Male Student’s Torn Jeans Pinched by University Security
The security department of Tehran University of Science and Research pinched the torn seams of a male student’s jeans.
According to the Amir Kabir newsletter, university security departments have adopted methods similar to Revolutionary Committees of the 1980s to suppress students. A regulation introduced in recent months to deal with students who have optional hijab includes workshops on funeral washing practices held at the Orujiyan complex of Besheshti Organization. Now other regulations have been imposed on students, preventing them from entering the university even when wearing jeans with “rips” (tears or distressing). According to the Amir Kabir newsletter, security officials at Iran’s Free University Science and Research branch prevented a student wearing distressed jeans from entering the campus.
Security personnel confined the student to a kiosk, confiscated his student ID card, and after pinching the torn section of his pants closed, allowed him to enter the university. The Amir Kabir newsletter described the security’s actions as “a repetition of 1980s brutality.”
After the 1979 Revolution, Revolutionary Committee patrols treated women and men who did not comply with Islamic dress codes violently. One such violence included striking women’s foreheads with pens if their hair showed from under their headscarves or veils. Similarly, if men’s shirt collars were unbuttoned, they would be pinched shut with pincers.
Since September of last year and the beginning of nationwide protests, many students have been subjected to violence by security forces and university administrations and have even been detained. Many others have been expelled, suspended, or threatened.
Following reports about security’s treatment of students at the aforementioned university, the head of security at Amir Kabir University announced increased security patrols on campus from yesterday morning, with many of these patrols intruding into faculty spaces and classrooms.
Last week, security forces at Shahid Beheshti University also attacked the library and classrooms, using violence against students not wearing Islamic headscarves. Security personnel confiscated student ID cards of girls without headscarves, demanded apologies from professors for students’ non-compliance with hijab requirements, and forcibly removed professors from classrooms. In response to these security actions, students staged sit-ins and abstained from attending classes.
