Leading women rights activist in India, Advaita Kala, ticked all the boxes when she passionately came to the defence of protestors in Iran challenging the oppressive policing after the death of a 22-year-old. Burning headscarves and chopping braids–that too in viral videos–in a country whose conservative moral brigade is always on the lookout for “immoral behaviour” is not an easy task.
Not only have these courageous women put themselves at a phenomenal risk of jail time but there’s also no knowing what goes inside these moral policing units. After all, Mahsa Amini had also landed in custody for allegedly disobeying the country’s hijab laws. No matter what the officials may proclaim, a perfectly healthy young woman does not end up brain damaged beyond hope in a hospital merely two hours after being escorted into a police van.
Miss Amini’s body was no battleground to be vandalised by agencies in the name of reforms, and this is exactly what has enthused a new life into a wave of disillusionment. That members of Ruhollah Khomeini’s administration are not mincing words in their parallels of extremist propaganda with what had happened to Imam Hussain in the years leading up to Karbala cuts the legs out from under Tehran’s claims of religious legitimacy.
Yes, the state would do well to realise how badly it has harmed the people’s trust in its writ, leading many to wonder whether they actually wish to conform to the ideals of the Islamic Republic. However, just as problematic are the views of these pseudo-feminists perched upon their cushy thrones finding it easier to only lend support to causes far away.
For issues brewing at home, they do not wish for the “world to speak up against the regime and its draconian measrues when it comes to limiting women’s freedom.” Because in their eyes, school-going children forced to choose between their faith and education is more song and dance than a battle for “women empowerment.” *