British novelist JK Rowling on Thursday, January 8, reacted to the ongoing protest in Iran and reportedly said, “Iranians are rejecting Islam” .
Rowling, best known for the Harry Potter novels, shared a post by Canadian activist Goldie Ghamari stating that the “Lion of Iran has awakened”.
Ghamari’s post included a video of Iranians marching in protest; it said, “Iranians are rejecting Islam, the Islamic Republic, and Sharia Law en masse.”
The novelist reposted the video and said, “The bravery of these people is astounding. They’re light in what lately has felt like a very dark world.” This post received 4 million views at the time of publication.
The current protest raging across cities in Iran stems from an economic slowdown in the country. It is also the biggest protest in the country since the protest in 2022 over the death of 22-year-old Mahasa Amini.
According to Middle East Eye, The demonstrations began as strikes over spiralling prices and a currency that has plunged to historic lows, but have since evolved into a broader expression of discontent with the Iranian government.
Protest in Iran
Several cities in Iran, including its capital Tehran, have reportedly witnessed violent clashes between protestors and state forces. Videos on social media also showed protestors dragging the national flag out in the open. Several citizens shouted from their homes and rallied in the street Thursday night, January 8, after a call by the country’s exiled crown prince for a mass demonstration, witnesses said, a new escalation in the protests across the Islamic Republic.
Internet access and telephone lines in Iran were cut out immediately after the protests began. The protest represented the first test of whether the Iranian public could be swayed by Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi, whose fatally ill father fled Iran just before the country’s 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Terrorist agents of US, Israel set fires: Iran state media
Iranian state media broke its silence Friday, January 9, over the demonstrations that swept the country overnight, alleging “terrorist agents” of the US and Israel set fires and sparked violence.
The brief report buried in state TV’s 8 am broadcast represented the first official word about the demonstrations. It claimed the protests saw violence that caused casualties, but did not elaborate. It also said the protests saw “people’s private cars, motorcycles, public places such as the metro, fire trucks and buses set on fire.”
Iran’s government has shut down the internet and international phone calls, making it difficult to contact those inside the Islamic Republic. However, a call by Iran’s exiled crown prince apparently sparked a mass demonstration from 8 pm local time Thursday.
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