“این عکس یک آیتم راست چین است”

“This photo is a right-aligned item.”
Ali Kalai

In recent days, the phrase “40 years after the 57 revolution” and similar interpretations have been heard so much that one might think a firm decision has been made to summarize and depict the 40 years of the Islamic Republic’s rule, so that everyone, from the revolutionaries to the majority of society and the generation who were either children during the revolution or were not yet born, know what fruits this rule has brought for the people of this ancient land. Old pop singers like Googoosh and Siavash Ghomayshi sing the song “40 Years” and this song has different and conflicting reactions from different segments of society. Four decades after the revolution and the rule of the Islamic Republic, it seems that it is the slogans of this rule that are being confronted and looked at eye to eye.

The first of March 8th after the revolution is the starting point for a confrontation. The revolutionaries, who were men and women, religious and non-religious, stood together in the revolution, and it has only been a month since the victory of the revolution that they face their first challenge. The cancellation of the law supporting the family and the issue of compulsory hijab by the founder of the system, who was the only leader of the revolution at that time. On February 26th, 1979, the widespread women’s march in the capital of the post-revolution country had a clear message, and that message was “opposition to compulsory hijab.” They saw freedom as global, not Eastern or Western, and they openly stated that “we did not have a revolution to go back.” The issue of compulsory hijab became a problem for Iranian society. Even the moderate positions of Ayatollah Taleghani, who opposed compulsory hijab, did not agree. Neither did

Forty years later, in post-revolutionary Iran, the Center for Research of the Islamic Consultative Assembly reports that 70% of women in society do not believe in the government’s imposed hijab and instead refer to the people’s hijab as “hijab-e-erfi” (cultural hijab) in contrast to “hijab-e-shar’i” (religious hijab). Iran is in an era where the phenomenon of “street girls of the revolution” has emerged, protesting against the forced hijab and representing various classes of Iranian women from different social and cultural backgrounds. In a situation where, according to the first and last law of compulsory hijab in Iran, based on Article 102 of the 1963 Penal Code, which was later added as a clause to Article 638 of the Islamic Penal Code in 1996, women who appear in public without the religious hijab are sentenced to 10 to 60 days in prison or a fine

In fact, according to the report of the Parliament Research Center, the four decades of imposing mandatory hijab and the implementation of laws to punish violators by women in Iranian society have been completely ignored and overlooked. The four decades of imposition have not been able to impose the values ​​of the founder of the system regarding mandatory hijab on society, and the Iranian society still seems to be repeating the slogans of that same day, February 27, 1979.

These four decades had abundant periods. From the time when no one dared to ask about the budgets and money spent on issues like mandatory hijab, to today when the annual budget issue becomes a matter of discussion in society. Whether this plan and raising the issue by the government and its supporting movement in the parliament is in line with a people-oriented perspective or is it just a widespread and judgmental topic in the midst of internal government disputes. But regardless of this issue, when Sadeq Zibakalam, a professor of political science, in a conversation or rather a debate with Hossein Allahkaram, who claims to be a doctor and we know he was a leader of the pressure group in the 70s and 80s and a prominent member of the Ansar Hezbollah party, brings up the figure of six thousand billion tomans, the budget issue is no longer something that can be ignored. At least if we divide it by four decades of ruling of a political system, we

This number is so important that Jamsheed Jafarpoor, the head of the Cultural Commission of the Parliament, denied it last December and said that no specific budget is allocated for this matter in the Parliament, and the Fars News Agency also reflected it. He says, “In the Islamic Consultative Assembly, no special budget is allocated for chastity and hijab,” and then adds, “There are centers that receive budget and have cultural activities, and naturally, a part of these activities is dedicated to chastity and hijab, and indirectly, the budget is spent in this area.”

Up to this point, their words have made it clear that the budget is not direct, but rather diverse, and is given to various cultural centers that work on issues of chastity and hijab. They also add that: “A plan regarding the issue of chastity and hijab has been prepared in the relevant working group in the commission to be reviewed in the commission’s chamber and after approval, it will go to the chamber of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, but surely this plan will not yield results this year (year 96 and for budget 97).”

There are two important points in Jafarpour’s words. One is that a specific budget is not allocated for hijab, rather every institution, organization, agency, ministry, and in short, anywhere that has access to the budget from the treasury, has a budget for hijab and modesty, or can have one. Secondly, alongside all of this, the members of parliament have a proposal called “modesty and hijab” which has a working group and has been raised in the relevant commission, but it hasn’t reached a conclusion yet and may not until next year! This means that there is a working group and a commission for this issue of modesty and hijab. Some members of parliament spend time thinking and proposing, and the government and institutions also present a bill to take action on this issue. The result is a referral to the report of the research center of this same parliament that was mentioned earlier. Meanwhile, the public budget of a nation is being spent on these stories

But the main question is, who are these institutions and organizations, and what troubles does this money bring upon them, and who receives the budget for modesty and veiling? It is natural that religious institutions should take control of this budget. Institutions such as the Qom Seminaries with a budget of approximately 897 billion tomans, the Islamic Propaganda Coordination Council with a budget of approximately 47 billion and 722 million tomans, the Islamic Propaganda Organization with a budget of approximately 430 million tomans, and other institutions such as the Al-Mustafa Society, the Imam Khomeini Institute, the Women’s Seminaries Policy Council, and others. The detailed list of the budget for each of these institutions is reflected in the 97 budget bill.

The Supreme Council of Cultural Revolution, as the top institution, approved a resolution in 1384 regarding hijab and chastity. According to article 46 of this resolution, in order to create coordination between executive agencies and other individuals and legal entities active in promoting and expanding the cultural values of chastity and hijab in society, the Committee for the Promotion and Expansion of Chastity Culture was formed in the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, consisting of representatives from 22 ministries, agencies, and various organizations.

