“There is a significant portion of society that practices Islam. But even most of the country’s traditional religious population is shocked by brutal violence in the name of Islam,” Fatemeh Shams, University of Pennsylvania assistant professor of Persian literature, said in an interview with the German news agency.
According to the professor, who focuses her work on the intersection of literature, politics and society, more than three months after the start of the protests, it is becoming increasingly clear how divided Iranian society is. “I think this time we are also experiencing a generational change that has brought schoolchildren to the forefront of the protests – and that is completely new. These children have nothing to lose. All they want is a normal life and they are willing to live their lives sacrifice for it.”
The reason for the nationwide demonstrations was the death of the Iranian Kurd Jina Mahsa Amini. The young woman died in police custody nearly 100 days ago after being arrested by the so-called moral guards for violating Islamic dress codes. The protests that followed spread like wildfire and plunged the Islamic Republic into its worst political crisis in decades.
(SDA)