Mandatory hijab; 40 students banned from entering art university

The administrators of the University of Arts, while temporarily banning 40 female students from entering the university on the pretext of "failing to fully observe Islamic dress code," made the lifting of this ban conditional on the use of a "veil."

At the same time, female students at Beheshti University were threatened that if they did not wear a "veil" and "refuse to wear the mandatory hijab" during the exam session, the university would "remove" their course credits.

On Monday, June 13, the student union councils reported that "after illegally banning nearly 40 students from entering the university on the pretext of inappropriate clothing, this time, in a new measure, the security of these students has been conditionally suspended, meaning that if the students again attend the university without a veil, their suspension will be enforced."

The report emphasizes that "the entry ban and widespread suspension of students was carried out in a completely illegal manner."

The University of Arts also emphasized in a text message to students that the veil is mandatory. The text message reads: "Dear student, from Saturday, June 17, 1402, attendance at the university will be possible only within the framework of attendance etiquette and for sisters wearing the veil."

Over the past decade, the University of the Arts has implemented extensive measures to "mandatory veiling for students" several times, but these measures have failed due to student resistance.

Previously, at least 40 students and professors at the University of Arts had been "banned" or "suspended" from studying and teaching for supporting the protests for women, life, and freedom, the most recent example of which is the two-semester suspension of Mohammad Javad Tawazanizadeh, a senior composition student at the University of Arts.

At the same time, student activists at Beheshti University reported "harassment and threats to students during the exam session" for "not wearing a headscarf."

The student union councils confirmed reports of "harassment and threats" against students, adding: "The dean of the Faculty of Economics and Political Science at Shahid Beheshti University caused harassment during an exam for students who were not wearing headscarves and threatened the students, saying that if it happens again, he will ban them from taking the exam."

At the same time, a notice jointly signed by Abbas Saeedi, the acting vice president for education, and Fazel Jahangiri, the acting vice president for culture and social affairs at Beheshti University, was posted on the bulletin boards of various faculties, in which students were threatened that if they did not wear a veil and fully observe the Islamic hijab on the university campus, in classrooms, and in exam halls, the exam supervisor and the relevant professor could "delete the student's course."

Independent student organizations, along with 200 students from the Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Tehran, issued a letter last week protesting the "denial of the right to education and entry bans" of protesting students, and pointed to the actions of the "machine of repression in universities" and said that "intimidation and beatings on campus, entry bans, and arrests by security agencies outside the university" were part of the university's tools aimed at suppressing and silencing the students' unquenchable voice.

In this letter, student organizations emphasized that university administrators are now implementing a "university purge project" and "removing students and professors" by "resorting to hasty changes to disciplinary regulations and holding mass disciplinary committees, and by issuing orders of "expulsion," "suspension," and "ban on entry," including under the pretext of cover.

Source: Radio Farda