Known as Gasht-e Ershad, Iran’s morality police ensures compliance of the country’s conservative dress code. AFP (Representational Image)
Iran’s ‘morality police’ or Gasht-e Ershad has come under fire after the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini.
Amini was detained by the morality police in Tehran last week for wearing tight trousers and loose headscarf (hijab). She fell into a coma and died on Friday in custody.
The police maintain she died of a “heart attack”, however, her family says Amini was healthy and did not have a heart condition.
Her death triggered a series of protests in Iran with social media being flooded by videos of women defying the hijab law by removing their headscarfs and burning it in public and others even cutting off their hair.
But how did Gasht-e Ershad come into existence? What is its purpose?
Let’s take a closer look:
Gasht-e Ershad origins
The morality police has been prevalent in Iran in ‘various forms’ since Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei came to power in 1979, according to BBC.
On 8 January, 1936, during the rule of Reza Shah Pahlavi, the hijab and chador (Islamic veils covering the whole body) were banned in Iran.
The rule was strictly implemented with police removing the veils of those who wore them in public.
It became one of the reasons for the Shah’s unpopularity, who eventually went into exile in 1941.
After his son Mohammad Reza Pahlavi succeded him, the ban was eased and women could don traditional attire if they desired.
After the Islamic revolution, a law was passed to make the hijab compulsory in 1981.
The current morality police acquired its Persian name Gasht-e Ershad under Iran’s ultra-conservative former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
After Ahmadinejad came to power in 2005, the morality police was renewed with vigour and increased its presence in Iran’s large cities, as per Reuters.
Protests have erupted in Iran following the death of Mahsa Amini in the custody of the morality police. AFP
The morality police is backed by Basij, a paramilitary force initially deployed to fight Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s, as per Reuters.
How does Gasht-e Ershad operate?
Gasht-e Ershad has been tasked with detaining those who violate Iran’s conservative dress code.
As per the dress code, women in Iran have to cover their hair with a headscarf and wear long, loose-fitting clothes. Tight clothes, ripped jeans, brightly coloured outfits are also banned, as per Hindustan Times.
These rules are enforced by the morality police stationed across public areas. A mixed male and female crew is usually present in vans to ensure ‘modest’ clothing and behaviour in public.
It is mostly women who risk having a run-in with the morality police, while men are stopped by the patrols for keeping long beards.
If not a police station, then the detained women are taken to ‘correctional facility or a re-education centre’, where they are taught ‘proper’ dressing.
They are released generally on the same day after a relative brings ‘proper’ clothes for them, as per The Quint.
Iran has received worldwide condemnation over the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini. AFP
Role of morality police in question
Under President Ebrahim Raisi’s rule, the morality police has expanded its patrolling in recent months, as per AP.
Women have been “slapped in the face, struck with batons and thrown into police vans” for not wearing hijab “properly”, a United Nations human rights officer said.
The UN has also demanded an independent investigation into Amini’s death.
“Mahsa Amini’s tragic death and allegations of torture and ill-treatment must be promptly, impartially and effectively investigated by an independent competent authority,” said Nada Al-Nashif, the acting UN high commissioner for human rights, was quoted as saying by AP.
In a show of rare condemnation, Iran’s ministers have started speaking against the morality police since Amini’s death.
Iran Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf has called for investigation into the police unit’s conduct, as per AFP.
“In order to prevent repetition of such cases, the processes and the method of implementation in guidance patrols… should be investigated,” he was quoted as saying by state news agency IRNA.
Calling the morality police a “mistake”, Jalal Rashidi Koochi, a member of parliament, told the ISNA news agency that it has only caused “loss and damage” for Iran.
The morality police’s actions have also been criticised worldwide.
The United States called on Iran to end its “systemic persecution” of women. Italy has also condemned Amini’s death.
Harry Potter fame author JK Rowling has lauded the Iranian women for their protests after Amini’s death.
Sharing a clip showing a policeman beating women with a baton, Rowling tweeted, “The bravery of these women and the filthy brutality of the supposed guardians of morality.”
However, the Islamic Republic has termed the flak as “politically motivated” and has blamed unnamed foreign nations for stoking unrest, AP reported.
Rejecting the criticism, Iran foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian on Tuesday said a probe had been ordered into the “tragic death of Mahsa”, who he said, “was just like our own daughters”, citing President Raisi, AFP reported.
With inputs from agencies
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