Nobel Peace Laureate Shirin Ebadi supported the Iranian revolution only to have it end her career as a judge. It was a pivotal moment in Iran’s turbulent transition and one she remembers well. Towards the end of that first year, the Khomeinist revolutionaries went after two objectives at once as they consolidated their power: the imposition of mandatory hejab for women, and the sharp curtailment of their rights to participate in society as equal citizens.
One day Ebadi arrived at the Ministry of Justice to congratulate the revolutionary officials who had taken power. But instead of thanking her for standing with the revolution, the provisional minister asked her to cover her hair, “out of respect for the return of our beloved Imam Khomeini.”
In her account of those days, Ebadi writes, “the head-scarf ‘invitation’ was the first warning that this revolution might eat its sisters.” Within days the same authorities demoted her to secretary of the court she had presided over, saying that women were “constantly distracted,” “disorganized” and “unmotivated.” The aim was to control what women could do, the professional heights they could reach, and the state chose a means that women would feel against their skin every single moment they stepped out their front doors: the hejab.
Could Iran be on the verge of implosion?
ReplyDeleteIran is like Spain; a mini-empire of diverse cultural traditions that, while not overly large, far transcends mere tribalism. And, like Spain, these various cultural groups are usually itching for autonomy from the dominant and despised Farsi (Persian) hegemony.
Most prominent are the Kurds and the Azeris. Saddam used liberation of the Iranian Kurds as his excuse to launch the Iran - Iraq war of the '80s. The emergence of an independent Kurdistan in modern Iraq could hasten a new breakaway movement.
Azeris, centered round Tabriz, have long desired to reunite with the ethnic kin across the border in Azerbaijan, a reasonably free and oil rich republic.
Then there are the Turkmen and Baluchis with cross border relatives.
Even among the Persians the rule of the Mullahs is unpopular.
Hyper Islam in the form of ISIS may be on the march in the desert wastes but don't count out a counterstrike from large numbers of putative Muslims who are sick and tired of being dominated by a retrograde and vicious old guard.
I expect things will get real interesting real soon.
Good point.
ReplyDeleteThis is the ongoing anti-Domino Effect of the Obama Presidency.
I try to get friends to acquaint themselves with Azerbaijan via internet and those who do so are uniformly shocked that it is a Muslim nation. Just do a Google image search.
ReplyDeleteFour decades ago much of Iran was almost as liberal but the Mullahs put a temporary end to that. No doubt many would like a return to the status quo ante.
There are also numerous anecdotal accounts that Islam is very unpopular, even hated, by the Iranian urban youth. I have heard more than a few predictions that Iran is ripe a French style revolution. The only thing holding the place together are the well paid fanatics of the Revolutionary Guard.
Perhaps a Kurdish or Azeri revolt might be the spark that marks the end of the Mullah regime.
One can hope. One can also expect the Obama regime foreign policy will back the Mullahs.