Iranian singer's arrest sparks outcry over hijab law
Parastu Ahmadi, an Iranian singer, has been arrested for performing without a hijab. Two members of her band have also been detained. Many expressions of support for the singer and her collaborators have surfaced online.
According to the Associated Press, Parastu Ahmadi was arrested on Saturday in the city of Sari, the capital of Mazandaran Province in Iran. The singer posted a recording online in which she sang without a hijab, an action that contravenes Iranian law. The video amassed over 1.6 million views on YouTube.
Ahmadi's arrest has sparked a wave of support on the internet. Numerous posts condemning the authorities' actions have appeared on the X platform. Masih Alinejad, an Iranian journalist and activist, highlighted that this is yet another act of aggression against women.
A historic concert by the forbidden voice of an Iranian woman took place inside Iran, a country where women are jailed simply for singing - she wrote on the X platform.
Iranian singer arrested for performing without a hijab
In Iran, the hijab is a political symbol. After the death of Mahsa Amini in 2022, who passed away following her detention by the morality police, mass protests erupted across the country. Women in Iran have been fighting for years for the right to freely express themselves.
The ban on women singing in Iran dates back to the Islamic Revolution in 1979. At that time, restrictions on women's performances were imposed and remain in place today. Women cannot perform without a hijab in front of men with whom they are not related. Many internet users are calling for the release of Parastu Ahmadi and her band members. Appeals are emerging online for an end to the repression of female artists in Iran.
Before the 1979 Islamic Revolution, Iranian women enjoyed the freedom to perform and express themselves. Today, under the regime’s archaic rules, women are arrested, and even killed, simply for daring to show their hair or raise their voices - reads one of the profiles on the X platform.
