Conflict and dispute on the question of the veil among the factions of the Islamic regime in Iran is escalating. The paper of Iran supporting president Ahmadinejad, has called the veil “the worst kind of clothing” and attacked its black colour. The paper has even damned King Nasser al-Din Qajar (1831 – 1896) as the initiator of the black veil!

The fact is that from the very outset the veil was the banner of the Islamic regime indicating its character. Quite a few weeks before the people’s uprising in February 1979, wherever Islamic thugs could, they attacked unveiled women. After the coming of the Islamic regime to power, these thugs continued their misogyny by shouting the slogan “either a veil or a box on the head”, hurling acid on unveiled women, whipping women breaking the Islamic rules, abominable propaganda against woman, kicking them out of job, etc. But the resistance and struggle of women did not stop even for a single day. For refusing to carry a “proper veil”, millions of women have been warned, charged, whipped, imprisoned, raped and been called prostitutes in the media during the Islamic rule. However, they didn’t give up! In the past 32 years, a widespread war has been going on between women and the Islamic regime. It could without any exaggeration, be said that the winner has been the women.

The fact that today the regime is divided into adherents and opponents of the black veil, that one is denouncing the other, and that the other one is emphasising the penalties of improper veiling and saying that “just as King Reza (1878 – 1944) unveiled women by force, we have to use force to put it back on women”, speaks for itself the shameful defeat of the regime. An official says that 22 organs that are responsible for controlling the veil have not performed their duties and that in Tehran just 37% of women consider the veil, and even these are only for fear of its consequence! Another official says that the plan of sexual separation has been laid dormant for 24 years. Statistics published by the regime indicates that about 80% of teenager students have a boyfriend – something that precisely contradicts the whole Islamic system. For 32 years, all the regime’s measures of repression and propaganda have been working to impose the veil and yet all the Islamic ruling gangs are today admitting that in one way or another, they have failed.

Veil in any form, size, and color is the heinous banner of the Islamic reaction. They need the women’s rightlessness to keep up the system of exploitation, poverty and subjugation. The war on veil, sexual separation and other Islamic misogynious policies are a class struggle and cosequently concern all freedom-loving people, anyone attempting to stop religious intervention in people’s lives, anyone that esteems humanity or fights against misery, and all those fighting for the overthrow of this regime. The split and weakened forces of the regime may once again try to impose veil and sexual separation, but the freedom-fighting people of Iran are not going to give up. As they have shown in the past 32 years, they’ll not accede to this yoke of oppression. On the contrary, they’ll emerge more determined and firm, now that they’ve stirred up divisions in the ranks of the regime.

From the very begining of its coming to power, the Islamic regime introduced the veil by force. Consequently, unveiling would be the end of its miserable existance! It’s time to take the field with all their might and abolish the Islamic regime’s veil and sexual separation.

Long live the women’s liberation movement!
Down with the Islamic regime in Iran!
Long live freedom, equality, workers’ rule!

Worker-communist Party of Iran
August 17, 2011