Ali Motahari’s Controversial Remarks Repeated: He Says Hijab Must Be Mandatory; Choosing Clothing is an ‘Animal’ Right
Ali Motahari is one of the Islamic Republic’s officials who has maintained hardline stances on mandatory hijab in recent years, and recently sparked controversy by reiterating his positions on the Clubhouse application.
These days, Clubhouse has gained significant popularity as one of the few unfiltered social and communication networks in Iran, and Islamic Republic officials are also present on it; including Ali Motahari, a former representative in the Islamic Consultative Assembly, who has again emphasized that Islamic hijab must be mandatory and that women’s right to choose clothing is “animal” in nature.
Ali Motahari’s positions, which are in line with the Islamic Republic’s policies on dress codes, are not new, but they faced numerous reactions on Twitter.
Among others, Hossein Rounaghi wrote: “After 24 years of reformism and reformed reformism, and I repeat, Khatami, we have arrived at a point where we consider women’s ‘right to choose clothing’ to be nothing but animal instincts!”
Mehshid Hosseini also, citing this part of Ali Motahari’s remarks where he said “When in our society a young man gets aroused by seeing a lady’s hand, this is our strength! In Europe now European ladies are turning to African men!” believed: “This is our presidential candidate. Participating in elections is no longer legitimizing the crimes of the I.R., it’s an insult to our individual intellect.”
Elham Nadaf also tweeted: “The Crystal Simorgh award for the most provocative statement of the year is presented to Ali Motahari for the sentence ‘God wills that we get aroused, we must get aroused.'”
And of course, some were fundamentally critical of why one should participate in such a discussion. Like Reza Haghighat Nezhad, who criticized journalists and wrote: “Ali Motahari said on Clubhouse about women’s right to choose clothing ‘animal instinct’. This is formally offensive. The least journalists can do is to leave the room. There must be boundaries.”
Amir Hossein Khaleqi also tweeted: “This fetish of conversation for the sake of conversation should be set aside once and for all; for example, what exactly is one supposed to hear from that honorable Ali Motahari? What are you supposed to find in those enlightened thoughts? What kind of victory are you expecting at the pulpit of the likes of him?”
Source: Voice of America
