous and not

00:37easy to enforce. We can go now to Tara Khangaloo, journalist and adjunct

00:42professor at Georgetown University. She is the author of The Heartbeat of Iran.

00:47Good morning Tara, thanks for joining us. What does this law entail for women and

00:52indeed men in Iran, should it be enforced? Thanks so much Oliver, good

00:58morning to you and your viewers. I should also add children, by the way, to those

01:04who are going to be affected by this, what so many people are calling medieval

01:08law. Many people in Iran, including those that I've spoken to in the last couple

01:13of days, have said this is an insult to us Iranians and what the law entails.

01:20Imagine all the restrictions that Iranians have been facing over the years

01:26since 1979 when it comes to enforcing compulsory hijab and various rules

01:34pertaining to ways women appear and also men in public and make it a hundred

01:41times worse. From financial implication for both women and men and also children,

01:47as I mentioned, under the age of 18, to business owners, restaurant owners, taxi

01:53drivers. It is going to affect every single aspect and layer of society. Again,

01:59so many people in Iran, as history has shown, are calling this law another way

02:06for the Islamic regime to enforce its gender apartheid against women, but also

02:16find ways to make money. So this is another moneymaker for the Iranian regime

02:22because we're going to see severe fines, both again of civilians but also business

02:29owners and pretty much every layer of the society. And Mosul Pazdeshgan

02:36has expressed reservations about the law himself. Is it likely he'll refuse to

02:40sign it? That's an interesting question. I believe he has until December 18 to

02:46sign it. And if he does not sign it, in ways it can still go into effect. But

02:52what I find interesting, Oliver, is how this law came about. I mean, it wasn't

02:57even presented openly for the parliament to vote on it. And it really was, like so

03:05many other laws that were pushed, done behind closed doors. I think what caught my

03:12attention is also how some clerics, non-political clerics, and even religious

03:18factions of the society are showing their opposition to this law. So it's not just

03:22ordinary Iranian citizens who are against this, but also some religious factions who

03:30previously in the past years did not show their opposition to the government's

03:35enforcement of such laws. And I think that itself tells us a lot, is that so much taboos

03:42have been broken in Iran when it comes to people's grievances, when it comes to the

03:49Islamic regime's really medieval enforcement of such laws toward a population so vibrant

03:56and so deserving, really. And so are we seeing here a cultural battle between different

04:03factions, between the institutions of power itself? Well, certainly. But I think the

04:09biggest contrast and clash we're seeing is between a small faction of those in power

04:16in Iran who are really holding by the threat, who are trying to do everything to stay in

04:21power but also suck the economic resources of the society, and millions of ordinary Iranians

04:29who want to belong to the rest of the world, who want to enjoy their human rights, who

04:33want to live life normally in prosperity with the ability to dream and grow. I mean, right

04:39now in Iran, if you look closely, we see videos of Iranian women not wearing the hijab on

04:46the street. I mean, that's a simple act of resistance, but it has a high price, right?

04:53I was speaking with a young woman in Iran actually yesterday, and she said, Tara, look

04:58at the region. Even Saudi Arabia has dealt with its strict rules. But look at Iran. At a time,

05:062024, going into 2025, at a time when so many countries in the region have dealt with these

05:13issues, Iran is just going backward. And that is an insult to us. That is an insult to a society

05:19that deserves so much more. And opponents of the law, including, as you said, some

05:25conservative clerics, say it's just simply unpopular. And if it is unpopular, is this

05:31a sense that perhaps there are some within the establishment thinking that it's really not worth

05:36inflaming public opinion any further? I think that's precisely what it's going to do. But also,

05:43Oliver, it's going to have a tremendous effect on the mental health of Iranian people, a society

05:49so disillusioned, so fatigued, so tired, that some people, the conservatives, are thinking,

05:54you know what, we're going to impose this law. We're going to do all we can to suck the air out

05:58of this population so that they're just tired. We can quiet them. But actually, I think it's

06:07going to have reverse impact. I think it's further going to marginalize and delegitimize

06:14the Islamic regime. It's going to further de-mask their dehumanizing attitude toward

06:22their population. And quite frankly, it's going to potentially lead to more protests.

06:29So I do wonder what the government thinks about this. Do they think that they're just going to

06:34quiet the population based on this severe disillusionment and fatigue and apathy,

06:41quite frankly? Or aren't they afraid of mass waves of protests that will ensue? So I think

06:49we have to wait and see on that. But one last thing, if I may, I was speaking with a journalist

06:54in Iran, very close to the topic, and she said most likely what we are going to see is that

07:01they're going to delay and delay and delay the enforcement of this law. So we'll see.

07:07Thank you very much for that, Tara Kagrel.

Iranian society 'disillusioned, fatigued': Hijab law will 'further marginalise, delegitimize regime'

Category

Transcript

Be the first to comment

Recommended