The human spirit yearns for freedom and rebels against a regrettably human penchant for asserting dominion over others. The COVID-19 pandemic and efforts to stem the spread of disease fed a streak of authoritarian nationalism in some nations such as Hungary and Brazil — so it’s a welcome surprise to hear of protests against repressive governments in Iran and China, and to witness the armed resistance against Russian invaders in Ukraine.
The astonishing movement in Iran followed the Sept. 16 death in custody of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish woman arrested by the nation’s vice squad (the “Guidance Patrol”) during a visit with family in Tehran because her hijab, or headscarf, did not completely conceal her hair. Authorities said that she was to be released after a “reeducation” session but that she died of a heart attack. Witnesses say she was severely beaten and died as a result.
Women gathered outside the hospital where Amini died, and others — men as well as women — assembled in her hometown in Iran’s Kurdistan province and in universities and cities around the nation. Protesters burned headscarves, cut their hair and chanted anti-government slogans including “Death to the dictator,” meaning Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
