A Simple Incident: The Conservatives’ Narrative on Mahsa Amini’s Death
A Simple Incident: The Conservatives’ Narrative on Mahsa Amini’s Death. While the headlines and front-page photos of almost all reformist media were dedicated to the story of Mahsa Amini’s death, the conservative media flow showed more interest in writing about the sidelines of this event rather than the incident itself, as they believed what happened was merely an incident.
Neither this tragic death, nor the reasons and manner of its occurrence, nor the practice of the morality police, which has been protested for years, nor anything else has been important to the conservatives.
From their perspective, what happened was merely an incident that others have surfed on or, as they put it, politically scavenged. Therefore, the majority of the content written about Mahsa Amini is not about Mahsa herself but about the reactions to her death. In their media, they have wholly defended the performance of the police and the morality police and have considered such incidents rare and minor.
They unanimously accepted the claim of a previous heart attack and the existence of an underlying illness in Mahsa, citing CCTV footage, and have described the protest attacks on the morality police and police force as political venting and the result of the unregulated nature of the virtual space.
Mehdi Jamshidi, a faculty member at the Institute for Humanities and Cultural Studies, wrote in the government’s newspaper, Iran, that what happened was just an incident that has no precedent or similarity in the vast record of the moral security police. Therefore, one should not draw structural conclusions from an unintended and involuntary incident and introduce processes as incorrect in an excited and unjustified manner.
According to this writer, the trajectory and transformation of the police’s performance in the field of hijab and chastity indicate its gradual progress, and the fact that the police have not handed over this segment of the social reform process to other institutions and have expanded their functions is a benevolent and compassionate act.
If Khatami’s action was rebellious, why do you continue it?
The same newspaper, in a report, described Mahsa’s death as a pretext for attacking the government and wrote that this incident led opponents of the government to take action and, in a strange analysis, introduced it as the result of the Thirteenth Government’s performance. Chastity and hijab have always been issues in the country, and police officials have pursued them due to support for the law and also the Command for Good and Prohibition of Evil Headquarters as one of their inherent duties. Reformist media are misleading people and accusing the government and the president.
The newspaper continued, stating that plans such as fighting immorality and improper hijab were on the agenda during the Reconstruction Government and by the then Ministry of Interior and took on a different color at the end of the Reform Government. It seems that what has unfolded in the country’s media space in recent days is an unbridled mischief and immorality aimed at discouraging people from the Thirteenth Government.
Some reformists have reacted to this media wave that seeks to blame past governments. A reformist activist wrote, ‘Isn’t it true that from your perspective, Mohammad Khatami is rebellious? What contradiction is this that you insist on continuing the policy of a rebellious individual? If you’re telling the truth, abandon it.’
The Islamic Republic and the Police are Oppressed
The Fars News Agency also wrote in a note by Kamil Khajasteh that the Islamic Republic is oppressed. For example, before the Islamic Republic can investigate a matter like the death of Ms. Mahsa Amini, it must hand over the case to the forensic doctor, check the cameras, inquire about the surrounding circumstances to uncover the truth, and then take action. But in the meantime, thousands of tweets and analyses without evidence or witness are published about this matter, the simplest of which is an attack on the Islamic Republic.
Alireza Abbasi, a member of parliament, also wrote that while the police are targeted unjustly by the enemy for performing their duties or rare cases of operational errors, and by some friends out of ignorance, questions arise as to whether political, cultural, social, and media activists have criticized and demanded accountability from related institutions for failing to perform their duties and the omissions committed.
The Morality Police Should Continue Their Work Strongly
This news agency, quoting a media expert, also wrote that in all other minor and major violations, an individual with a history of an underlying illness or even without it may experience similar incidents. If the police are to refrain from action simply because individuals might encounter such incidents, and use this as an excuse not to perform their duties, the door to combating lawlessness will be closed, and the very philosophy of the police and law enforcement will become meaningless.
Some are trying to exploit this tragic incident to portray any combat against improper attire as unjustifiable. The motivation of these individuals should be understood and introduced to the people. The Kayhan newspaper, in a similar analysis, wrote that on the one hand, some are trying to exploit the tragic and unfortunate incident of Mahsa Amini’s death to portray the police’s duty to combat improper attire and lawbreaking as unjustifiable.
These analyses can be the beginning of lawlessness and chaos in society because, in all other minor and major violations, an individual with a history of an underlying illness or even without it may experience similar incidents. As a friend said, if, for example, an individual is summoned to the tax office to explain tax evasion and suffers a heart attack while visiting this place, should the tax law be abolished?
Reminder of the Protection Plan
The incident of Mahsa Amini’s death and the widespread reactions to it on social networks have become a pretext for the serious supporters of the Protection Plan to remind it once again. Kayhan, in continuing its report, mentioned that the incident and the scandal of the liars once again raise this important question: Does the judiciary not intend to deal with those who, without evidence and with malicious or show-off intentions, target the psychological peace of society and, for example, falsely accuse the system of torturing a young girl? A large part of this rampant lying and rumor-mongering occurs in the unregulated virtual space of the country, which has no precedent anywhere in the world. Shouldn’t a solution be considered for these conditions?