Iranian Girl Nika Shakarami Was Beaten To Death during Anti-Hijab Protests, Says Mother
New
Age Islam News Bureau
08
October 2022
• Emboldened
By Iran Protests, Afghan Women Take to Streets after Deadly School Attack
• Indian
Woman Dr Anupama Bhardwaj, Cuts Her Hair in Solidarity with Iranian Women
• Indian
Actor Priyanka Chopra Stands with Iranian Women, Says I'm In Awe of Your Courage
Compiled
by New Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/iranian-nika-shakarami-hijab-protests/d/128134
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Iranian
Girl Nika Shakarami Was Beaten To Death during Anti-Hijab Protests, Says Mother
Nika
Shakarami messaged a friend to say she was being chased by security forces
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Oct
7, 2022
DUBAI:
The mother of a 16-year-old Iranian girl has disputed official claims that her
daughter fell to her death from a high building, saying the teen was killed by
blows to the head as part of the crackdown on anti-hijab protests roiling the
country.
Nasreen
Shakarami also said authorities kept her daughter Nika's death a secret for
nine days and then snatched the body from a morgue to bury her in a remote
area, against the family's wishes. The bereaved mother spoke in a video message
Thursday to Radio Farda, the Persian-language arm of the US-funded station Radio
Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
Nika
Shakarami has become the latest icon of the protests, seen as the gravest
threat to Iran's ruling elites in years. Attempts by authorities in recent days
to portray the teen's death as an accident could signal concern that the
incident could further fuel anger against the government.
The
protests, which enter their fourth week Saturday, were sparked by the death of
22-year-old Mahsa Amini in the custody of the morality police. They had
detained Amini for alleged violations of the country's strict Islamic dress
code.
Young
women have often been leading the protests, tearing off and defiantly waving
their headscarves as they call for toppling the government.
The
protests quickly spread to communities across Iran and have been met by a harsh
government crackdown, including beatings, arrests and killings of
demonstrators, as well as internet disruptions.
Human
rights groups estimate that dozens of protesters have been killed over the past
three weeks. On Thursday, the London-based group Amnesty International
published its findings about what appears to be the single deadliest incident
so far - in the city of Zahedan on Sept. 30.
The
report said Iranian security forces killed at least 66 people, including
children, and wounded hundreds, after firing live rounds at protesters,
bystanders and worshippers in a violent crackdown that day. Iranian authorities
claimed the Zahedan violence involved unnamed separatists. More than a dozen
people have been killed since then in the area, the report said.
Meanwhile,
Nika Shakarami's mother pushed back against attempts by officials to frame her
daughter's death as an accident.
In
her video message, she said that the forensics report showed that Nika had died
from repeated blows to the head.
Nika's
body was intact, but some of her teeth, bones in her face and part of the back
of her skull were broken, she said. "The damage was to her head," she
said. "Her body was intact, arms and legs."
Earlier
this week, Iran's police chief, Gen. Hossein Ashtari, claimed that the teen had
gone to a building "and fell from the upper floor at a time of
gatherings." He said that "the fall from that height led to her
death."
Nasreen
Shakarami said her daughter left her home in Tehran in the afternoon of Sept.
19 to join anti-hijab protests. She said she was in touch by phone with Nika
several times in the next few hours, pleading with her to come home. They last
spoke before midnight. "Then Nika's mobile was off, after she and her
friends were shouting names of forces while they were fleeing," she said.
The
following morning, the family searched for Nika at police stations and prisons,
but had no word of her whereabouts for nine days. Authorities finally handed
over the body on the 10th day and the family headed to the city of Khoramabad
for burial, she said. Authorities repeatedly demanded to take possession of the
body, which was in the meantime stored in the Khoramabad morgue.
On
the day of the planned funeral, the family learned that the body had been
snatched from the morgue and was taken to a remote village for burial, under
heavy security, Nasreen Shakarami said.
Since
the confirmation of her death, Nika has emerged as another icon of the
protests, alongside Amini. A photo of Nika, wearing a black T-shirt and sporting
a stylish two-tone bob haircut and eyeliner, has been widely circulated on
social media.
Authorities
arrested Nasreen Shakarami's brother and sister. The sister, Atash, later said
on Iranian TV that her niece fell from a high building.
Nika's
mother said she believes her siblings had been pressured to echo the official
version.
Iran
has a long history of broadcasting forced confessions.
Also
Friday, the official IRNA news agency quoted the coroner's office saying
examinations found that Mahsa Amini died of cerebral hypoxia - in which oxygen
supply to the brain decreases. It said she suffered multiple organ failure but
"her death was not led by blunt force trauma to the head, organs and vital
parts of the body."
It
said Amini suffered heart arrhythmia, hypotension and loss of consciousness
before being taken to a hospital.
Amini's
family has previously disputed official accounts of their daughter's death and
its cause while in police custody. The family has said Mahsa Amini's corpse
showed clear signs of being bruised and beaten.
Source:
Times Of India
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Emboldened
By Iran Protests, Afghan Women Take To Streets After Deadly School Attack
Afghan
female students march from the University of Herat toward the provincial
governor's office in Herat during a protest on Oct. 2, 2022. (AFP)
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Modaser
Islami
October
08, 2022
KABUL:
Women’s demonstrations in Afghanistan have been on the rise since last week’s
deadly bombing at an education center in Kabul, with activists saying that they
are emboldened by ongoing protests in Iran.
The
blast at the Kaaj education center in the Dasht-e-Barchi area in the west of
the Afghan capital targeted teenage students taking a practice college exam.
At
least 43 people were killed and 83 wounded when a suicide bomber detonated a
device in the exam hall where about 500 children were sitting. Most of the
victims were girls from the Hazara community, which has often been targeted by
militants.
