Plainclothes Attackers Strike Student Gathering at University of Tehran
According to reports, a number of students at the University of Tehran gathered on Monday, May 13, in protest against recent actions by university security regarding student dress codes. However, several “Basiji” members and plainclothes operatives attacked the gathering, preventing it from continuing, and clashes persisted in the auditorium of the Faculty of Fine Arts.
?کلیپ جدید از تجمع #دانشجویان دانشگاه #تهران در اعتراض به قوانین قرون وسطایی
با شعار «دانشجو میمیرد، ذلت نمیپذیرد.»#اعتراضات سراسری pic.twitter.com/JIJ8iCd5IB— حميد (@hamidd100) May 13, 2019
Based on images and videos shared on social media, students holding protest signs against recent dress code restrictions chanted slogans including: “Dress code choice is our inalienable right” and “Freedom of choice is our inalienable right.”
فضای ملتهب دانشگاه تهران در اعتراض به حجاب اجباری و حضور اراذل و اوباش بسیج با شعار الله اکبر #مرگ_بر_خامنه_ای #مرگ_بر_جمهوری_اسلامی #مردم_بلند_شید pic.twitter.com/N6MpCPdx39
— فریاد بی صدا (@lena27197259) May 13, 2019
In videos circulated on social media, a group of plainclothes operatives, including several clergy members and individuals of various ages, chanted slogans such as “Allahu Akbar” and “Get out of line, abandon the university” to disrupt the student gathering.
When the student gathering was dispersed in front of the Fine Arts and Engineering Faculties, students took refuge in the auditorium of the Faculty of Fine Arts, but the plainclothes operatives stormed in after them.
At the student gathering in the university courtyard and also in the auditorium, chants such as “Students die but do not accept humiliation,” “Unemployment, forced labor, forced hijab for women” were heard, and some students held images of Marziyeh Amiri, a detained student.
The Student News Agency, affiliated with the Student Basij, called the attackers “University of Tehran students” and claimed that the protesters were “a number of left-wing activists” who were chanting “against certain religious rulings and the country’s laws.”
Students from several Tehran universities in recent weeks, particularly with the onset of Ramadan, had reported an intensification of restrictions related to mandatory hijab and the presence of “Guidance Patrol” on university grounds.
However, ISNA news agency, citing Majid Sarsangi, the cultural deputy of the University of Tehran, reported that dress code regulations at the university have not changed.
In an interview with ISNA, Majid Sarsangi strongly denied the presence of the “Guidance Patrol” at the University of Tehran but said: “Security forces appeared on university grounds to remind those who do not respect fasting observers.”
The cultural deputy of the University of Tehran also claimed that Monday’s clashes at the university were between “two groups of students with different ideologies and ideas.”
Every year, as the weather warms in Iran, law enforcement and security officials of the Islamic Republic implement plans to counter what they call “improper hijab.”
Hussein Ashtari, commander of the Islamic Republic’s police force, announced about three weeks ago the launch of a plan to monitor citizens’ dress code, referring to them as “moral and social security plans.”
Iran’s police commander also announced last week that the police force, along with the “Basij Organization,” would launch “neighborhood-based patrols” by the end of this year, which according to him, “one of the objectives is to enhance public security.”
Plans to monitor citizens’ dress code and restrictions imposed on women in Iran have always faced criticism from civil organizations and human rights defenders.
Source: Radio Farda
