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From Our Own Correspondent

Mahsa Amini’s Kurdish Heritage

From Our Own Correspondent

BBC

News, News Commentary

4.41.3K Ratings

🗓️ 13 October 2022

⏱️ 29 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Protests in Iran, following the death in custody of a Kurdish woman, Mahsa Amini, are now in their fourth week despite the intensifying crackdown. Mahsa became a symbol of Iranian repression after her arrest by the morality police for allegedly wearing her hijab improperly. Anna Foster met members of Mahsa's family who live across the border in Iraqi Kurdistan. In India, a new extremist Hindu movement - made up mostly of young men- is growing. They call themselves “trads”, short for traditionalists, and share many of the hallmarks of America’s alt-right movement and mainly operate online. Reha Kansara met one of them on India’s southern coast. Rising inflation is now a global problem, but in Argentina it’s a way of life. This year has proved particularly challenging in the country as it teeters on the edge of hyperinflation. Jane Chambers was in Buenos Aires recently and spoke to some of the city’s residents about how they are managing. A crush at an Indonesian football stadium in Malang West Java which left 131 people dead is being counted as one of the worst stadium disasters in sporting history. There has been public outcry over the incident, with concerns raised about the heavy-handed response of the police and the lack of safety measures in place, says Aliefia Malik. The UK’s frosty relationship with the EU has become an almost permanent backdrop since the Brexit referendum. But in recent weeks, the UK’s presence at the European Political Community meeting in Prague, along with other signs of cooperation, have raised diplomatic hopes that a thaw was underway. But does this amount to a genuine shift, ask James Landale.

Presenter: Kate Adie Producers: Serena Tarling and Ellie House Editor: Bridget Harney Production Coordinator: Iona Hammond

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, Podcasts

0:05.6

Today we're on India's southern coast, where we meet a member of the country's emerging

0:10.6

Hindu nationalist trad movement. A public outcry in Indonesia after the worst football disaster

0:17.5

in its history, with questions over stadium safety and the police response. In Argentina,

0:24.7

the exercise of buying bananas could leave you out of pocket, with one store charging

0:30.2

double that of another amidst soaring inflation. And this talk of a rapprochement between the UK

0:37.2

and the EU after years of tensions over Brexit, but is this a genuine change of heart or just

0:44.2

wishful thinking? First, protests in Iran following the death in custody of a Kurdish woman

0:50.9

are now in their fourth week, despite the intensifying crackdown by Iranian security forces.

0:58.0

22-year-old Masa Amini became a symbol of Iranian repression after her arrest by the morality

1:05.5

police for allegedly wearing her head job improperly. Her subsequent death sent shockwaves across

1:12.4

the country, with protesters taking to the streets in several cities as well as school children.

1:19.0

Protests were especially intense in the provincial capital San Andreas, in the western province of

1:25.2

Kurdistan, Amini's home region. Anophosta met members of Masa Amini's family, who live across

1:33.0

the Iranian border in Iraqi Kurdistan. To the world, she's Masa Amini, a symbol of the struggle

1:40.0

of Iranian women and a powerful force that led thousands of people onto the streets to push

1:45.2

for the end of a regime. But her family, called her Gina. It means life, and it's her Kurdish name,

1:51.7

the one the people closest to her used, rather than the Iranian name she had to have on her

1:56.4

official documentation. In the gathering darkness of a guerrilla training camp, her cousin,

2:02.2

her fan mortisey, shows me a family video of Masa dancing at a wedding. As we lean into the

2:07.7

glow from his phone, I see her, carefree and smiling, waving colorful red and green shores.

2:14.0

At one point, she looks directly into the camera, and for a moment it feels like a personal

...

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