Over the last week, there have been widespread protests in Iran and across the world after a 22-year-old Iranian woman, Mahsa Amini, died in the custody of the country’s morality police. She was detained for not wearing her hijab properly. News reports suggest that so far, over 40 people have died in the protests in Iran.

The women of Iran have found supporters across the world, as politicians, international organizations and celebrities have spoken up about it. Protests have also been organised in the US, France, Canada, Turkey, Spain and the UK. Among those sharing videos of protests and urging people to speak up against barbaric laws is Iranian Bollywood actress Elnaaz Norouzi.

Along with one of the videos, she wrote, “My Indian friends and followers — I request you all to spread the news and help Iran fight this battle which has been going on for 43 years. Please create awareness, they are killing people every day on the roads and have blocked the internet and all ways of communication so their voices can’t be heard.”

Elnaaz’s family is in Iran and she tells us that she spoke to them a few days ago and as the internet services in the country are disrupted, it is difficult to get in touch with her family. “They have cut the internet so that people cannot get in touch with the world and show what’s happening in Iran. This is dictatorship,” says the actress.

Elnaaz says that while it is “heart-wrenching to see how people are being killed and beaten on roads,” these protests were bound to happen. She says, “We are saying that we want to be free to do what we want to do as women. We just need the world to hear, see what is happening, because they are killing our people. What happened to Mahsa Amini is just barbaric. After so many years of oppression, women are tired of it. The young women (of Iran) now don’t just sit at home and listen anymore. Even the men are out on the road protesting. It is not about hijab anymore, it is about what they have done to our country, the sanctions in our country. The people are poor, they have no money to eat.”

In one of the first videos she shared about Iran protests, Elnaaz spoke about her close brush with the morality police in Tehran. She said, “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 on the road with my cousin when a woman suddenly came in front of me, and 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 ankles.”

Elnaaz continues, “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 my phone. The way they scare you, the things they do with you, this is not the way anyone should live in Iran. They take you for the weirdest reasons...your nail colour, hijab, clothing, anything...I don’t want any woman to live like this. This small story was just so you understand that what happened to Mahsa could have happened to me and it can happen to any woman in Iran.”

Sharing more about her experience, Elnaaz tells us, “It is scary, they take your pictures like you are in prison, they take your number, your details. You never know what they can come for. And sometimes, these girls and women who are taken away might never come back. We just want this to stop. The last video I posted on Instagram shows how the police rammed a woman’s head on the road, she might just bleed internally and die, just the way Mahsa died. She suffered internal bleeding because they hit her head. They keep lying and tampering with evidence and saying she had a heart attack.”

In her video, Elnaaz also spoke about Iranians needing help. “We need the world to see what these oppressors are doing with our women, with our people and we are just fed up with them and we don’t want them anymore. We don’t want another Mahsa. We don’t want the Islamic Republic of Iran, we just want Iran back. It is not just about women’s rights anymore; it is about human rights. This is a scary situation. We want the world leaders to do something about what’s happening in Iran and that’s why we are trying to talk about this more. We need everyone to spread the word,” she says.

-----------------------------------

Actor Elnaaz Norouzi is spending anxious days and fretful nights as she remains out of contact with her family in Tehran, Iran, amid the ongoing turmoil. She wants to use her voice to bring people’s attention on “how women continue to get oppressed” in her homeland. She explains, “It is very important for us to talk about what is happening in the country because it is human rights violation. They have cut off the internet, so that people cannot communicate with those outside.”

Norouzi hails from Iran, the country that’s witnessing a series of violent protests following the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian woman, in custody. The 30-year-old continues, “I am not able to reach my family. Every way of communication is blocked. Unless we become the voice and make sure that it comes to everyone’s notice, nothing is going to change.”

She recently received a text message from her cousin back home and the message didn’t paint a happy picture. “She got access to the internet for five minutes, so she messaged me and informed that they were well. Not being in contact with them (her family) leads to so much anxiety. My cousin told me there is tear gas everywhere. I am so worried,” shares the Sacred Games and Abhay actor.

Explaining her state of mind, she says, “When I wake up and see new videos every morning, I cry all day. I pray and hope for better days. I keep posting on social media so that I can create awareness.”