Gently Admonished
Well who, after all, voted them in?
Summer is upon us, and them and just about everyone I can think of, other than say, Australia. But in Iran, just as in North America and Europe, summer is on the horizon, if not yet already here in spirit. And the zeitgeist of strictures in Islamic apparel have been re-awakened in a most timely manner by the onset of that hot and hazy time of year, when people around the world shed clothing in favour of absorbing whatever stray breezes are present to offset the sun's rays.
Iranians are being reminded in the most avuncular of ways, their obligations under Sharia Law. Carefree university students and careless women alike are being arrested and jailed, along with union leaders and women's rights groups. They're being branded as national threats. Wear garments not in favour by the Ayatollahs and you bring down the righteous wrath of Allah through the intermediary attention of the religious paramilitary.
No one can be exempt from extraordinary scrutiny. Let barbers ply their trade in emulation of men's hairstyles with a Western flair and they get flung into jail. Roadblocks have been installed in key places all over the country as the militia is on the prowl. Civil society activists, intellectuals and academics may no longer maintain contacts with the outside world, through any means. Little wonder I personally no longer receive emails from a certain young man living in Tehran.
The moral offensive is in full swing. Even a former reformist president of the country has come under strict censure, an ultra-conservative newspaper accusing him of gross immorality for shaking hands with a few women while on a visit to Italy. He is guilty of propagating corruption in society, gravely intoned the newspaper. Repression? Not at all, common decency in Iran predicates strict separation of the genders.
Young women are arrested for wearing make-up, tight dresses or immodest headscarves. "Immodest headscarves"; who even imagined such a travesty? Young men detained under duress for sporting tight tee-shirts or clothing embellished with western brand names. A detestable habit, no doubt about it. Thus far, a modest 150,000 unfortunates have been caught in the morality net.
Handily serving as a 'warning' to any and all that would flout and flaunt.
Balaclava-wearing militiamen are televised nightly, enforcing a little script of humiliation upon offenders who must parade publicly with what is described as "toilet watering cans" hung from heir necks "as a warning to others". Social dissidents of all stripes, along with budding feminists are harassed, arrested and imprisoned; charged with "compromising national security".
Paranoia and distrust of the population are nothing new to this administration, nor those which preceded it. They have an onerous duty, however, one they will perform to the utmost of their ability; to carefully and without malice mould the population to the shape and civil form that best represents the interests of the country as it prepares to welcome the arrival of the 12th Prophet.
And then won't all hell break loose?
Summer is upon us, and them and just about everyone I can think of, other than say, Australia. But in Iran, just as in North America and Europe, summer is on the horizon, if not yet already here in spirit. And the zeitgeist of strictures in Islamic apparel have been re-awakened in a most timely manner by the onset of that hot and hazy time of year, when people around the world shed clothing in favour of absorbing whatever stray breezes are present to offset the sun's rays.
Iranians are being reminded in the most avuncular of ways, their obligations under Sharia Law. Carefree university students and careless women alike are being arrested and jailed, along with union leaders and women's rights groups. They're being branded as national threats. Wear garments not in favour by the Ayatollahs and you bring down the righteous wrath of Allah through the intermediary attention of the religious paramilitary.
No one can be exempt from extraordinary scrutiny. Let barbers ply their trade in emulation of men's hairstyles with a Western flair and they get flung into jail. Roadblocks have been installed in key places all over the country as the militia is on the prowl. Civil society activists, intellectuals and academics may no longer maintain contacts with the outside world, through any means. Little wonder I personally no longer receive emails from a certain young man living in Tehran.
The moral offensive is in full swing. Even a former reformist president of the country has come under strict censure, an ultra-conservative newspaper accusing him of gross immorality for shaking hands with a few women while on a visit to Italy. He is guilty of propagating corruption in society, gravely intoned the newspaper. Repression? Not at all, common decency in Iran predicates strict separation of the genders.
Young women are arrested for wearing make-up, tight dresses or immodest headscarves. "Immodest headscarves"; who even imagined such a travesty? Young men detained under duress for sporting tight tee-shirts or clothing embellished with western brand names. A detestable habit, no doubt about it. Thus far, a modest 150,000 unfortunates have been caught in the morality net.
Handily serving as a 'warning' to any and all that would flout and flaunt.
Balaclava-wearing militiamen are televised nightly, enforcing a little script of humiliation upon offenders who must parade publicly with what is described as "toilet watering cans" hung from heir necks "as a warning to others". Social dissidents of all stripes, along with budding feminists are harassed, arrested and imprisoned; charged with "compromising national security".
Paranoia and distrust of the population are nothing new to this administration, nor those which preceded it. They have an onerous duty, however, one they will perform to the utmost of their ability; to carefully and without malice mould the population to the shape and civil form that best represents the interests of the country as it prepares to welcome the arrival of the 12th Prophet.
And then won't all hell break loose?
Labels: Middle East, Religion
posted by Pieface | 5:11 PM
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