#headscarfprotest

[priyasebastian]

I never ever thought I would look on with so much incredulity and horror at the happenings over the wearing of a headscarf in Iran when I drew this illustration in2019. I recall wondering if this young girl in my drawing would have worn that headscarf if she had had a choice. I wondered, 'What is "choice"?' Are we exercising  'choice' if we choose to wear what everyone around us wears, whether it is the wearing of a headscarf or a mangalsutra? No, it isn't. Had the young girl in this story decided not to wear a scarf in spite of the fact that she had had her first period, then she would have exercised choice. To what repercussions? I do not know. That is for another story. Perhaps then her story would have been similar to the story of Hadis Najafi. Society feels threatened when women exercise choice. What happened to Mahsa Amini was beyond tragic. After that Christiane Amanpour was asked to wear a headscarf when she interviewed Iranian president Raisi. Just when we were digesting this incredulity, we learned the latest, Hadis Najafi shot dead. Protest we must if we want our voices heard above stifling oppression. Remember the anti CAA riots? Remember how waves and waves of our farmers stormed the capital to get our government to repeal those Farm Laws 2020? My heart goes out to Iranian women at this time. What more can one say?