by Andrea Nicastro
Since the days of its founder, Ayatollah Khomeini, the Gasht Ershad has had various names and powers, but it has never disappeared
Everything stems from the Hisbah, a concept from the Qur’an that invites us to value what is right and despise what is wrong in order to better ourselves and those around us. In the name of the Hisbah one can bring peace to the world, help the poor, not steal, not betray as in any religion, or be obsessed with women’s clothes. In Taliban Afghanistan there was (and has returned) a ministry for the promotion of virtue and the suppression of vice: it has whips and stones to punish adulterers or women who disturb men with the sensual chattering of their heels. In Saudi Arabia and Palestine people are content with committees. Over the centuries, the Hisbah has justified other pursuits (e.g. wine or musical instruments), but today it’s all about sex.
Hisbah in Iran means armored trucks and the green uniforms of the Gasht Ershad, the vice patrols. They are (or had seen yesterday’s ad) on the busiest corners, filling the van with badhejabs, the poorly disguised one. A foulard that has fallen out of the hair, a tight-fitting mant (dust coat), a trampled mascara are enough to make them end up in the police station. In Tehran, the morality police station on Via Vosarah, where Masha Amini, the girl who symbolizes this incredible revolt, was beaten to death Women, Life, Freedom. There the girls were told, verbally or with batons, about the scandalousness of hair, the sinful colors of coats, the devilish shades of eyeshadow. They usually signed that they understood and were handed over to a male relative/guardian. Other times it ended worse.
It’s hard to believe that this distortion of a religious principle can go away without changing the very essence of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Since the days of its founder, Ayatollah Khomeini, the vice police have had different names and powers, but they have never disappeared. In the 1980s there were the Police Jondollah Patrols and the Pasdaran Sarollah Patrols. In 1997, a law officially introduced fines, imprisonment and lashes for poorly veiled women. The current Gasht Ershad was born in 2006 with President Ahmadinejad. The rest is the constant challenge between women and police officers. The pants have become more and more tight, the bright colors, the coats soft to follow the curves. One arrest, one signature and back on the streets to challenge the regime with their clothes. Tehran makes it clear that abolishing the vice squad does not mean waiving the obligation to wear the veil. There are other ways to enforce it. More modern than batons like the cameras that already look into the cars and identify the badly covered. The first time there is a fine, then the driver’s license can be revoked, then the car will be seized if the male guardian does not supervise the passenger. Maybe the vice police are gone, but the obsession goes on.
December 4, 2022 (change December 4, 2022 | 21:29)
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