IRAN HIJAB LAWS

Context

Key points

• The circumstances of Amini's death remain contested.
• Authorities have claimed she suffered a heart attack while in custody, while her family has alleged that she was beaten during her detention.
• Amini was detained for not wearing her hijab properly a punishable offence in Iran.

Detention and death

• Amini was detained for a "bad hijab" during her visit to Tehran along with her brother.
• Iran's security forces have claimed that Amini suffered a heart attack during "educational training" on hijab rules.
• However, Amini's family has said that she was in good health before her detention.

Protests 

• After her death, protests were first witnessed outside the hospital and later spread to her hometown Saqez, where the funeral was held on Saturday.
• Viral videos showed several women protesters in Saqez taking off their hijabs in solidarity with Amini.
• In another form of protest, several women posted videos on social media chopping off their hair.

Iran's hijab law

• Iran passed a mandatory hijab law in 1981, making it a crime for women to appear in public without a hijab.
• In July, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi passed an order to enforce the hijab law with new restrictions.
• The month also saw women posting protest videos on social media while removing their hijabs in public.
• Iranian authorities were planning to use facial recognition in public transport to enforce hijab rules.

The Kurdish issue

• Amini was a Kurdish woman belonging to Iran's western Kurdistan province.
• According to the Unrepresented Nations and peoples organisation, Kurds are from over 11 per cent of Iran's population.
• Iran has long been accused by the Kurds of oppressing them.
• A major flashpoint has been the demand for a separate state by several Kurdish groups.
• Iranian authorities have time and again arrested many Kurdish activists, writers and students, among others.

For Prelims & Mains Perspective