Iranian students gather in memory of Mahsa Amini

By Sophia Lopez, September 23 2022—

Iranian University of Calgary students paid tribute to Mahsa Amini at the Taylor Family Digital Library (TFDL) Quad this afternoon.

Mahsa Amini was a Kurdish woman who was arrested by the morality police for allegedly violating strict hijab laws in Iran. After being in a coma for three days, she passed away in the hospital. People have began to express their anger and outrage over the situation and witnesses have claimed to see the policy brutally attack her, which landed her in a coma.

Kasra, an Iranian student at the U of C, expressed how he and the rest of his community are tired of the police brutality in Iran and want to initiate change. With the memorial, the community hopes to raise the voices of those fighting for change in Iran.

“We don’t like it anymore, we want it to stop,” said Kasra. “There are lots of people that are dying in Iran because of their protests and nobody can hear them.”

The memorial involved both Iranian students and those from other cultures standing at the TFDL Quad with posters and a set up with candles, roses and pictures of Mahsa Amini to honour her. 

Whether or not you are Iranian, Kasra explained how there is always a way to help. In addition, the Iranian community on campus have been trying to inform the U of C community about what is currently going on in Iran through Instagram posts. They hope to draw more students in to help bring to light what happened to Mahsa Amini, and to hopefully help stop more incidents of police brutality. 

“We all like freedom and to be honest, we only experience it here in Canada. We don’t have it in Iran,” he said. “It doesn’t matter if you’re a girl, a woman, a boy or a man — it’s for everybody and we need it.”

To learn more about the passing of Mahsa Amini, the protests in Iran and how to help, click here. To show support to the Iranian community, Kasra encourages posting this information on social media and use #MahsaAmini to spread the word.