A grim incident unfolded on the 16th of September, 2022, in the bustling city of Tehran, where Mahsa Jîna Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish lady, tragically lost her life. Allegedly, her death came at the hands of the city’s renowned morality police, who apprehended her for allegedly violating the nation’s hijab rules, a code regulating female attire in public spaces. Word of the gruesome event spread rapidly across the city, sparking outrage and intense conversations. That day was marked by high emotions at Kasra Hospital in Tehran, with cries of protest resonating, ‘A life has been taken. The law enforcement has murdered. The morality police are the culprits.’
Despite the allegations, the Islamic Republic remained steadfast in its assertion that Jîna’s untimely demise was health-related, categorically denying any involvement of physical assault by the morality police. Nevertheless, people didn’t buy into the official narrative, and their subsequent actions bore testimony to their disbelief. The following Friday witnessed a massive gathering of irate individuals, primarily women, in front of Kasra Hospital. Their anger was fueled not just by Jîna’s death, but by the state’s apparent indifference to the brutal end of a young woman’s life.
The crowd, appalled by the casual cruelty of the security state, was teeming with suppressed rage and a hunger for justice. They were, however, met with a stringent cordon of the morality police lorries, plain-clothed IRGC officers, and riot control personnel, forming a formidable barrier around the hospital premises. Their objective was clear: to impede any form of public mourning or demonstration. The authorities didn’t limit their actions to preventive measures, they also resorted to aggressive detentions, unprovoked firing, and beatings.
Amidst such adversity, the rich cultural legacy of Iran prevailed in the form of poetry. This traditional art form has been an intrinsic part of the Iranian soul, and it has never hesitated to confront political realities. Its scope doesn’t simply cover expressions of whimsy or fragility; it embraces politics in full stride. Today, even peaceful forms of expression find little solace in Iran. Songs, journalistic reports, and the fortification of community under impossible circumstances all pose substantial threats to the regime.
Every voice stifled by the establishment births a plethora of new expressions, verses, and slogans. These new utterances slowly seep into our consciousness, either echoing in public demonstrations or immortalized digitally, thus ensuring their uninterrupted existence. Loss of a child in Iranian culture is known as the ‘burning mourning,’ marking the supreme embodiment of grief. This moment, engendered by Jîna’s death, sowed the seeds of revolution – a revolution aimed at aspiring for normality, justice, and equality.
These sentiments found a powerful articulation during Jîna’s funeral. Her father inscribed on her tombstone, ‘Beloved Jîna, you won’t perish. Your name will transform into an emblem.’ This poignant message painted a clear picture of the significant role that her death, a symbol of a systemic issue, would serve in the impending movement.
Funerary hymns were substituted by empowered chants of ‘Jin, Jîyan, Azadî,’ translating to ‘Woman, Life, Freedom.’ This slogan was more than a mere repetition of words. It was inspired by the political philosophy of Abdullah Öcalan, a Kurdish leader serving his sentence behind bars. His ideology revolved around three critical tenets: women’s liberation, ecology and environmental mindfulness, and staunch democracy – the pillars that gave rise to the now popular ‘Woman, Life, Freedom’ concept.
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