Maryam Rajavi, the leader of the Iranian opposition, has been very vocal about her opinions on the forced veil in Iran, calling the mandatory dress code in Iran yet “another area of violence and compulsion”.
Maryam Rajavi advises that the opposition to the compulsory hijab is not a recent thing and has been prominent since Regime founder Ruhollah Khomeini stole power from the people in 1979 and began imposing sexist laws against women to remove their individual and social rights. The idea was to crush women, who had been a driving force behind the 1979 revolution and prevent them from rising up against the mullahs because the Regime knew it would not win that fight.
The women of the Iranian Resistance actively participated in demonstrations against compulsory veiling at the time, but regrettably, the law stayed in place.
Maryam Rajavi said: “A number of agencies are in charge of suppression and especially tasked to counter improper veiling…In fact, they have turned Iran into a great prison for women. For this reason, we reiterate that Iranian women must be free! They must be free to choose what they believe in, what they want to wear, and how they want to live.
And we repeat: NO to compulsory veil; NO to compulsory religion; and NO to compulsory government.”
Maryam Rajavi explained that at the rotten core of the Regime’s suppression of the Iranian people is misogyny, which is essential to maintaining the rule of theocracy. This is no accident. This misogyny is not merely the result of religious zealotry, often dressed up as attempts to safeguard societal chastity or protecting the foundation of the family.
Maryam Rajavi said: “Misogyny under the cloak of religion has become systematic and persistent because it is a lever to maintain the monopolistic domination of the velayat-e faqih (ultimate clerical rule). Misogyny is the raison d’être for dozens of the regime’s suppressive agencies.”
That is why the Regime uses so many resources to create permanent surveillance operations, including street patrols and agencies like “The Office to Combat Vice,” or “The Morality Police Force”. The often-violent crackdown on women, under the guise of improper hijab, is how the Regime effectively represses society and silences dissent.
Maryam Rajavi said: “The mullahs have no scruples in enchaining women on so-called religious grounds.”
The Regime believes that they should be able to scrutinise and control everything, everywhere, from the sports arena to the office to the train station. They conduct arbitrary raids on people’s homes, censor media and the internet, and fabricate judicial cases in order to suppress the people. This is why the Regime is so focused on compulsory veiling and why they accuse “mal-veiled” women of being counterrevolutionary.
Maryam Rajavi said: “This explains why whenever the regime suffers a political setback on the international scene, or whenever it faces social protests and uprisings, it steps up executions and intensifies the campaign against mal-veiling….The ruling mullahs are fully aware that if they show leniency vis-à-vis compulsory veiling or modify any of their laws and policies that oppress women, the latter’s power will quickly advance and mobilize society.”
Source » irannewsupdate