Saying No to the Hijab: The Growing Resistance in Iranian Universities

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Amidst ongoing protests against the Islamic Republic, students across several universities and colleges in Iran have demonstrated against persisting attempts by the Iranian government to strictly enforce its mandatory hijab laws.

Students at the Art University of Tehran engaged in a peaceful sit-in at the institution’s National Garden campus to protest forced hijab rules and punishments for not wearing hijab in universities. Iranian security forces, including agents in plain clothes, arrived and arrested more than ten students and forced them into a van, with several other students detained for hours.

Some of the students apprehended by Iranian authorities were first-year students from other provinces in the country, who are so new to Tehran that they don’t know how to return home after being released.

The Persian hashtag #نه (No) began trending on June 19th among Iranians on Twitter in a show of solidarity with the students. A group of students at the Art University also released a powerful statement after the attack on June 17th.

“We, who have become ‘us’ for almost a year now, have nothing to say to you except the word No,” the statement said. “After your renewed emphasis on gender apartheid and the obligation to attend the university in a maghnaeh (headdress), after shutting off the water and using violence against our friends who were only staging a sit-in for equality in the National Garden Campus, we reiterate that we will not turn back.”

“This sky is still full of stars even after pulling some of them to the ground on a daily basis. The wound that opened wide in September (2022) is still bleeding. And we are standing, hand in hand, for freedom,” the statement added.

The statement received support from many Iranians on social media, with one Redditor saying that “Iranian students have been the flag bearers of the pro-democracy movement of Iranian people for years and even though they have sustained many deep wounds from the Islamic Republic throughout the years but are still going strong and undeterred. Salute to these brave warriors of Iran.”

More than a dozen student groups across different colleges and universities in Iran also supported the students who faced intense crackdowns from the Islamic Republic. Universities that released statements in solidarity with the protesters at the Art University include Tehran University’s College of Fine Arts and the Khajeh Nasir Toosi University’s Technical College.

The Art University of Tehran was the first university to protest against Iranian authorities after the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini under the custody of Iran’s morality police in September last year. According to research by the Center for Human Rights in Iran or CHRI, since massive, anti-Islamic Republic protests started, at least 720 students have been arrested by Iranian security forces.

“University students at the Art University and across Iran are being jailed, banned, and flunked for peacefully protesting repressive and discriminatory forced hijab rules,” Hadi Ghaemi, the executive director of CHRI, said.

“Governments should intensify diplomatic pressure on the Iranian government for its violations of freedom of expression and the right to peaceful protest,” Ghaemi also said. “and academic organizations worldwide should stand in solidarity with Iranian students and amplify their calls.”

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