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Some Iranian clerics are speaking out against regime’s crackdown on protests. What it could mean

Some experts say the criticism sheds light on divisions within religious authorities, but doubt whether it will be 'game-changing'. Others say silence of other clerics is significant too.

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New Delhi: As anti-government protests in Iran continue to rage, some of the country’s religious clerics have started to criticise the regime’s clampdown and have vocalised support for protesters. However, experts doubt whether such criticism will have any real impact.

Iran has been witnessing a nationwide uprising since the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini who was allegedly beaten into a coma in September by the Islamic Republic’s “morality police” after they arrested her for wearing a headscarf they deemed inappropriate.

So far, two clerics who belong to Iran’s traditional Islamic base in Qom — Grand Ayatollah Asadollah Bayat Zanjani, one of the country’s top religious reformists, and Grand Ayatollah Mohammad Javad Alavi Boroujerdi — have spoken out.

On 9 November, Zanjani reportedly said in a fatwa (religious decree): “It is obligatory for every Muslim to defend against plainclothes agents who attack protesters with guns or knives.” French newspaper Le Monde interpreted this as a reference to the Basij, the militia attached to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps, who are at the forefront of the clampdown on protests.

Earlier in October, 68-year-old Boroujerdi came out in support of the people’s right to protest.

“The people have the right to criticise the leader of Muslim society, whether the criticism is justified or not,” he reportedly said. “The people have something to say and they don’t agree with what you are doing.”

The two clerics reportedly received threatening letters from the leaders of the Qom seminary for “defying” the orders of Supreme Leader of Iran Ali Khamenei and were warned “to take a lesson from the fate of the revolution’s enemies.”

The remarks of Zanjani and Boroujerdi stand out particularly because religious clerics have in fact become targets for protesters. Some have been physically assaulted and others have had their turbans knocked off while walking the streets.


Also Read: Iranian woman journalist who broke news on Mahsa Amini’s death in ‘solitary confinement’


Unlikely to be ‘game-changing’

Experts ThePrint spoke to said criticism from the likes of Zanjani and Boroujerdi shed light on the divisions that exist within the religious authorities, but cast doubt on whether it will be “game-changing”.

“They are important to show division within the clerical class but much of the ulema lack the independence they used to have and the regime has a much better control of the seminaries. So, these comments, while important, are not game-changing,” Professor Ali Ansari, School of History, University of St Andrews in Scotland, told ThePrint in an email.

Ulema is the body of Muslim scholars or men of authority in religion and law.

Whether this will affect Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi’s voter base, which is composed mainly of “die-hard loyalists to the regime”, is doubtful, Ansari added.

Similarly, A K Ramakrishnan, an expert on Iran and a West Asian studies professor at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), termed Zanjani and Boroujerdi’s remarks as nothing new.

“There have long been internal differences among Iran’s religious authorities on the very notion of Islamic government. This was evident when the revolution’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khomeini, died in 1989. Ayatollah Hossein-Ali Montazeri was supposed to take over but instead, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei assumed the position, despite being a junior cleric,” he told ThePrint.

“Therefore, criticism from the clergy is nothing new,” he said.

Clerics have criticised Iran’s Supreme Leader and former presidents in the past as well. In 2008, Grand Ayatollah Bajat Sanjani accused then president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of breaking the law and illegally empowering the Revolutionary Guard.

The following year, millions of Iranians took to the street to protest against the results of the presidential election, which they felt were rigged. That year, Grand Ayatollah Yusef Saanei, a disciple of Iran’s revolutionary leader Khomeini, criticised Ahmadinejad’s performance, adding that under his government, inflation and unemployment had worsened.

In a more recent example, Ayatollah Seyyed Mohammad Mousavi Khoeiniha wrote to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in 2020 that his regime’s legitimacy had been damaged due to economic and cultural problems.

In the same vein, Pinak Ranjan Chakravarty, former secretary, Ministry of External Affairs, said the clerics who are voicing criticism now are probably cognizant of the impact of economic hardships on the Iranian people.

“The protests are not simply a cry for freedom but are also a result of economic hardships that the Iranian people have had to face due to Western sanctions. I think the clerics who are speaking out, are aware of these underlying frustrations,” he told ThePrint.

Silence of other clerics

Asked if the Iranian regime led by Khamenei is or should be worried by such criticism from the clergy, professor Ansari, quoted earlier, said that on the surface, the regime seems unbothered.

“I doubt it at the moment though they have attempted to show a degree of calm verging on complacency. They should be concerned,” he added.

Experts have also taken note of how the protests have spread to holy cities like Mashhad, a sacred place of religious pilgrimage, and Qom, Iran’s clerical nerve-center.

According to JNU professor Ramakrishnan, remarks from Boroujerdi, the grandson of late theologian and one of the leading Shiite clerics in the 20th century, Hossein Boroujerdi, should worry the regime but the silence of other clerics is key too.

“Perhaps the regime should be more concerned with the lack of support from the rest of the clergy. The silence of the other clerics is important too. I think most are watching to see whether the regime will be successful in suppressing the protests,” he said.

(Edited by Geethalakshmi Ramanathan)


Also Read: Unlike Karnataka hijab row, Iran’s goes beyond Islam. The regime is under attack


 

 

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