WUNRN
Iran - Parliamentarians Demand Stronger Veil
Enforcement
Proponents
fear Western cultural influence against the veil
Veiled Iranian women lawmakers attend an
open session of parliament in this file photo. (AFP)
15 June, 2014 - TEHRAN: Two thirds of Iran’s MPs have written to the president urging him to take measures to ensure women correctly observe Islamic dress, denouncing Western cultural influence against the veil.
The 195 members of the 290-strong parliament who signed the letter in part
blamed satellite television for feeding the trend, ISNA news agency reported on
Sunday.
A defining feature of Iran’s interpretation of Islamic law since the 1979
revolution, hijab obliges women to cover their hair and much of their body in
loose clothing when outside, regardless of their religion.
A dedicated “morality police” has long handed out fines, verbal notices or even
arrested women it considers are not properly observing the rules, but lawmakers
have in recent months criticized lax enforcement.
In the letter, the MPs wrote: “One of the main areas of cultural invasion is in
trying to change the way of life of Iranians regarding the veil. We ask that
you give the necessary orders to enforce the law.”
However, President Hassan Rouhani, a self-declared moderate who was
surprisingly elected last June, has expressed a desire to expand social
freedoms — to the disapproval of hard-liners.
In October, he asked police to be moderate when enforcing
the hijab requirements and recently said, “We cannot take people to heaven by
using whips,” a remark that was condemned by conservatives.
Rather than wearing a full length traditional “chador” that drapes the head and
body, many women wear a thinner head scarf, leggings and shirt.
Police in
The MPs letter and push for stronger enforcement coincides with an online
campaign in which hundreds of Iranian women posted pictures of themselves
flouting the dress code inside
The Facebook page “Stealthy Freedoms of Women in
The campaign did not generate a reaction from the
government.
At least two protests to demand enforcement of hijab have taken place in