Elnaaz Norouzi, the
Iran-born actress who featured in the Indian web series Sacred Games, stripped
down nearly naked in solidarity with the women led protests in Iran that began
following the death of Masha Amini, a 22-year-old girl allegedly killed by Ebrahim
Raisi’s morality police on September 16.
Protests have rocked
Iran since the incident and demonstrations of all shapes and sizes have taken
place across 40 provinces. Around 70 people have died in police violence during
the protests, a section of the Western media and pro-reform Iranian media
report.
Norouzi uploaded a 30-second video on Instagram where she strips down several layers of clothing before posing nearly in the nude. The video seeks to make the statement that a woman’s body is her own and how she chooses to dress is her own prerogative, including whether she wants to show skin, hair or cover it all up.
Also Read: UK sanctions Iranian officials over protests crackdown
“Every Woman, anywhere in the world, regardless of where she is from, should have the right to wear whatever she desires and when or wherever she desires to wear it. No man nor any other woman has the right to judge her or ask her to dress otherwise. Everyone has different views and beliefs and they have to be respected. Democracy means the power to decide… Every Woman should have the power to decide over her own body! I am not promoting nudity, I am promoting freedom of choice!” the Sacred Games star captioned the video.
Also Read: UNGA 2022: Feminism takes centre stage as countries address gender equality
Elnaaz had previously spoken out about her run-in with the morality police in Tehran. “What happened to Mahsa could have happened to Elnaaz. A few years back, I was in Iran, and it was my last day in Tehran. I was out on the road with my cousin when a woman suddenly came in front of me, and she just asked me ‘what is this?’. I really didn’t know what she was talking about, and she repeated ‘what is this?’”
“I was then taken by the morality police, Gasht-e Ershad, because my pants (pant legs) weren’t wide enough. They were tight, so you could see my ankle. Even though my manto, which is that thing you have to wear to cover your bum and cover everything, was long enough to cover my ankle, my pants were not wide. I was taken in a van to the ‘re-education center’, where they took Mahsa as well, until someone came and picked me up with the right clothing. Now my cousin was freaking out, my family was freaking out. When I reached there, they took my passport, and they took my phone… The way they scare you and the things they do with you is not how anyone should live in Iran.”
