Ela alHodi: Ahmadinejad is paving the way for the arrival of the Messiah, but some are throwing a wrench in the cogwheel by raising soccer for women.

Two days after the harsh words of general Ahmadi Moghadam, the commander of the law enforcement forces about combating women who are not fully observing the Islamic hijab, which was followed by organizing Friday congregational prayers in Tehran and a few other large cities, and news reports in Keyhan and Jomhurie Eslami newspapers, the police launched a campaign to confront young women in Tehran’s 23rd district. These attacks on women come after the law enforcement forces have demonstrated repeated failures in bringing security in Western towns of the country, controlling contraband, and the import and export of illegal goods.

Ayatollah Makarem and a few other clerics spoke favorably and in support of Moghadam’s new round of assaults. The same message was sent by Keyhan and Jomhurie Eslami editorials. Makarem said that the law enforcement forces had undertaken some measures, while some individuals were turning it into a scandal and questioning the actions. Hijab is a required element of Islam, he said, adding that not fully observing it led to the destruction of the family, and rise in divorce and crime rates.

Hossein Shariatmadari, the appointed editor of Keyhan supported the commander’s actions and wrote that General Ahmadi Moghadam had the right to protest the lenient judgments of the judiciary and be angry. He made it clear that the police chief’s anger was because of the judgments issued by lenient courts, thus freeing some of the women violators who had arrested with much pain and dedication. He wrote that if some of the MPs supported leniency, they were wrong to listen to the voices of their constituents, which is not their divine duty.

Jomhurie Eslami newspaper too defended the actions of the police in its editorial. It also criticized those who stressed the education aspect of the hijab problem, rather than the law enforcement aspect, claiming that this argument has made the hijab a more serious and widespread problem over the years. It concluded that engaging and continuing the cultural debate in this regard was not going to solve the hijab problem and wrote that what the police had done – which is none other violently than attack and physically intervene – was the right course of action.

Another element of the new campaign against women is the demonstration by prayers after the congressional prayers on Friday. Hashemi Rafsanjani, on the other, who was the Friday prayer leader this week, reserved his sermon for teachers, thus ignoring the directive issued by the Central Friday Prayers Office to discuss the hijab issue. Friday prayer leaders in other towns and cities followed the directive and expressed their support for the police. The prayer leader of Mashhad, for example, said that there were activities inside the government which rather than paving the way for the arrival of the Messiah, threw wrenches in the cogwheel. He specifically said that sending a women’s volleyball team outside the country to jump around in front of corrupt men was a wrong move.

by: www.roozonline.com

Kurosh Salimi - 2007.04.23