Key Points
- The death of Mahsa Amini while under police custody in Iran has sparked protests across the world
- Iranian-Australian fashion designer Parisima Kouklan is collecting protester messages on a piece of cloth that's now more than 50 metres long
- Iranians in Australia are calling on more action from the Australian government
The death of Mahsa 'Jina' Amini while under the custody of Iran's morality police sparked unprecedented protests across the country that have spread all over the world.
The 22-year-old Kurdish woman died on September 16, several days after she was arrested in Tehran for allegedly wearing her hijab improperly.
Within hours, people in her hometown, Saqqez, started protesting by chanting, "Jin, Jiyan, Azadi".
FILE - In this photo taken by an individual not employed by the Associated Press and obtained by the AP outside Iran, Iranians protests the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini after she was detained by the morality police, in Tehran, Oct. 1, 2022. Source: AP / AP/AAP Image
In Australia, Iranian-Australians have held dozens of rallies almost every weekend in different cities.
'Cloth of unity'
Ahead of one of these rallies in Canberra, Parisima Kouklan contemplated how to use her background in fashion to draw attention to the circumstances in Iran.
"I was sitting in my studio, thinking about what I could do to raise awareness, channel my sadness and anger through artwork, and show my unity," Ms Kouklan told SBS Persian.
As an Iranian outside of my country, I was extremely sad and angry about what was happening in Iran.Parisima Kouklan
"As a fashion designer, I work with fabrics every day. I decided to take a length of cloth to the Iranian protest in Canberra in front of the Parliament House and ask people to write their feelings on the cloth."
Dozens of protesters embraced her idea by writing messages of support.
Some mentioned their memories from Iran; some wrote the names of their friends and family detained by the regime. One man wrote about his father, who was killed in prison, with his family forced to pay for the bullet.
Messages of support written on the cloth Credit: Parisima Kouklan
"I was touched by these feelings and decided to attend every rally and take the cloth with me. Now I have 55 metres of people's messages about how they feel about the protests," Ms Kouklan said.
"The banner is doing its job by raising more awareness and being a beautiful sign of unity in Australia."
'I will not stop until we see a revolution in Iran'
Ms Kouklan has taken the cloth to rallies in Canberra and Melbourne, and she has pledged to take it to protests in other cities.
"Each time, more people write on the cloth, and I will not stop this job until we see a revolution in Iran. After the victory, hopefully, I will decide what to create from it based on the length of the fabric," she said.
A kid writing on the cloth at the Iranian protests in Melbourne Credit: Parisima Kouklan
"I will probably create a sculpture from the cloth to honour the bravery of people in Iran."
Women are creating this revolution, and the statue will be a woman's figure. By creating this artwork, I want to cherish everybody supporting Iran from Australia.Parisima Kouklan
The rallies have not only been attended by Iranian-Australians and many non-Iranian people have also written messages of support on the banner in English, Mandarin and other languages.
Iranians are waiting for action from the Australian government
Some Australian politicians have attended the protests in the past couple of weeks.
Senator Sarah Johnson Young, Senator Mehreen Faruqi, Senator David Van and MP Keith Wolahan are some Australian politicians who have condemned the actions of the Islamic Republic regime.
At one of the protests in Sydney, Ms Faruqi told SBS Persian: "It is vital that the Australian government joins the United Nations and ensures that there is an independent investigation into the death of Mahsa Amini and all those who died in the protests to ensure that the perpetrators are held accountable."
"These protests are protests about human rights, and I stand, I do think most Australians will overwhelmingly stand with the women and the people of Iran in standing up for their human rights," Mr Albanese told SBS News.
However, some Iranian-Australians say they expect more from the Australian government.
Ek Taghdir, a barrister who attended the recent rallies in Melbourne, is one of these citizens.
"Our government, especially our prime minister, needs to understand that the community is aware of the difference between words of support and taking action. The Iranian-Australian community is holding its breath and waiting for real and meaningful action by the Australian government to hold the regime accountable for the ongoing human rights violations," Mr Taghdir told SBS Persian.
"You can't just use meaningful slogans like 'Women, Life, Freedom' and claim to support Iranian women. People are aware that the government has the power to impose targeted sanctions on regime officials."
SBS Persian has contacted the Iranian embassy in Canberra for comment, but they are yet to respond.
