Many of us have witnessed numerous instances of harsh treatment by municipal officials towards street vendors and peddlers in city areas.

We have heard many times from people saying things like “I, who did not close the way”, “If I had a job, I wouldn’t do this”, “I am unemployed, is it okay to steal?”, “Why are you blocking my lawful income?” and so on, and almost all listeners have quietly cursed these individuals. In many cases, municipal officials have resorted to severe and sometimes unlawful measures to beat and mistreat these unfortunate vendors. But beating to the point of death is a whole new story.

At 10 o’clock in the morning on the 16th of Mordad last year, “Ali Cheraqi” went to the Tehranpars neighborhood to collect construction debris for his friend. The workers of “Talashgaran Sarzamin-e Talaii” company, the contractor for collecting municipal waste, stopped his car near Bagheri highway and 196th West Street and got into a fight with him. Eventually, one of the workers struck Ali with a terrifying blow from a “boxing claw”. Abolfazl Cheraqi, the 14-year-old son of Ali Cheraqi, tells Eilna about the day of the incident: “My father and I were driving in a van next to the street when suddenly another van turned in front of our car and blocked our way. Four workers got out of the van and asked my father to get out. I stayed inside the van at my father’s request and could hear their conversation from inside the

The reaction of Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the mayor of Tehran, about this incident was very interesting. Ghalibaf says: “The officers involved were not employees of the municipality, but were employed by a contracting company.” In an interview with ILNA, he considered these types of incidents “normal” and said that such conflicts always exist between municipal officers and those who block the streets, and every year a few officers are injured during conflicts with those who block the streets. The mayor of Tehran is passing by this simple issue, while if, for example, the officers of New York or London killed a street vendor in the middle of the street, there would be riots in those cities and the media coverage of the incident would be well received through radio and television; but not even a photo of this innocent Iranian worker is published in the media in Iran.

After the passing of Ali Cheraghi, there was a strong demand for the issue to be pursued by the public. The pressure from the public also affected the reactions of the representatives in the parliament. Seyyed Mehdi Hashemi, a representative of the conservative parliament, told Alif website: “Unfortunately, the widespread and extensive urban activities in the municipality have caused problems in providing services to the people, which is undeniable and necessitates the organization and strengthening of management and supervision.” Members of the Tehran City Council also came to the scene and criticized the performance of the Tehran municipality. Ahmad Masjed Jamei, the head of the Tehran City Council, told Etemad about the incident: “One of the duties of the City Council is to strive to preserve and promote human dignity. In the fire incident on Jomhuri Street, not only did none of the city managers participate, but even the deceased tree was not removed until after the extensive follow-ups by the council, and

It is very clear that Ali Cheraqi will not come back to life with the promises of city officials in Tehran. The laborer who until a few months ago used to ride his installment van to earn a halal living and go from one street to another, now only has a photo frame on the wall and some pictures in the family album, and of course his four children. His son, who witnessed his father being beaten on the day of the incident, has been so affected by the event that, according to his wife, he has nightmares every night and wakes up terrified. Now, the only thing that remains in their memories of those bitter days of finding out about the incident and hospitalizing the deceased, are the anxieties behind the operating room and the rush to gather enough money for Ali’s hospitalization and surgery, and finally the words of the doctor after the surgery, who said to them, “I’m sorry. The left side of your husband’s skull was severely damaged and

After a few months passed from the death of Ali Cheraqi Ama, another news from this family surprised everyone.

Abolfazl Cheraghi, while selling fruit near his residence, was confronted by the contracted officers of the Tehran Municipality’s Dam Transit Project.

According to reports from the ILNA news agency, Abolfazl Chraghi, the 15-year-old son of Ali Chraghi, was confronted by the Tehran Municipality checkpoint officers while selling fruit on a handcart on the 20-meter street of Taleqani in the Namat Abad area. Eyewitnesses have reported that after the officers overturned Abolfazl Chraghi’s fruit cart and attempted to confiscate the scale belonging to the 15-year-old, local vendors and residents who were aware of Abolfazl’s identity got into a confrontation with the municipality officers.

Although there is no report available due to the intensity of the conflict between the people and the municipal officers, based on the information released by the media, the officers have hastily left the scene of the conflict, leaving their cameras behind.

According to the Chraghi family, despite numerous promises made by high-ranking officials of the city council and the former mayor of Tehran to provide for the livelihood and future of Ali Chraghi’s family after his murder, only the hospital expenses for the victim have been paid and the promises regarding housing and insurance for the Chraghi family have not been fulfilled. They say that in these circumstances, Abolfazl Chraghi, as the eldest son of their five-member family, has had to drop out of school to provide for his mother and three younger siblings, and for the past few months, he has been working as a fruit vendor in the vicinity of their home.

The promises made by city officials in Tehran to the family of the late Chraghi have currently been carried out by the actions of municipal officers towards the family’s son. Regardless of the human perspective, the promises made by officials are worthless and empty, causing turmoil in every mind.

On the other hand, considering the lack of job opportunities and existing unemployment, not taking advantage of self-employment opportunities is undoubtedly the smallest duty of the government. This right is so obvious for the general public that if public institutions fail to provide opportunities and tools for work, they have certainly committed injustice by depriving people of their healthy self-employment. The consequences of this injustice are evident from top to bottom, with no escape; especially if it takes away a healthy livelihood. The least result of this action is leading people towards an unhealthy livelihood, and in the worst case, the proliferation of poverty and deprivation.

Now we have to ask the municipality and other responsible institutions that even if we were not unemployed, we could only prevent a way of earning income by making other methods, information and skills available to the people. This is something you have not done. Now what has happened that in an economy with an unemployment rate of at least 14% and a very weak implementation of the unemployment insurance law, we are preventing the healthy self-employment of citizens? Do we have the duty to force people into haram or poverty? This is in a situation where, firstly, a part of the employed also resort to these actions due to their insufficient income, and secondly, sanctions and energy price shocks have also added a number of yesterday’s workers to the list of unemployed today.

Who doesn’t know that peddling is a product of an unhealthy economy and extreme class conflict? Who doesn’t know that certain individuals, through daily brokerage, pocket hundreds of times more than peddling and laugh at everyone’s expense…