Kabul (Afghanistan) : Iran protests spread to Afghanistan as a number of women's rights activists staged a demonstration in front of the Iranian Embassy, to show their support for the women of Tehran. This comes after the Islamic Emirate's deputy spokesman, Bilal Karimi, said that the acting government is committed to women's rights, based on Islamic values, TOLO news reported.
One of the protestors, Shukria said, "We raise our voices like Iran's Mahsa because many (people) like Mahsa have been victims in Afghanistan." The protestors chanted the slogan: "women, life and freedom". Earlier, the Islamic Emirate said that it ensures women's rights, based on Islamic values. "The Islamic Emirate is committed to the rights of all citizens, in an Islamic format, whether it is a child or adult or at any level," Karimi said as quoted by TOLO News.
The death of Iranian Mahsa Amiri has caused a widespread reaction inside and outside Iran. In Iran, several women came on the stage and demonstrated against the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who died in police custody after her arrest for allegedly failing to comply with Iran's strict rules on women's dress by wearing an "improper hijab".
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Women were seen chopping their hair and burning the hijab to protest against the death of Mahsa Amini. Meanwhile, in the UK, hundreds of people voiced their anger about the suspicious death of Mahsa Amini and the protesters were surging toward the Iranian Embassy in the UK capital but being beaten back by police, reported Euronews.
A separate image shows the building, which overlooks Hyde Park, splattered with red paint. "People are being killed, tortured and harmed in silence," Sepideh Eskandari, who protested at Trafalgar Square with her friend Sogol on Saturday, told Euronews. "We are here to be their voice and ask every other person -- from wherever they are -- to stand with women."
Basic rights are something everyone should want, both women and men, she added. The two protestors, who are both in their early 30s, pointed out that the protests are about broader issues of sexism and discrimination in Iran, something brought into sharp focus by Amini's death.
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Following the 1979 Islamic Revolution, women must wear the hijab by law in Iran. The policy is largely unpopular, with Iranian women commonly wearing the headscarf loosely around their ears or letting it drop to the neck. When the rule was implemented in 1981, it triggered mass demonstrations, which have continued sporadically ever since, reported Euronews.
Amini's death comes amid growing controversy both inside and outside Iran over the conduct of the morality police, known formally as the Gasht-e Ershad (Guidance Patrol). The mandatory dress code, which applies to all nationalities and religions, not just Iranian Muslims, requires women to conceal their hair and neck with a headscarf, reported Al Jazeera.
Her death has now become a symbol of the violent oppression women have faced in Iran for decades. Over the decades, women have increasingly pushed back, particularly in the big cities, wearing their headscarves far back on their heads to reveal their hair. (ANI)
