Police Go All Out To Enforce Islamic Dress Code
It looks as the youth in Iran have to be on their guard when they go out on the streets. It is not thieves, muggers, kidnappers they have to be on their guard against. It’s the police, who have been really busying themselves to strictly enforce Islamic dress code for women and to look out for improper behavior among young people.
Barred From Boarding Airplane Because Of Immodest Dressing
Since March 21 (the start of the current Iranian year), more than 80 women have been barred from boarding aircraft because they were “improperly dressed”. Not only could they not board the plane, but “their cases have been forwarded to the judiciary”, said Iranian Airports Security Chief Nabiollah Heidari. He added that during this time ( a mere 4 months) nearly 90,000 women received warnings for not covering their hair properly, and about 3500 of these gave commitments that they would follow Islamic dress code. The fine for not conforming to Islamic dress code is 13 million rials ($1300).
The Present Crackdown On Immodest Dressing
The crackdown on immodest dressing and other signs of modernism has been said to have been part of a government campaign of intimidation that started ahead of the anniversary of last year’s disputed election on June 12. At about that time critics of the government were calling for rallies to mark the anniversary of that election. Since that election, the hard-liners have become more influential, and the present crackdown seems to be repetition of the attempts to enforce Islamic dress codes in 2006, the year after Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was first elected President of Iran. In that year, special moral “guidance” teams were set up to enforce the dress code.
In a recent case, 15-year-old high-school student Nadia was stopped because her sleeves were 3 inches too short. Police impounded coat, called her father to pick her up, and gave her a chador (a garment that covers the entire body except the face and hands) to wear home.
The President’s Response To The Crackdown On Immodest Dressing And Youth Behavior
Interviewed on television about the crackdown on immodest dressing and youth behavior, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said, “I am strongly against such actions. It is impossible for such actions to be successful”.
So did he have some other strategy in mind?
Morality Officers To Police Schools In Tehran
The hardliners’ arguments for the enforcement of Islamic dressing are that immodest dressing is a sign of foreign influence, and that it could cause young men to deviate from the right path. The effort to damp down western influence has led to a plan to send about 1000 religious clerics into schools in Tehran to make students “aware of opposition plots and arrogance”. The role of these “morality officers”, who will be deployed from September, is to combat western views and boost religious education. Is this plan what the President had in mind?
Think About It
What would such clampdowns on youth really achieve? What psychological effect would they have on the young girls and women who are stopped by the police? What would the morality officers teach? Would their efforts lead to more international peace, or strife?
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