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Unveiled! Half of Iran says no to head scarves

As many as 49.8 per cent Iranians, both women and men, described the veil as a private matter, asking the government to stop having a say in it.

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Iranian women walk past mannequins wearing scarves, Tehran
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While ending the reign of pro-western monarchy, the Islamic revolution of Iran in 1979 also enforced a minimum of Islamic covering — or hijab — for women. Now, 39 years later, winds of change are once again sweeping the region with nearly half of Iranians wanting to end the requirement of women covering their heads in public. It was already known that millions of more liberal-minded Iranians are flinging off their veils as soon as they step inside.

The government in Tehran on Sunday released a report that had been kept secret over the past three-years — showing public resentment against the veil. As many as 49.8 per cent Iranians, both women and men, described the veil as a private matter, asking the government to stop having a say in it.

The issue is snowballing into a major controversy between President Hassan Rouhani, known as liberal political face, and Iran's hard-line judiciary as well as supreme spiritual leader Sayyid Ali Hosseini Khamenei. The hijab was seen as a pillar of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The law regarding the scarf has been enforced since 1979, and a head scarf is 'obligatory' for every woman in the country, even tourists and visiting foreign dignitaries.

Women in Tehran have been protesting against hard-liners over the past many weeks. So far 29 people had been detained. Dozens of women made the symbolic gesture and shared their actions on social media: taking off their head scarves in public and waving them on a stick. They were emulating a young woman who had climbed onto a utility box on December 27, removed her scarf and was subsequently arrested. Activists say that she has since been released, but she still has not resurfaced in public.

The release of the report, by one of Rouhani's closest advisers, is seen as a politically calculated step to bolster support for social reforms and to signal to the authorities to temper their response to the protests. "The government wants to show that any crackdown against the veil is illegal and not democratic," Fazel Meybodi, a reformist cleric from the city of Qom told The New York Times. The President's adviser who released the report, Hesameddin Ashna, heads the Center for Strategic Studies, a government research group that in 2014 conducted a nationwide survey of public opinion about the compulsory Islamic veil.

Protest mounts 

  • Women in Tehran have been protesting against hardliners over the past many weeks. So far 29 people had been detained 
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