The protests erupting in Iran over the past few weeks have made the world sit up and take notice of the Muslim nation after several videos of the women walking on the roads protesting for their freedom are going viral on social media. Also, a few brave women are seen cutting their hair and setting their hijabs on fire.

Why are women protesting and what triggered these demonstrations in Iran?

We have got the answer to all these questions. The protest started after the death of Mahsa Amini, 22, after she was brutally beaten by the morality police and subsequently went into a coma and died.

Why was she brutally beaten by police? Because she did not comply with Iran’s mandatory hijab rules.

After the news of Mahsa’s murder spread on social media, Iranians started protesting outside the hospital, and the police attacked and shot the protestors in a bid to quell the outrage. Then few women burnt their hijabs on the road seeking freedom for women in Iran.

When was the Mandatory Hijab Rule Started?

People in Iran lived normal life before 1979. All of them including men and women had the right to wear what they wanted. After the Islamic Revolution in 1979, the law of hijab-wearing rule was formed.

Mandatory hijab-wearing was only enshrined into law in 1983, when Ayatollah Khomeini realized it was an effective way to socialize, and therefore politically, control the restless Iranian society.

Is this the First time Women are Burning Hijabs?

No, this is not the first time women burnt hijabs in protest for their freedom. In 1983, Pakistani Women opposed the Zia-Ul- Haq regime by burning their hijabs. Now, Iran women are protesting in the same way for freedom.

(Source: Youth Against Rape-Instagram)