The Indian Muslims for Secular Democracy (IMSD) has hit out at Iran's "obscurantist" and "authoritarian" laws in the wake of a young woman's death in police custody for allegedly violating that country's strictly-enforced dress code.
Mahsa Amini, 22, was arrested by Iran's morality police in Tehran last week for allegedly violating its dress code. The police said she died of a heart attack and was not mistreated, but her family members have expressed apprehensions about it.
"IMSD strongly condemns Iran's obscurantist, authoritarian laws and its murderous enforcement, as also the denial of the citizens' right to protest," the group said in a statement on Friday.
It further said in the third decade of the 21st century, it is inhuman and barbaric to kill a fellow human being merely for not covering her head.
"At the same time, we question the hypocrisy of India's Muslim clergy in not supporting the Iranian women's right to choose, an argument it puts forward in the context of the ongoing hijab controversy in India," it said.
The statement issued by IMSD has been endorsed by nearly 100 prominent citizens from different cities and walks of life, including freedom fighter G G Parikh, Javed Akhtar, Shabana Azmi, Naseeruddin Shah, Zeenat Shaukatali, Yogendra Yadav and Tushar Gandhi.