Since
the Sept. 30 attack, female activists have taken to the streets across the
country, mobilizing to condemn the unrelenting violence as well as restrictions
on women and minorities.
Although
the protests have been dissolved by Taliban authorities — which since taking
control in August 2021 have curbed women’s rights — dozens of demonstrators
showed up in Kabul and the provinces of Herat, Bamyan, Balkh, Nangarhar and
Ghazni in the past six days.
“I
am glad women from different parts of the country are joining us in condemning
the attack on Hazara female students in Kabul. I would request other sisters
and brothers to do the same,” Razia Mohseni, a 34-year-old women’s rights
activist from Kabul, told Arab News.
“The
recent protests in Iran are inspiring to us as well. Women in Iran and here are
suffering from almost the same problems. Women across the country and beyond
should join hands to make their voices heard. Together we all win.”
In
neighboring Iran, countrywide demonstrations, which began in mid-September, have
been the largest manifestation of dissent in more than a decade.
Triggered
by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who died while in the custody of
Iranian morality police, the protests have spread to all of Iran’s 31
provinces, with ethnic and religious minorities joining in despite violent
responses from authorities.
For
Afghan women, the protests in Iran are a “symbol of resistance and awakening,”
Zarmina Sharifi, a 26-year-old activist from Nangarhar, said.
“Our
sisters were killed in an attack on Kaaj education center in Kabul while
getting an education. While we condemn the cowardly attack, we stand with our
sisters in solidarity. We ask the authorities to protect students and
educational centers.”
While
security forces disperse protesters, as since September last year permission
from the Ministry of Justice has been required to organize protests in
Afghanistan, women say that they have to raise their voices.
“We
can’t remain silent about the killing of our sisters. We want protection and
our rights. We are not doing anything wrong by raising our voices for the
oppressed,” Hafiza Jami, a student of the University of Herat, told Arab News.
“Women
in Iran and Afghanistan should be able to live their lives free of fear. That
is what our protest is all about. At times like this, being together gives us
strength.”
Source:
Arab News
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2177381/world
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Indian
Woman Dr Anupama Bhardwaj, Cuts Her Hair in Solidarity with Iranian Women
Bhupendra
Chaudhary
Oct
8, 2022
As
the protests over the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini continue to rage across
Iran and other parts of the world, a woman in Noida, Uttar Pradesh, joined a
legion of women showing their support for the anti-hijab protests in Iran.
The
woman, Dr Anupama Bhardwaj, cut her hair in solidarity with the protesters in
Iran.
The
protests erupted in Iran after the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who died
after being put in detention by morality police enforcing strict hijab rules on
September 17. The protests have spread across at least 50 Iranian cities, towns
and villages.
Despite
a growing death toll and a fierce crackdown by security forces using tear gas,
clubs and in some cases, live ammunition, videos posted on social media showed
protesters calling for the fall of the clerical establishment.
HOW
THE WOMEN ARE PROTESTING
The
women in Iran have been publicly chopping off their hair and burning their
hijabs to protest against the country's draconian laws. People are chanting
'Death to the Dictator', calling for the end of the three-decade rule of
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader.
Earlier,
Turkish singer Melek Mosso joined the protests by cutting her hair on stage.
Many French artists have also come out in support of Iranian women.
Source:
India Today
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Indian
Actor Priyanka Chopra Stands with Iranian Women, Says I'm In Awe of Your
Courage
Oct
07, 2022
Actor
Priyanka Chopra has extended her support to women in Iran protesting over Mahsa
Amini's death saying that she is in 'awe of' their courage and purpose. Taking
to Instagram, Priyanka said that the voices that 'speak after ages of forced
silence', 'must not be stemmed'.
The
actor also urged people to join the 'critical movement' as 'numbers matter'.
Priyanka also shared a black-and-white art piece dedicated to Mahsa. In the
picture, Mahsa looked on as several women, placed on her hair, protested.
Priyanka
captioned the post, "Women in Iran and around the world are standing up
and raising their voices, publicly cutting their hair and many other forms of
protest for Mahsa Amini, whose young life was taken away so brutally by the
Iranian Morality Police for wearing her hijab ‘improperly’. The voices that
speak after ages of forced silence, will rightfully burst like a volcano! And
they will not and MUST not be stemmed."
Taking
to Instagram, Priyanka shared a post.
"I
am in awe of your courage and your purpose. It is not easy to risk your life,
literally, to challenge the patriarchal establishment and fight for your
rights. But, you are courageous women doing this every day regardless of the
cost to yourselves. To ensure that this movement will have a lasting effect, we
must hear their call, understand the issues and then join in with our collective
voices. We must also get everyone who can influence others to join as well.
Numbers matter," she added.
Priyanka
concluded, "Add your voice to this critical movement. Stay informed and be
vocal, so these voices can no longer be forced to stay silent. I stand with
you. Jin, jiyan, azaadi… Women, life, freedom." She also added the
hashtags--Mahsa Amini, Iran protests and woman life freedom. Reacting to the
post, fans thanked her. A person wrote, "Thank you for being our voice! We
really appreciate it and need all the possible supports! #MahsaAmini."
22-year-old
Mahsa was pronounced dead days after the morality police detained her last
month for allegedly breaching Iran's strict dress code for women. The morality
police said she didn’t properly cover her hair with the mandatory Islamic
headscarf, known as the hijab. She collapsed at a police station and died three
days later.
Mahsa's
death set off protests in dozens of cities across the country, with young women
marching in the streets and publicly cutting off their hair in the most
widespread challenge to Iran’s leadership since the 2009 Green Movement
protests drew millions to the streets.
Source:
Hindustan Times
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URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/iranian-nika-shakarami-hijab-protests/d/128134
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