Forum held at Sydney University on death of Mahsa Amini as Iran revolts

By CHRISTINE LAI

The Socialist Alternative hosted a public forum on Tuesday evening discussing the movement against the oppression of women and the protest movement in Iran. 

Following the death of Mahsa Amini by the Iranian Morality Police on September 16, protests and strikes have occurred throughout Iran, and the movement of women revolt has had a resounding effect which can be seen in solidarity protests held around the world.  

Speakers at the event included Diane Fieldes and Bella Beiraghi who discussed the inequality and economic crisis in Iran and the mass movement that has sparked in response to the oppression of women.

The death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, a Kurdish-Iranian woman, who died in custody under Iran’s Morality Police last month has resulted in civil unrest in the country with hundreds of activists and journalists placed under arrest during night-time demonstrations while calling for justice for Amini.  

Amini was arrested in Tehran on September 13 for “inappropriate attire” and died three days later under suspicious circumstances while in custody. Since 2005, the morality police (Gasht-e Ershad) have been tasked with arresting people who violate the Islamic dress code and enforcing mandatory dressing regulations for Iranian men and women.  

Bella Beiraghi spoke to the history of the morality police, who were “invented by the state for the sole purpose of policing women in public.” 

“One student in Iran explained the day-to-day experience of this oppression saying ‘we don’t have the right to decide how to dress or the right to choose whether or not we can have an abortion. We’re subject to reactionary family laws and are underpaid in the workplace,” Beiraghi said.  

Persecution of ethnic minorities in Islam 

Amini’s death is an example of the persecution of ethnic minorities by the Islamic morality police as a Kurdish woman where “her murder was not just seen as an attack on women but as an attack on the country’s many ethnic minorities.”  

“Kurds have suffered from deep-rooted oppression, including being expelled from their land, their homes destroyed and the right to self-determination absolutely crushed. The Iranian state relies on the intense oppression of different groups like women and ethnic minorities to bolster the ideology of the capitalist theocracy and as an important tool to divide and rule the population,” Beiraghi said.  

Diane Fieldes spoke on the history of struggle in Iran, referencing the 1979 revolution which saw the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynasty under Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.  

“The key powerhouse for the Revolution and working-class liberation was workers councils and democratic assemblies that emerged to form a state of real mass democracy”, Fieldes said.  

Fieldes described the demonstrations in Iran’s history that demanded the overthrow of the Shah’s government as a “character intensity” that was transformed by “mass strikes which began in 1978”.  

“The most significant of all was the oil strikes with increasing political demands which included the unconditional release of prisoners, dissolution of Savak, (the worst repressive critical police in the world); and the strikes were devastatingly effective,” Fieldes said.  

Senior Iran researcher Tara Sepehri Far at Human Rights Watch described the Iranian authorities response to protests across the cities as “brutal” and indicated “concerted action by the government to crush dissent with cruel disregard for life.”  

“The security forces’ widespread shooting of protesters only serves to fuel anger against a corrupt and autocratic government,” Sepehri Far said.  

“Since 2018, the Iranian working class has shouldered the burden of crushing US sanctions that destroy the lives of people. While they leave the ruling class virtually unscathed, they have been used as an excuse by the ruling class for their neoliberal pro-capitalist policies,” Fieldes said.  

Mass protests and political unrest in Iran  

Fieldes referred to a comment made by an anonymous Iranian in the publication Marxist Left Review from 2020 which stated, “Political test in Iran will continue because any contingent factor, like the rise of the price of eggs, fuel or bread; suicide, or a poor unemployed person; or a political crisis for the regime will trigger a new wave of mass protest.”  

“The murder by the State of Mahsa Amini has been such a trigger. We’re seeing that unfold right now. The current regime is incredibly unpopular. Last year, hardline conservative Ebrahim Raisi won the presidency after the lowest voter turnout in 40 years and Raisi in power signifies the state’s increasingly repressive approach to Iran,” Fieldes said.  

Iranian women are publicly burning their headscarves and cutting off their hair while student protesters at places like Sharif University in Tehran have been victim to tear gas and rubber bullets during their silent sit-ins.  

Iranian authorities have also heavily disrupted internet access across the country, blocking several social media platforms, including WhatsApp and Instagram from usage since September.  

 “The students, despite being locked up and tortured, continue to demand ‘women, life and freedom’, they are the beating heart of resistance. 25 days of riot and rebellion lead a fearless fight for their liberation. As one teacher in Tehran put it, ‘during this glorious struggle we push forward. Fight, unity, victory,’” Beiraghi said.