On Saturday, September 16, Iranians and the world marked the first anniversary since the death of Mahsa Amini following a brutal assault by the moral police for not covering her hair in public.
Her death, while not that uncommon in the country, showed a picture of a strictly controlled people. In the wake of her death, the country witnessed widespread protests that went on for weeks, something that had not been seen in decades.
Iran is one of the strictest Islamic kingdoms in the Middle East. Headed by its Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and seconded by its president Ibrahim Rais, the two leaders rule with an iron fist under the strictest of Shariah laws. This is a country that executes its citizens for the flimsiest of infractions and for foreigners, the treatment is no less different.
The protests, while widely viewed as a call for an end to oppressive and archaic laws of the past generation, quickly widened to include calls for gender inclusivity, a regime change and even death to their supreme leader. And that upset the regime so much that they alleged foreign interference from countries such as the United States and its close neighbour Israel.
So bad were the protests that the government even banned foreign journalists from reporting on the same inside Iran. But while the government did all it could to suppress these protests, including arbitrary arrests, the protesters only grew bolder even in the face of the threat of actual physical harm and death. In some cases, deaths were reported following clashes with the police a clear indication that enough was enough.
And while the protests may have died now, what is clear is that the Iranian people’s minds and hearts are free in terms of what they would like their destiny to look like. Reports and even videos posted on social media from time to time have shown a growing generation that is ready to defy what was initially thought of as unthinkable.
Clips showing women walking the streets without the burqa are now widespread and an indication of just how far Iranians have come in terms of enlightenment.
And so as the world remembers Mahsa Amini and the aftermath of her death, the hope at least to some of these Iranians is that change isn’t that far in the horizon. What is clear for now is that while Mahsa is gone now, she shall never be forgotten because she sparked a spirit of yearning and change. And in honoring her perhaps, the world needs more Mahsa Aminis.
As for the future, I cannot tell if the momentum will last seeing as the government’s grip on defiance has grown stricter and keeps growing with each passing day. However, the idea of another Amini rising is not so far-fetched as was the case a year ago. In the words of the late Maya Angelou, “I’ve learnt that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.’
Advocate of the High Court of Kenya. [email protected]