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Community members slowly gathered in front of Hendricks Chapel Monday, lighting candles and holding posters that read “Women, Life, Freedom” and “Jina Amini.” Ehsan Dowlatabadi called the crowd to huddle closer.

“Please come together to be more united,” he said.

The group had gathered for a vigil, hosted by Syracuse University’s Iranian Student Association, in the wake of Mahsa Amini’s death. Amini — whose first name in Kurdish is Jina — was a 22-year-old Iranian woman who died Sept. 16 in police custody after allegedly violating Iran’s hijab law.

Iranian authorities have said that Amini died of a heart attack, but a United Nations report states that she was severely beaten, and her family and many supporters allege law enforcement officials killed her. Her death has sparked protests throughout Iran as demonstrators demand an end to violence against women and the obligatory wearing of a hijab.

Mehdi Nejatbakhsh, the president of ISA, said the organization wanted to host a local demonstration following recent protests in major U.S. cities. Iranian SU, SUNY ESF and SUNY Upstate Medical University students planned the event.

Nejatbakhsh said ISA chose to host the vigil in an open space on campus in hopes of making the event more visible to the SU community.

“Everyone in the community was angry and (had the) courage to do something,” Nejatbakhsh said.

Attendee Sajiah Naqib, an SU graduate student from Afghanistan, said she heard about the event from SU’s Muslim Student Association.

Those who spoke at the event expressed support for the those protesting against Iran’s hijab law Anshul Roy | Staff Photographer

“When I heard about it, I was like, ‘Oh, I have to attend to show solidarity and (that) we know what they’re going through,’” she said. “We really understand their pain in terms of women being oppressed (in Iran).”

Nejatbakhsh introduced himself to the crowd of dozens and opened the floor up for attendees to voice their thoughts on Amini’s death and the protests.

Dowlatabadi, a second-year PhD student at SU studying economics, highlighted the global support that Iran has received, especially on social media, since Amini’s death.

“People all around the world that want freedom, want human rights, are supporting us,” he said.

Dowlatabadi is also on ISA’s executive board and hopes hosting events like this will encourage friends and relatives in Iran to participate in protests as well. Students should express their opinions whenever and wherever possible to garner support from political figures who may be able to influence policy, Dowlatabadi said.

“When we are together, we are stronger,” Dowlatabadi said. “Someone encourages you, you will encourage another one.”

Malika Ghazai, a junior double majoring in forensic science and psychology, said the vigil is important to her as an Iranian immigrant.

Ghazai and her family fled the Iranian regime 10 years ago after the country denied her mother’s right to custody of her. Though she said she would love to return and visit, she fears her mother would be imprisoned upon their return.

She said many in SU’s community don’t know about the events in Iran and hopes more people at SU are exposed to the issues that Iran is facing.

Following a number of male speakers, Nejatbakhsh said he received “legitimate” criticism for the lack of female speakers at the event, and encouraged women in the crowd to step forward and voice their thoughts.

A speaker who identified herself as a “resident from upstate” said she was grateful to be at the vigil as a woman able to leave the country.

“I feel so sad for my people who are still in Iran and they are fighting and protesting,” she said.

Another speaker, who said she was in Iran during recent protests and has been arrested by Iranian morality police twice in the past, emphasized that the protests are not just about hijab rules, but about human rights.

“I saw my friend getting arrested. I saw people getting killed on the streets,” she said. “It’s real, I saw it with my own eyes.”

Farhad Zoghi, a graduate student at SU, explained that the morality police, who kept Amini in custody for three days, are a compulsory force “based on Sharia law of Islam,” and that they are known for their strict enforcement of hijab-wearing laws.

“It doesn’t matter if you believe (in wearing a hijab) or not. You have to do it,” he said.

During his speech, Zoghi said the protests were for the rights that any citizen in a free country should possess. Yet people in Iran are continuously fighting for those rights with little change or success, he said.

“This is about a nation that is tired, that is fed up with everything,” he said.

To close the event, Nejatbakhsh led the crowd in singing the revolutionary Iranian protest song “Yare Dabestanie Man,” which roughly translates to “my elementary classmates.” The crowd then erupted in a call-and-response chant with “Zoghi” that translates to “women, life, freedom.”

“We’re just like Iranian diaspora in any other city, we want to show that we hear the protests in Iran,” Nejatbakhsh said. “We just want to show the support, the power of people.”

Published on September 27, 2022 at 2:03 am