Iranian paper: Hijab quarrel on bus linked to bigger agenda

A recent spat between two women on a bus in the Iranian capital Tehran over their hijab that turned ugly has been serving as ammo for heated debates on social media.

A video footage has been circulating on social media since Saturday showing a woman with full Islamic hijab getting into a frantic altercation with a woman who had removed her head gear in an intra-city transit bus.

The hijab wearing woman, while recording the incidents, was finally thrown out of the bus and the hijab-less woman was reportedly arrested for restoring to violence and violating the dress code.

The law mandates that women in Iran wear a hijab in public.

Iran’s Hamshahri newspaper has said in a report that the detained woman has been in contact with Masih Alinejad, a fugitive Iranian journalist the Islamic Republic says is a US State Department agent.

Alinejad has launched a campaign to actively instigate Iranian women to flout the law by removing their hijab in public.

Hamshahri also wrote that foreign agents are using hijab as a pretext to cause a rift among the nation, warning the radical individuals and groups in Iran not to play into the hands of those whose ultimate goal is to topple the Islamic establishment.

Golrokh Askarieh