a remarkably thin skin last week, criticizing people who criticize national policies.
Moqaddam’s main personal concern was critics of his enforcement of the dress code. He said if people didn’t like what he was doing, then they were obligated to come up with a better alternative.
That ignored the fact that most critics of police enforcement of the dress code have said quite simply that there should not be any police enforcement of the dress code.
In an interview last week with the Mehr news agency, Moqaddam said it was quite normal for people cited for violating the dress code to complain about the way they are treated. Some are just cautioned on the street and told not to dress that way again. For more serious violations, the offenders are taken in a police vehicle to a police station where they are fined and their families are telephoned and told to bring proper clothing to the police station for the offender to change into before being released.
But Moqaddam extended his complaint about complainers beyond the issue of the dress code.
“Basically, any plan that has been implemented in the country—whether it was about water, electricity, subsidies—has had critics and opponents. A great number of people have launched criticisms. Such criticisms create confusion in the minds of the public, perpetuating doubts that there are qualified decision-makers in the country.”
That was an attack on the very principle of free speech. That is not the public policy of the state, though an enormous number of office-holders have very thin skins and object strongly to having their positions questioned.
Moqaddam declared that it was totally wrong to believe, as some do, that everyone is free to do and dress as they please.
Moqaddam said, “All the measures taken to enforce the dress code are constantly reassessed in an effort to rectify any shortcomings.”
He said, “Instead of making pointless criticism without proposing any solutions, the critics should send proposals and suggestions in writing to the police command.”