STIFLED FREEDOM

Iranians do not want to change the entire system. But, they do want more personal liberties and a good government that can tackle corruption. And, they want to be connected with the rest of the world
Shubha Singh Tehran/Delhi

Iranian society has been changing in the past few years. The scale of these changes became evident in the unprecedented protests that erupted after the result of the 10th presidential election was announced.

The most potent symbols of the discontent were the green wristbands and armbands worn by six members of the Iranian football team when they lined up for their World Cup qualifying match against South Korea in Seoul. National football players are treated akin to national heroes in football crazy Iran. The telling protest by the iconic football team indicated the depth of anger at what was seen as a 'fraudulent' election result.

The election, with its bitter personal attacks and the questioning of authority, has shaken the delicately balanced political setup in Iran. Whatever course politics takes in Iran over the next few months, it would be difficult to return Iranian society back to the circumscribed patterns dictated by the combination of State authorities, the clergy and the morality police. Iranians are devout Muslims but there had been simmering dissent among the urban youth who have been straining at the restrictions such as curbs on freedom of speech and the official dress code for women.

Green was the colour adopted by presidential candidate, Mir Hossein Mousavi. Tehran was flooded with green ribbons, flags, posters, scarves and banners in the last days of the campaign. Demonstrators defied the Revolutionary Guards and the Basij militia to continue their protests over several days.

Two factors cast doubt on the election verdict - the speed at which the 39.1 million handwritten ballots were counted and the fact that President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad's lead continued even in areas considered strongholds of his opponents. Results were announced within hours of the close of voting. Ahmedinejad received two-and-a-half times more votes than opposition candidate, Mehdi Karroubi in Karroubi's own hometown of Aligoodarz in Lorestan province.

The protests showed the deepening divide in Iranian society among the traditional, conservative classes and those seeking a modern lifestyle. President Ahmedinejad's support came from the deeply devout rural masses and the working class who believed that he was taking the country back to the ethos of its revolutionary past. Ahmedinejad expanded his support base with 'defiant nationalism' by reviling Israel and attacking America over its opposition to Iran's nuclear programme. The government policies were geared to the urban poor and rural areas. Heavy subsidies and cash doles given to those who had lost a family member during the eight-year Iran-Iraq war endeared him to war veterans.

Initially, it seemed that the reformists support came from the liberal upper and middle classes and the business sections - the bazaaris. Mousavi's campaign conducted through mobile phones and emails was dismissed as restricted to a small section of the westernised youth. But, the people who came out on the streets in protest were Iranians of all ages and classes - students, young men and smartly dressed women in bright coloured clothes with flimsy scarves were accompanied by older men and women in traditional sober colours. The demonstrations and protests were held in urban areas but they spread from Tehran's affluent northern localities to the working class southern areas.