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Opinion | How ‘turban tossing’ protests are threatening Iran’s ruling clergy
- Protests over Mahsa Amini’s death have gone global, but another version in Iran called ‘amameh parani’ is targeting a garment sacred to Shia clerics
- Dislodging an amameh or turban worn by Shia clergy in public is a sign of great irreverence and ridicule
Reading Time:3 minutes
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The ongoing protests in Iran over the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini while in the custody of the country’s “Guidance Patrol” (or morality police) have made world headlines. But there is another protest that has received less mainstream attention in Western media.
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Whereas Amini was arrested for allegedly wearing her hijab “improperly”, thereby violating Iran’s mandatory hijab law, this new campaign involves another form of headwear – the amameh, or turban, worn by Shia clergy. Protesters have been deliberately knocking amameh off the heads of passing clerics.
The movement, known as amameh parani, has spread across Iran since early November. It has become particularly popular with young Iranians. Videos posted on Twitter under #TurbanTossing and عمامه_پرانی# show amameh being knocked off in streets, cars, buses, metro stations and almost everywhere clergy appear in public.
In less than a month, amameh parani has become the symbol of a national satirical mockery of Shia clergy and their legitimacy in Iran, and another face of the global protests against the death of Mahsa Amini.
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Iranian women join hijab-burning protest after Mahsa Amini dies while in ‘morality police’ custody
Iranian women join hijab-burning protest after Mahsa Amini dies while in ‘morality police’ custody
Clerical rule
By focusing on the significance, symbolism and function of the amameh, the campaign explicitly targets the hegemony of Shia clergy over Iranian politics and society.
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