No to Compulsory Veil: No to Compulsory Religion, No to Compulsory Government
This is a selection of six speeches by Maryam Rajavi, the president-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran from 2015 to 2017 in various conferences on the topic of Islam, compulsory veil, compulsory religion and compulsory government and why anything that is forced under any pretexts is contrary to the teachings of Islam.
Maryam Rajavi argues that mysogeny is the core of Islamic fundamentalism. In the case of iran, she argues that misogyny under the cloak of religion has become systematic and persistent because it is a lever to maintain the monopolistic domination of the velayat-e faqih. Misogyny is the raison d'être for dozens of the regime's suppressive agencies. It justifies the permanent surveillance operations in the streets, the actions of street patrols and the conduct of such agencies as the "Office to Combat Vice," or the "Morality Police Force" and 20 other police entities.
Similarly, clamping down on women on the pretext of mal- veiling is one of the most effective means to repress society and silence any voice of dissent.
The ascendance to power of Khomeini and his allies in exceptional and unique historical circumstances marked the exact moment when Islamic fundamentalism as we know it entered the global stage. This was a horrendous power-thirsty and profoundly misogynous force founded on religious discrimination. It instituted its backward sharia laws as a mechanism to establish a religious tyranny, and became a model of governance for fundamentalist groups.
In reality, dictatorships like the previous regime of Iran were too weak and corrupt to be able to stand against the waves of people who demanded freedom and particularly against the power of women and youths.
So, instead, religious fundamentalists undertook the mission to crack down on and suppress them.
After visiting the exhibition, Maryam Rajavi made brief remarks, lauding Iranian women's struggle.
She paid tribute to the pioneering women who gave their lives for Iran's freedom and laid flowers at a monument dedicated to them.
Maryam Rajavi, political personalities and activists of the equality movement from various countries participated. The conference entitled, "Women in Political Leadership", featured speeches on the threat of the mullahs' fundamentalist and misogynous tyranny in Iran, the Iranian women's resistance against the regime and the trailblazing role of the vanguard heroines of Ashraf.
Following is the remarks of Maryam Rajavi click here
The International Women's Day reminds us of a glorious future promised to mankind by women's equality movement and at the same time, it underlines the ongoing inequalities, violence and exploitation of women in our world.
And Iran is a country where women are living under one of the most oppressive conditions.
The mullahs' systematic suppression of women initially started under the pretext of Islam and they took advantage of religion to impose a wide range of restrictions on and discriminations against women such as the obligation to wear the mandatory veil.
The Civil Code was drafted on the basis of discrimination against women, and the Penal Code considers women's worth half of men's.
According to the mullahs' Sharia law, many activities of women including ownership, travel, leaving home, education, and employment are contingent on the decisions and desires of men.
Based on the mullahs' repressive and misogynist laws, girls as young as 13 and sometimes as young as 9 can get married and even punished.
The mullahs have spread the male-dominated culture with decadent customs like polygamy, temporary marriages, and sanctioning of honor killings.
The mullahs have deprived girls from studying in dozens of fields of higher education. Women's participation in the job market is only 14 per cent.
On average 2000 women are arrested daily for not observing the forced dress code.
According to the law, women must obey their husbands; they are deprived of the right to divorce.
If they get divorced, they are deprived of the care of their children.
When it comes to the regime’s Penal Code: women's rights is half of men's.
Although women make up a large work-force, they only take 14 percent of the job market.
In September 2016 the mullahs' supreme leader- Khamenei in a declaration announced that women's role is being a mother and a housewife while men's role is fatherhood and economic.
He also called for enforced government policies to increase birth rate.
In fact, by repressing women, the mullahs enslave the whole society.
On the other hand, however, Iranian women play a significant role in the Iranian people’s resistance against this religious tyranny.
Tens of thousands of women were tortured or executed in the struggle for freedom, democracy and equality against religious dictatorship.
Today, women hold most of the key positions in the Resistance movement.
Women make-up more than 50 per cent of the members of the National Council of Resistance of Iran.
At the same time, the Iranian Resistance's 14-year perseverance in camps Ashraf and Liberty was also made possible under women's leadership.
Dear friends,
In fact, women are the force for change in Iran.
This is why the mullahs keep adding to their laws against women every year in order to impose and justify more restrictions on them.
Hassan Rouhani's government claimed to be moderate.
However, it did not introduce even a minor reform in the regime's laws.
Dozens of women were executed during his term.
In the face of such a situation, we stand for women's equality before the law; in family rights, in economic opportunities, as well as equal and active participation in political leadership.
We stand for women's freedoms including freedom of choice in clothing, marriage and the right to divorce.
Unfortunately, western governments took no action on the suppression of women and violation of human rights in Iran.
They have abandoned Iranian people who fight the godfather of Islamic fundamentalism.
Visits to Iran under the mullahs' rule, and silence on the violations of human rights, mass executions and systematic abuse of women's rights is legitimizing human rights violations in Iran.
Western governments must not turn a blind eye on the fact that the mullahs active support for fundamentalism has paved the way, ideologically and politically, for the emergence of Daesh.
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