In the popular video game Prince of Persia, the prince cannot get to the sands of time without the help of Princess Fara. But 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, Iran's princess of innocent blood, needs no prince to claim her place in the hall of martyrdom. She lives in the memory of family and friends. And now, all of Iran.
On September 16, she died of torture by the dreaded Iranian morality police, arrested for not covering her head. The anti-hijab protest that began at her funeral is a revolution by women, of women, for women against regressive Islam and patriarchy. They are publicly dumping the oppressive head-cloth and screaming for the head of Iran's Supreme Leader, the ruthless Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The Islamist despots, who have ruled over Iran since 1979, are quivering in their gilded corners, burned by the wrath of women who refuse to follow sharia fashion -- the hijab. Iran has reached the point of no return; when a government starts killing its young, its own life span is shortened. Shot dead are 185 protestors, including at least 19 children. Schoolgirls are dying on the bloodied streets, murdered by Khamenei's thugs in uniform. Teenager Nika Shakarami was beaten to death. So was 16-year-old Sarina Esmaeilzadeh. Hundreds of high-school girls and university students daily face tear gas, clubs and bullets, but refuse to yield to the cannibalistic darkness of medieval Islam.
History is the playground of déjà vu: after the Shah of Iran was deposed in the Iranian Revolution in 1979, Khamenei, who had been hiding in Paris, made a triumphant return and instantly took Iran back to the Middle Ages. The anti-hijab revolution is more dangerous for the tyrants because when the women and daughters of a nation rise up, ready to die for a just cause, the men will not be far behind. Khamenei, his bearded and robed coterie, and nuclear-crazy, terrorist-sponsoring generals are ignoring history to their peril.
Iran was once Persia, a great, enlightened empire where women enjoyed high positions. They were warriors and guerilla fighters. Mahsa, Nioka and Sarina are warriors who share the heritage of Pantea Arteshbod, one of the greatest Persian generals of all time, whose very presence was enough to influence the outcome of a battle. Artunis was the Commander of the Persian Army. So was Amestris Shahbanu. Grand Admiral Artemisia ruled in Xerxes I’s name. General Parysatis took full charge of the Imperial Army when the emperor fell in battle. Commander Youtab Aryobarzan died fighting Alexander's invasion. Princess Sura is exalted in Persian history for her military genius as a guerilla commander. General Apranik, Commander Negan and Azad Deylami fought the Arab hordes bringing Islam to Persia.
The crisis inherent in all autocracies that thrive on religion is caused by denying history and manufacturing new narratives. By denying the courage of Persia's women, Khamenei is losing his battle. The only tragic question is, how many corpses of Iran’s daughters will it take for the hijab-obsessed ayatollahs
to be thrown back to the sunless sands of a dark age?
Ravi Shankar can be reached at ravi@newindianexpress.co