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Professors Join Student Nationwide Protests Triggered By Woman's Death While In Police Custody Over Hijab [1]
["Rfe Rl'S Radio Farda"]
Date: 2022-09
Several Iranian university professors have joined students protest by refusing to participate in classes, with some resigning to support anti-government protests across the country that were triggered by the death of a 22-year-old woman while she was in police custody for allegedly wearing a head scarf, or hijab, improperly.
Lily Galehadaran, a member of the academic faculty of Shiraz Art University, was one of the first professors who resigned her position in support of the protests.
“I was interrogated many times in the Intelligence Department of Shiraz and Tehran, but I continued to teach because of the love of my students. But today I am resigning from my job because of the love I have for them,” Galehadaran wrote in her resignation letter, addressing protesting students who had repeatedly asked professors to join them in recent days.
The move by academics comes amid massive anti-government protests over the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who died after she was taken into custody by morality police over the hijab.
Officials say 41 people have died during the protests, but the group Iran Human Rights says at least 76 people have been killed in a crackdown that has seen sweeping restrictions imposed on the Internet, including blocks on Instagram and WhatsApp.
WATCH: A funeral has been held for a 20-year-old woman who was said to have been shot dead by Iranian security forces in the city of Karaj, near Tehran. Hadis Najafi was shot six times on September 21 during ongoing nationwide protests following the death of Mahsa Amini.
Many students, high-profile activists, rights advocates, and intellectuals have also been arrested in recent days, including Majid Tavakoli and Mohammad Reza Jalaeipour.
Students in Tehran and other Iranian cities have often chanted the slogan, "The streets are covered in blood; our professors are silent," during rallies in recent days.
Nasrollah Hekmat, a prominent Iranian philosopher and philosophy professor at Beheshti University, has joined the protesting students.
"Today, I consider myself your student and you are my teacher. Only God knows that in these few days, I have learned more from you than in my entire life," Hekmat wrote in a letter, adding that “as long as students are protesting, I will not hold any classes.”
Ammar Ashuri, a professor who resigned from Tehran Azad University’s faculty of art and architecture, said he has been pressured and threatened by university security officers because of the posts and stories he has posted on Instagram.
At least 20 journalists are among those arrested, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). They include photojournalist Yalda Moayeri, Fatemeh Rajabi, and Niloufar Hamedi, who reported from the Tehran hospital where Amini died on September 16.
Written by Ardeshir Tayebi based on an original story in Persian by RFE/RL's Radio Farda
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[1] Url:
https://www.rferl.org/a/iran-amini-protests-professors-crackdown/32054577.html
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