The point here is that the secretary of the Public Culture Council is the secretary of this committee and representatives from the ministries of Information, Education and Training, Science, Health, Commerce, Housing and Urban Development, Economy and Finance, Communications and Information Technology, Iranian Customs, National Organization for Youth, Country, Cultural Commission of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting, Headquarters for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, Women’s Social and Cultural Council, Cultural and Artistic Organization of Tehran Municipality, Physical Education Organization, and Women’s Participation Center are members of this committee and must report their performance every six months to the Supreme Council of Cultural Revolution. (4)

All of the above-mentioned organizations and institutions have allocated large amounts to themselves in the 97 budget. Even if a very small percentage of these amounts are spent on such projects, the final number will be a large figure. The point here is that other government institutions such as Basij, Sepah, Islamic Advertising Office, seminaries, and religious institutions, mostly located in Qom and similar places, are not included in this list. By looking at the approved budgets for these institutions, one can understand how much of the national capital and public funds are being spent on the issue of hijab and chastity in society, and to what extent the national capital is being wasted on promoting the failed ideology of the government.

But the issue is not just about approved budgets, it’s not just about the hijab issue. It means that the behavior of the government is not just a cultural behavior based on spending cultural budgets for cultural programs. Imposing the hijab by the government and spending budget for it also has another aspect. An aspect that has been known in recent years as “Goush-e Ershad”. The government calls it “Social Security Promotion Plan” and its roots go back to the “Tharallah Goush” in the first decade of the revolution. This Goush started during the first term of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and is funded by the police and security forces. Just one year after the start of this plan, in the summer of 2008, the police announced a budget of 103 billion for this plan to make it permanent. This means that a security plan that confronts the national police with the youth of the country, puts a financial and psychological burden on

In addition to budget allocation and mobilizing the national police to enforce hijab, every year a week is also held called “Hijab and Chastity” and various institutions, from the prayer establishment headquarters to the Martyrs Foundation and others, are responsible for organizing it. (6) and (7)

In these programs and according to the executive instructions of this week (July 9th to 15th), various cultural, artistic competitions, book exhibitions, conferences, seminars, and workshops will be held, involving the Ministry of Interior to the provincial governments, the Ministry of Industry, Mines and Trade, and the Ministry of Science, Research and Technology, as well as the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting and the Islamic Advertising Organization. In total, at least 15 executive agencies are involved in this matter within one week, each of which must spend from their budget for modesty and hijab.

However, the issue is not limited to just cultural measures by the Supreme Council of Cultural Revolution and the Guidance Patrol of the National Police, and the special week of Hijab and Chastity. The Minister of the Interior of the country announces the provision of special facilities to support the production of Iranian-Islamic clothing. Special facilities mean budget and money, especially in this economic downturn of the country.

This Iranian-Islamic title has been discussed for years, both by the leader of the Islamic Republic and his companions, such as Akbar Velayati and Gholamali Haddad Adel. The issue of the leader of the system has been the subject of discussion for years, focusing on the “lifestyle” and seeking to create a society that is in line with their cultural standards by adding the Iranian-Islamic suffix. The whispers of this topic began in the early 1990s. The leader of the system spoke about lifestyle and its importance. In the smallest areas, such as the use of the word “brand”, teaching English, and the people’s travel destination (Antalya), he entered and linked this issue of lifestyle with his other discussion, “resistance economy”. Even in December 2016, a national conference on lifestyle was held and Gholamali Haddad Adel linked it to the resistance economy and said, “We cannot achieve a resistance

Four decades after the revolution and despite all the expenses that have been made and continue to be made for the issue of hijab, the record of the government in this regard shows a failing grade. Four decades of money, resources, and manpower have been spent on this matter, which the Center for Parliamentary Research now says has significantly decreased in value. Four decades of budget that could have been spent on the development and prosperity of this country…

We live in days where drought on one side, crippling sanctions from the United States on another, and economic bankruptcy of the government have taken hold of our lives. The value of the national currency has drastically decreased and the purchasing power of the public has suffered a severe decline. In these times, budgets are wasted in the futile expansion of modesty and veiling, burning away. An action that bears no fruit for the system nor for the people; only causing harm to the people instead of bearing fruit. The people’s money is thrown into the furnace of ignorance by the rulers; in the name of nothing, fruitless and harmful.

In the era of economic war, the name of destroying the country’s budget is no longer called negligence; it is betrayal. A betrayal under the name of hijab and chastity, and at the expense of the people’s pockets, without asking for their consent to spend this money, is currently draining the resources of this country. This betrayal will surely receive a serious response from the people in the not-so-distant future.

Notes:

1. “Factors Affecting the Implementation of Hijab Policies and Future Strategies”, Website of the Research Center of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, 25 July 2018.

2. An official report: Society has no desire for religious veiling, Deutsche Welle Persian, August 28, 2018.

3. Hamoonian, Morteza, “What Do They Do with People’s Money in the 97 Budget?”, Khat-e-Solh Monthly, 8th year: Issue 81, February 2018.

4. Which institutions are responsible for modesty and hijab? Tabnak, 18 Tir 1393.

5. Anvari, Amirhadi, “One Roof and Two Directions of Guidance”, Fararu, 5 Ordibehesht Month of 1388 (April 25, 2009)

6. “Programs of the Week of Chastity and Hijab in 97”, Sacrifice (Information Base of Martyrs Foundation and Affairs of Martyrs of Hormozgan), July 14, 2018

7. “Executive Guidelines for the Week of Chastity and Hijab, 1397, Mefda Information Center, 16 Tir 1397”

8. The Minister of Interior’s remarks at the 99th session of the Social Council of the country, the government’s information base, April 5th, 2018.