FOCUS - DECEMBER 2023

Nobel Laureate Narges Mohammedi & Global failure at Iran’s Lethal arrogance

7th October 2023, was another red letter day for women power. On that day, the Nobel Committee at Oslo, Norway announced the award of Nobel Peace Prize to Narges Mohammedi. Reportedly, the Nobel Committee recognized Narges Mohammedi, an Iranian by birth, for her “fight against the oppression of women in Iran and her fight to promote human rights and freedom for all”. According to media report datelined Tehran, “the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Iran condemned the decision to award Mohammedi, a criminal”.

But print media informs that “Iran has arrested 50 years old Narges Mohammedi 13 times, convicted her 5 times and sentenced her to a total of 31 years in prison and 154 lashes”. Above sentence of some 25 words has described the enormity of the oppression Narges had to endure and continue to endive in Iran. While the Norwegian Nobel Committee announced its decision to award the Peace Prize to Narges, she was in prison and confirmed to be there incarcerated into the foreseeable future. Media informs that Narges is currently serving a 10 year jail term in Evin Prison in Tehran.

Born on 21st April 1972 in Zanjan in Northern Iran, she is a graduate in physics from Qazoin International University. During her University days, she has been active in support of women’s rights and was arrested twice for being part of a student group. Despite her qualification in physics, she took particular interest in writing to reformist newspapers as a journalist. She published a book of political essays titled “The Reforms, the Strategy and the Tactics”. In 2003 she joined hands with Shirin Ebadi in her organization, Defenders of Human Rights Center. Shirin Ebadi too was awarded Nobel Peace Prize in 2003.

Narges had married Taghi Rehmani,

a fellow activist in 1999, who left Iran for good, after serving 14 years in jail. He moved to France in 2012 along with their 2 children. But unlike Rehmani, Narges continued to stay in Iran and fight for the rights of women. It was in 1998, Narges was arrested for criticizing the Iranian government and spent an year in prison. In 2010 she was summoned by the Islamic Revolutionary Court, which found her guilty of acting against the national security and propagating against the government. In 2011, September, she was sentenced to 11 years of imprisonment which appeal court reduced to 6 years. However, her sentence started in April 26, 2012. Although Narges was only involved in human rights activities, court accused her of “attempts to topple the regime”.

While terming the sentence “attempts to silence brave human rights defenders”,British Foreign office officially protested the incarceration of Narges. Amnesty International termed her a “prisoner of conscience” and called for her immediate release. In July 2012, an international group of law makers from U.S., Canada, U.K, Australia, Italy and Lithuania, called for her release. On 31st July Narges was released from prison. Here what the world needs to recognize is, the courage and the indomitable spirit in her approach to the whole issue of human rights in general and feminine rights in particular. She never buckled even under excruciating pressure, despite her husband going into exile in France, leaving Iran for good. She is certainly a very rare example of courage in an atmosphere of physical torture by Iranian police under instruction from political leadership. By any stretch of imagination she is a model heroin for the beleaguered women folk anywhere in the world especially in the Islamic countries.

Seyyed Sattar Baheshti was an Iranian blogger. He was arrested by Iranian Cyber police for criticizing the Government of Iran on Facebook in November 2012. Soon thereafter he was found dead in police custody after he made a signed complaint of being tortured while in custody. His death drew condemnation across nations. Iranian authorities acted under international pressure to dismiss the commander of cybercrime police unit. On 31st October 2014, Narges remarked while speaking at the gravesite of Sattar Baheshti, “How is it that Parliament members are suggesting a ‘Plan for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice’, when nobody spoke up 2 years ago when an innocent Sattar Basheshti died under torture in the hands of his interrogator?”. The video of this speech having gone viral, Evin Prison Court summoned her.

On May 5 2015, Narges was again arrested and the Revolutionary Court sentenced her to 10 years on a new charge “campaign for abolition of Death Penalty” under her newly formed Legam group, 5 years for “assembly and collusion against national security”, 1 year for “propaganda against the system”. So, it was 16 years of imprisonment for some vague charges of being against the country and government. A frail woman of 43 years only, demanding human rights to fellow Iranians is a ‘threat’ to a big nation of some 9 crore people like Iran, is unthinkable, that they jail her year after year!

Something is seriously wrong with this nation, controlled by Ayatollah and his cronies. In October 2020, Narges was released due to covid-19 infection.

