Crackdown on dress code in Iran

[Ulhas Joglekar <joglekarulhas@xxxxxxxx>]

The Hindu
http://www.hinduonnet.com/

Friday, Apr 21, 2006

International

Crackdown on dress code in Iran
http://www.hindu.com/2006/04/21/stories/2006042120361600.htm

Robert Tait

Offenders could be punished with fines or jail term

Teheran: Iran's Islamic authorities are preparing a crackdown on women
flouting the stringent dress code in the clearest sign yet of social and
political repression under President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

>From Thursday police in Teheran will be under orders to arrest women failing
to conform to the regime's definition of Islamic morals by wearing
loose-fitting hijab, or headscarves, tight jackets and shortened trousers
exposing skin. Offenders could be punished with fines or two months in jail.
Officers will also be authorised to confront men with outlandish hairstyles
and people walking pet dogs, an activity long denounced as un-Islamic by the
religious rulers.

The clampdown coincides with a bill before Iran's conservative-dominated
Parliament proposing that fines for people with TV satellite dishes increase
from £60 to more than £3,000. Millions of Iranians have illegal dishes,
enabling them to watch western films and news channels.

The dress purge is led by a Teheran city councillor, Nader Shariatmaderi, a
close ally of Mr. Ahmadinejad who helped to plot last year's election
victory.

Loosely arranged headscarves - exposing glamourous hairstyles - and shorter,
tight-fitting overcoats became a symbol of the social freedoms that
flourished under the reformist presidency of Mohammed Khatami.
During his election campaign, Mr. Ahmadinejad dismissed fears that his
presidency might herald a forced reversal, saying Iran had more urgent
problems.

Social utopia

However, Mr. Shariatmaderi denounced the trends as "damaging to
revolutionary and Islamic principles''. "We are looking for a social utopia
to live in but in the last couple of months, our attention has wavered,'' he
told fellow councillors.

The clampdown recalls the aftermath of the 1979 Islamic revolution, when
women wearing lipstick were often confronted by female vigilantes wiping
their faces clean with handkerchiefs, which were said to often conceal razor
blades. The new campaign will hold taxi agencies accountable for their
passengers' attire.

Young women shopping in north Teheran's fashionable Tajrish neighbourhood on
Wednesday, however, were uncowed. Matin (24), a nurse, was wearing a gaudily
patterned light-blue scarf pushed back to reveal sunglasses and bleached
blond hair. Her tight, short black overcoat with intricate gold patterns
seemed designed to provoke the ire of the authorities. But she was
unrepentant. "I'm a married woman and it should be my husband who tells me
what and what not to wear. He likes the way I dress," she said.

Surprisingly, Narges Asgari (20), a dressmaker wearing an all-encompassing
black chador, was also critical. "I don't think people will listen because
they want to take decisions themselves," she said. "Clothes depend on the
culture of their families. I wear the chador because, in my family, it's
something we accept." -

© Guardian Newspapers Limited 2004

Copyright © 2006, The Hindu.