The Headquarters for Promotion of Virtue finally reacted
Last night, after six days, the Headquarters for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice finally reacted to the Mahsa Amini incident through a statement signed by its spokesperson, Seyed Ali Khan Mohammadi, sent to Khabar Online. The statement reads:
1. In the incident that occurred, the principle of establishing justice and transparency is paramount. It is expected from the prosecutor’s office to conduct the best investigation and timely announcement to call the public conscience to a precise and complete investigation for a fair judgment.
2. The Headquarters for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, as it has repeatedly stated, opposes any duty that leads to direct confrontation between the police and those with improper hijab and believes that this issue can be managed with appropriate solutions and without social tensions. According to the comprehensive plan of the Headquarters for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, the police should transform into a supportive force for responsible officials and the trusted public.
3. Now that the President has instructed the Minister of Interior to follow up, it is appropriate for the Minister of Interior not to limit himself only to the details of this incident. We ask the Minister of Interior to thoroughly examine whether the 32 organizations that, according to the decree of the Supreme Council of Cultural Revolution, had 330 legal duties regarding chastity and hijab, have fulfilled their responsibilities to prevent such issues. Have they properly fulfilled their legal duties? Has the necessary cultural education been provided for this 23-year-old in the Islamic Republic by cultural organizations, or have they merely paid lip service to cultural work? Has the national broadcaster, which has the most responsibilities in the law and the greatest role in cultural education in this and similar incidents, fulfilled its cultural duties? How should a young person and thousands of other young people act to avoid confrontation with the police force? Has our police provided the necessary training to its personnel to preserve individuals’ human dignity? From the Headquarters for Promotion of Virtue to the Ministry of Interior and other responsible institutions, have they correctly fulfilled their legal duties? Are the education system and universities of the country properly performing their duties towards our youth, or have the omissions and ineffective education handed over our teenagers and young people to the police? If the cultural organizations had properly fulfilled their duties, we would not witness such a tragic incident. Must unfortunate incidents occur for the authorities and officials to think of a solution?
4. The Headquarters for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, while believing in the necessity of solving the existing problem in the area of chastity and hijab, maintains that neither the police should directly intervene in this issue, nor should its resolution be tied to judicial proceedings, nor should the government be the caretaker of this issue. Instead, the solution to the matter of chastity and hijab is only achievable by the people themselves with proper management, as fully explained in the comprehensive plan on chastity and hijab.
5. The Islamic Consultative Assembly must seriously address this issue and save the society from the turmoil of crises and the occurrence of incidents that happen from time to time. The Islamic Consultative Assembly should not wait until a promoter of virtue and preventer of vice is beaten or martyred, or a young person with improper hijab suffers a stroke during police enforcement, to then react passively. As Martyr Soleimani said, all of them are our children; why should there be conflicts among children due to lawlessness and mismanagement? Laws are established to solve social problems, and now that these conflicts exist, it means either there is no law or it is ineffective, which is where the Islamic Consultative Assembly must promptly focus on its legislative and supervisory roles without delay.
6. The Headquarters for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice continues to emphasize that to solve the issue of improper hijab, the criminalization of improper hijab, which requires arrest, case creation, and trial, should be removed. According to the comprehensive plan on chastity and hijab, improper hijab should be treated as a violation, which helps solve the issue without any social tension. Of course, the enemies desire for social tensions to always exist.
In conclusion, the Headquarters for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice again expresses deep regret over the occurrence of such unfortunate incidents and truly considers this a painful agony. It protests the current situation, questioning why, after over forty years, we still witness such bitter and unfortunate events amid the uncertainties of proper law enforcement and its gaps in the failures and shortcomings of especially cultural institutions.