Women's Voice is Close!

I translated this piece from Asieh Amini’s Weblog.
Dear Asieh ,
You are not alone...

Women’s Voice Seems Very Close!

I arrived at the park at 5 p.m. Nothing seemed to be happening, but some things were indeed happening. The news was under the skin of the park. The news was sitting on the benches of the park. I, too, sat down. And then I noticed my surroundings. There were many people around talking in the groups of two or more. They came. They came with their sticks to beat us. They walked straight towards us. We were talking with Mrs. Moghaddam and others. They told us “to land”*. We said that we are not doing anything and that we are only sitting here. They said, “Get up”!
We said that that sitting in the park is not a crime. They said, “Get up before we proceed to using other methods!” And we did not have the opportunity to speak anymore. We had different objectives and both sides knew this pretty well. They said that they are being very serious and we asked, “Why?”
They kicked us out of the park. They beat us and kicked us out. We walked. Calm and peaceful. We walked around the park. They kicked us out. They beat us up. Someone yelled and said, “I am your mother. Shame on you!” The answer was the following: “ I do not have a bitch as my mother!” And then she pushed the older lady very harshly. We left. They took us. Around the square we were holding papers on which it was written, “Change the anti-woman laws!”, “We demand the rights of a complete human being!” and then we started to whisper collectively, “ We are women. We are humans. And yet we have no rights...” This time they started to beat us from all sides. Not only men were beating us. There were also women with chador (the garment) who were screaming: “Do not argue with the police!” and as soon as someone would start to argue, they would start to curse and kick them all over.
We walked around the square. They took our papers away and torn them into pieces. They pulled the crowd of young and old women who were yelling out slogans and took them to their assigned busses. The crowd resisted their forces. But there were many policemen and policewomen around. It was odd. All of a sudden it seemed as if everyone around us was a member of the moral police. We heard them over and over saying, “No worries. We are not strangers!” I do not really know how many of us were there. All I know is that it was not a small crowd and that we will increase in number.
The square was pact with people! I bumped into friends left and right. It was around that time when they took Jila away. They took her with handcuffs. They took her husband, Bahman, too. They also took her sister, Taraneh. Their busses were now full. They left. They took our friends away and we don’t know where to... In one of the minibuses they took 19 people and in the other one they took 9...They pulled Mosavi Khoini from the other side of the street and took him, too. Moosavi Khoini and his group of 111 people (Edvar Tahkim) had declared their support of the demonstration yesterday.

Then we heard some more names of the people who were taken by the moral police. But since I am not sure, I am not going to say their names. But I do know that they took many people. There are some that I didn’t even know before. Maybe they were students and maybe they were everyday women who had just joined the crowd.

Many of us including myself followed the previous plans and left the park at 6 pm. And we advised others to leave so that later participants don’t get blamed for the violence that was taking place.
My head hurts. And my one foot that was kicked hurts .I was beaten by their sticks on the back and it hurts .My hands that were pulled over and over hurt. Though, I don’t feel pain in my heart. There is an uproar in my heart and it is so strong that does not let me even feel the pain.
It was a good day. The voice of freedom was too close to not be heard.

* Asieh has used the English verb, “to land”. It probably means giving in to the police.