Iran: Anti-headscarf protester calls for boycott of parliamentary elections

Iranian anti-headscarf campaigner Shaparak Shajarizadeh called for a boycott of the parliamentary elections in the Islamic Republic on February 21. According to reports, Shajarizadeh turned into a protester in the year 2018 when she was taken into custody for removing her headscarf in public and waving it by tying to the end of a stick, as part of a women's rights protests.

Iranian people lost all their hopes

While attending an annual conference for human rights activists, Shaparak told an international media outlet that Iranian citizens have lost all their hopes, adding that she was amongst those who had hopes that something could change. The dissident further added that the difference between conservative and reformist politicians was like picking two faces of the same coin.

According to reports, Shaparak said that Iranian people lost their hopes after the violent retaliation towards fuel-price protests in the year 2019. According to reports, the movement against the followed Islamic dress code started in the year 2017, when a woman stood on a pillar box in Tehran without the "prescribed" coat and hung her veil on a stick.

Read: Iran State News Agency Says New Virus Has Killed 2 Citizens

Read: Pompeo Meets Saudi King In Talks Focused On Iranian Threats

Dokhtaran-e enghelab

According to reports, the 2017 incident prompted Shaparak and a few other women because of which they came to be known as Dokhtaran-e enghelab or Girls of revolution street. Shaparak Shajarizadeh has been subjected to violence because of her defiance against the traditional norms in the Islamic nation.

Shaparak won an award for her defence of women's rights in Iran and now lives in Canada from where she is still fighting against the rule of wearing the hijab. She further added that the sanctions on the government could change the situation in Iran, adding that women fighting for their rights are the real heroes. She is also of the opinion that the sanctions should not pose a threat for people living in the Islamic nation. Shaparak said that the best reflections of change are civil society movements.

Read: Bernie Sanders Calls Saudi Royals 'murderous Thugs', Opines On Iran & Palestine-Israel

Read: Iran's Foreign Minister On Meeting US Senator