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A look back at the number of people killed or detained in anti-government protests
Twenty-one-year-old Mahsa Amini’s detention by the Iranian morality police for violating the mandatory dress code and her subsequent death in custody sparked massive protests across Iran. The police claimed that the cause of Amini’s death was a heart attack from underlying conditions. However, her brother claimed that her screams could be heard from outside the detention centre. Sometime later, an ambulance arrived at the centre, he said. Moreover, a person who came out of the centre informed him that security forces had killed a woman inside, he claimed.
Iranians have been questioning the repressive dress code and calling for the end of the Islamic Republic. In solidarity with the protesters, many women have cut their hair and burned their hijabs in public. The government has resorted to force, with the police using batons and water cannons to disperse demonstrators. While 41 is the official toll in the unrest, Iran Human Rights, a rights organisation, claims 92 people have died in the crackdown. Thousands of civil rights activists have been arrested and at least 20 journalists have been detained, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.
Protests against ruling regimes are not new to Iran. In fact, the Islamic Republic is a child of the 1977-79 Islamic Revolution, the popular movement that dethroned Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi. However, the Government of the Islamic Republic has been accused of being as repressive as the monarchy. In recent times, protests against the regime have been triggered mostly by internal socioeconomic and political conditions.
Data show how Iran’s Human Rights Protection Index between 1950 and 2019 dropped to its lowest after 1979. Though the ranking improved in the 1990s, it has not been able to reach the previous highs. And after 2014, it has been showing a downward trend.
A look at Iran’s Human rights protection index when compared to the other West Asian States
In 1999, students of Tehran University came onto the streets in droves against the government’s closure of Salaam, a reformist newspaper. On July 14, Iran's Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, ordered a clampdown, and by July 20, more than 1,400 people were arrested. However, Iran’s Intelligence Ministry soon withdrew the complaint against the newspaper, giving way to the hope that the banned daily would be allowed to resume publication. The government managed to end the agitation after announcing a ban on rallies. This protest, however, became the frame of reference for many more protests that were to follow.
A look at press freedom in Iran compared to other countries with relevant data
The Green Movement of 2009 was a major turnaround in the country’s modern political history with more than three million demonstrators taking to Tehran’s streets protesting against alleged election fraud and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's claims of having scored a landslide victory in the presidential election. Iranians were furious with the corrupt election process and challenged the conservative president’s claim of having secured a majority. The protest slogan said, “Where is my vote?”
Named after the green sash presented to the moderate presidential candidate, Mir Hossein Mousavi, by the former two-term moderate president and the movement’s first standard-bearer, Mohammad Khatami, the Iranian Green Movement represented the people’s hope of annulling the allegedly fraudulent election. Though the Supreme Leader ordered a probe into fraud charges, he later endorsed the results, infuriating the public further. The movement lasted for over six months. More than 100 were killed and more than 4,000 were arrested in the clampdowns, according to human rights organisations.
A look at political rights and civil liberties in Iran compared to other countries with relevant data
Years of internal conflicts and sanctions by the U.S. and other international entities have dented the country’s economy. Inflation and a high cost of living, and unemployment have pushed people to protest. On December 28, 2017, demonstrators hit the streets of Mashhad against the high prices of essential goods and commodities. Egged on by social media, the protests spread across the country and quickly escalated with people questioning Iran’s involvement in West Asia. They demanded a change in regime. Two weeks of protests saw at least 22 people being killed and more than 3,700 being detained.
A look at employment to population ratio and GDP per capita in Iran compared to other countries with relevant data
In 2019, the economic crisis triggered yet another protest. On November 15 that year, the Iranian government announced a 50% hike for the first 60 litres of petrol and a 300% hike for anything above that each month.
The next four days saw cities erupting in protests with demonstrators chanting anti-government slogans. But the agitation was brutally suppressed and there was a near-complete shutdown of the Internet. By December 2, at least 208 protesters were killed, according to Amnesty International. Iranian officials said several people, including members of the security forces, had been killed while more than 1,000 were arrested. The New York-based advocacy group, Center for Human Rights in Iran, said the number of arrests was closer to 4,000.
A look at Internet freedom in Iran compared to other countries with relevant data
According to Human Rights Activists in Iran, there were large-scale agitations in Khuzestan on July 15 last year where nearly five million people did not have access to clean drinking water. On July 18, violent protests led to the death of a police officer. The ongoing protests over price hikes on staple foods, including bread and pasta, spilled over to 2022.
Notably, in 2017-18, a movement similar to the present-day protest against the dress code unravelled itself under the shadow of price hike protests. It was inspired by Vida Movahed, an Iranian woman known as the Girl of Enghelab Street. Movahed stood in the crowd on a utility box on Enghelab Street (Revolution Street) in Tehran on December 27, 2017, and tied her hijab to a stick. Using it as a flag, she waved to the crowd. She was arrested and later pardoned by the Supreme Leader. However, that momentary action soon set the debate over women’s freedom.
Fortnightly figures
5.9% is the policy repo rate announced by the Reserve Bank of India’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) in September, from 5.4% in August 2022. RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said the persistence of high inflation necessitated the withdrawal of monetary accommodation to restrain the broadening of price pressures and contain second-round effects. He also added that this move would support medium-term growth prospects.
334% is the growth in India’s defence exports in the last five years. India is now exporting to over 75 countries due to collaborative efforts, according to the Union government. As India has been one of the largest importers of defence products in the world, Defence Secretary Ajay Kumar said that the government hoped to change this.
40% is the new target of the government to reduce particulate matter concentration in cities covered under the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) by 2026. This is an update from the previous goal of a 20% to 30% reduction by 2024, officials said. According to the Union Environment Ministry, 95 of the 131 non-attainment cities covered under the NCAP have witnessed an “overall improvement” in PM10 levels in 2021 as compared to 2017 levels.
50 exclusive and iconic heritage textile crafts from India were launched in UNESCO’s Handmade for the 21st Century: Safeguarding Traditional Indian Textile. The document describes the complicated and secret processes behind the making of iconic textiles, mentions the causes for their dwindling popularity, and provides strategies for their preservation. Toda embroidery and Sungadi from Tamil Nadu, Himroo from Hyderabad, and Bandha tie and dye from Sambalpur in Odisha were some of the textiles that made the cut.
20,000 trillion is the number of ants that live on Earth, according to a study published by researchers at both the University of Hong Kong and the University of Würzburg in Germany. The study further shows that the world’s ants' mass collectively constitutes about 12 million tonnes of dry carbon, equal to about one-fifth of the total weight of humans. This also exceeds the mass of all the world’s wild birds and wild mammals combined.
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