In March 2021, Narges wrote the foreword to the Annual Report on the death penalty in Iran. Describing the Human Rights situation in Iran.“The execution of people, like Navid Afkari and Ruhollah Zam in the past year, have been most ambiguous. Death Penalty for Ahmedrays Djalali is one of the most erroneous sentences. These people have been sentenced to death after being held in solitary confinement and were subjected to horrific psychological and mental torture, that is why I do not consider the judicial process in Iran to be fair or just; I see keeping defendants in solitary confinement, forcing them to make untrue and false confessions that are used as key evidence in issuing these sentences. I fear that in Iran we will be facing another wave of executions over the coming year”. She wrote.

It resulted in her being arrested in November 2021 and sentenced again for 2 1/2 years in prison and 80 lashes, for allegedly “Spreading propaganda against the system”. While being in prison, she gave a report to BBC detailing the sexual and physical abuse of detained women including the list of 58 prisoners who have gone through the interrogation process and torture they have gone through stating that these women spent 8350 days in solitary confinement. In the report she mentioned that ‘solitary confinement is cruel and inhumane punishment, I will not rest until it is abolished!’

Clearly Narges Mohammedi is the conscience keeper of Iran. Her being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize has only confirmed her war against the system in Ayotallah’s Iran.

As for Iran, the country has been in the news for all wrong reasons. In recent days it’s been rather gone from bad to worse.

On October 23, the print media carried two news reports datelined Dubai. “Iranian teen confronted on metro for not wearing hijab, brain dead”, was one report. “2 women journalists get long jail terms for Mahsa Amini coverage”, was another.

Armita Gervand, a 16 year old Iranian girl was travelling on October 1, without hijab, in the metro in Tehran. The Iranian Morality police enforcing mandatory Islamic dress code confronted her and probably immediately detained her. Reportedly she was hospitalized after she fell into coma and is allegedly brain dead. Any rational human can imagine in what way the police must have tortured her to become a ‘vegetable’ – coma and then brain dead. How could any civil society do such barbaric treatment of a girl for the mere reason of ‘not wearing hijab’.

Mahsa Amini, also known as Jina Amini, a 23 year old woman of Kurdish Iranian origin was similarly beaten to death in September 2022, for not wearing hijab. She died in police custody on 22nd September 2022. And she is not alone, there have been innumerable instance of police barbarity in Iran, which does not reach media.

The barbaric treatment of police in Iran is such that as one of the above report tells, for just reporting the incident involving Mahsa Amini and police brutuality, Nilofer Hamedi and Elaheh Mohammedi were sentenced 13 years and 12 years respectively in prison, for acting ostensibly against national security.

A Dubai datelined report tells “Hijab metro death: Lawyer who went to funeral arrested”. Nasrin Sotaridin a leading Human Rights lawyer was arrested after she attended the funeral of Armita Gervand. Reportedly there were multiple arrests at the funeral of 16 year old Armita. All were detained and arrested for allegedly not wearing hijab. Earlier Nassrin had called the death of Armita as “another state murder”.

Isn’t this crazy! Except some protest by Amnesty International nothing happens. Where is United Nations! Where is international community! How can anybody help this helpless women of Iran?!

Nearer home, there was this editorial in THE INDIAN EXPRESS titled “WOMEN SHOULD HAVE THE RIGHT TO CHOOSE WHAT THEY WEAR”. It was generally commenting on the boldness of a Malyalee woman V.P. SUHRA, an activist fighting for Muslim Women’s rights. She has always been at the forefront fighting for women’s freedom. She recently removed her headscarf in public to protest against a Muslim religious leader’s disparaging remark on women, who opt not to wear the headscarf.

Umar Faizi Mukkam, a leader of Samastha Kerala Jem-Iyyathul Ulema, a group of Sunni scholars in the state, had reportedly remarked in an interview that women who want to do away with the hijab are those who prefer a “wayward and immoral life”. Suhra had said that her act of rebellion publicly proved that her integrity remained the same with or without the scarf. But in her state of Kerala, the ruling CPM is playing to the gallery by molly-cuddling the Indian Union Muslim League by not supporting Suhra, who is the head of NISA, a forum of progressive Muslim women. People like Suhra and her group should be encouraged and supported especially, in the context of anti-hijab protest in Iran, after many young girls died in police custody arrested for not wearing hijab. Hundreds of women had stormed the streets of Iran, cutting their hair and removing their hijab in public. “What a woman decides to wear has to be her choice alone, nobody should be allowed to meddle with it. It is time religious scholars and politicians accepted this right of women” mentioned the TIE editorial. Hope it prevails.