by OMID MEMARIAN
During Friday Prayers at Tehran University on May 21, Ayatollah Jannati, an influential member of Iran’s Guardian Council, suggested just that, demanding that a strict version of the Hijab Islamic covering be a requirement for female students.
“The university and students are both under your control and you can select the students based on this condition,” he told officials. “If not, let the Disciplinary Committee enter the action. A student needs his [sic] grade, he has no choice, he will do as you order him.”
Hijab – covering the whole body except the face with a scarf or veil – is mandatory for all Iranian women. But in a country in which almost 70 percent of the population is under 30 years old, and where women have outnumbered men in university attendance two-to-one over the past several years, more and more young women are adopting a sort of stylish Hijab that is coming under growing fire from conservatives.
Inter Press Services for more