In Iran, the protests triggered by the death of the young Mahsa Amini, who was arrested for not wearing the Islamic veil “correctly” in public, call into question the morality police, a body that supervises that citizens comply with with strict dress code and morality laws. In other Islamist countries there are also these police forces.
Iran’s morality police is once again in the public spotlight over the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman who died under mysterious circumstances after being detained by officials of this body.
After her death, authorities said it was an “unfortunate incident” and denied she had suffered any ill-treatment when she was detained, but witnesses say Amini was beaten in a police van in Tehran shortly after she was arrested.
Amini broke the rules of wearing the hijab or Islamic headscarf and exposed her hair. In the country, the hijab must be worn in public life by all women and has been an integral element of faith since 1979, when Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini established it within the framework of the theocracy that governs the country.
The main function of the morality police or Gasht-e Ershad (Orientation Patrols) is to ensure that the rules of modesty for men and women are complied with, in addition to the strict dress code that includes that all women wear the veil and prohibits wearing tight pants, ripped jeans, brightly colored suits, clothing that exposes the knees, and advises that women not wear makeup or listen to music in their cars.
They have the power to admonish suspects, impose fines or detain citizens and take them to recently opened “re-education” centers. There are an estimated 7,000 undercover troops reporting from different locations, often in crowded spaces.
Among the punishments for violating Islamic law, apart from penalties, there are also prison sentences and even flogging.
The Ghast-e-Ershad operates under the supervision of the security forces, the Iranian Interior Ministry and Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Patrol the streets with radios. They are also believed to be supported by the Basij group, a paramilitary militia that began its operation after the 1979 revolution and is made up of volunteers, including women.
They work under the principle “ordering the right and prohibiting evil.” In recent months he has been accused of increasing violent actions. The arrival of the current president of Iran, the ultra-conservative Ebrahim Raisi, could be an influential factor in an increase in the presence of this police force.
“With the new incident that has happened, people are calling the Gasht-e Ershad, police of vice, the Ghatl-e Ershad, police of murder, because force has never been effective anywhere in the world and hijab is not should be a law,” says Reyhaneh, a 25-year-old student.
For her part, Mahtab, a make-up artist, says she is “afraid to see those from Gasht-e Ershad. I think they are somewhat useless. They should let people choose like in all other countries; each person should choose what they like “.
The hijab, a “success” of the Iranian revolution, for the ruling leadership
Despite these positions and the fact that in the streets there are women burning their veils in bonfires or cutting their hair on social networks, it is unlikely that the theocratic government will change its mind, since since the use of the hijab was established in 1979, the Ayatollah of that time, Khomeini, said that just covering women’s hair was “the success” of the revolution.
At that time, the women protested for six days, which caused them to reverse the decision, but in 1980 the use of the veil was imposed in government buildings and in 1983 it became mandatory to use it in public spaces.
These are not the first anti-hijab protests in Iran, in 2017 a woman was jailed for a year for removing her veil in public, which led to demonstrations.
For Afshin Molavi, journalist and author of the book ‘The Soul of Iran: A Nation’s Struggle for Freedom’, “the elimination of compulsory hijab would be a severe defeat (for the regime),” adding that “the conservative clerical class She is ready to give up her divine right to cover up women.”
However, on the sidelines of the demonstrations, some voices are beginning to be heard that question the actions of the Ghatl-e Ershad. This September 21, the president of the Parliament, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, assured that the method of the Orientation Patrols should be “investigated” to “avoid the repetition of these cases.”
For its part, the Government is studying the creation of facial recognition software that would determine which women comply or do not comply with the norm of covering their hair.
The morality police in other countries of the Islamic world
In Saudi Arabia there is the Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, or Mutawa, which in Arabic means “obedient to God” and is in charge of verifying that Islamic law or sharia is complied with throughout the country, which It includes men and women not socializing in public or women wearing an abaya, a garment that almost completely covers them.
In Sudan, there is the Public Order Police that ensures that citizens comply with Sharia law and can arrest those they consider suspicious and bring them to trial.
In Malaysia, the religious police are in charge of enforcing Islamic law. They have the power to impose fines and arrest offenders, they also prevent socialization between men and women.
With EFE and international media
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