In a call for solidarity with arrested student leader Majid Tavakoli, hundreds of Iranian men have posted pictures of themselves, wearing the veil, on Facebook.

Click here to see the campaign on Facebook.

The background here is that Tavakoli, of Tehran’s Amir Kabir University, was arrested on Monday during the anti-government demonstrations that took place across Iran.

The Fars News Agency published pictures of Tavakoli in a chador, the all enveloping black wrap many women in Iran use to cover themselves.  These websites allege Tavakoli had tried to escape arrest by dressing in women’s garb.  It appeared to be an attempt to portray him as a coward.  Fars is close to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.  Tavakoli was a student leader in 2006 when photos of the President were burned at Amir Kabir University when Ahmadinejad addressed students there.  That was the first really open sign of protest we saw against the Iranian president.  Some suggest Ahmadinejad has it out for Tavakoli, who has already spent time in prison.

The ploy to discredit Tavakoli by portraying him as a coward in a chador has backfired with many of the young—women, who have been a vital part of the protest movement—have objected to the regime’s poking of fun at the chador.  And have asked what shame there is in being a woman.  The blogosphere has lit up with commentary on this, according to an Iranian source, who says many of the young bloggers have said they can relate to Tavakoli’s sense of humiliation.  They have said things like, “Go Lionheart!” And all these men have posted their pictures, dressed in the veil, to show their solidarity with Tavakoli.  Many have expressed that even if he did duck under the veil to try to evade police, that is not a crime.  His supporters doubt he did this anyway because when he addressed the students on Monday, he was atop a riser, wearing a suit, at the university.  His friends applaud his bravery.  Tavakoli’s last post on Facebook, as translated by the Enduring America website reads:

“Looking at my mother’s tearful eyes and father’s anxious glances and despite all the difficulties, only the true wish for freedom can maintain my drive and steadfastness.  And so once again I welcome and accept all the dangers, standing next to my friends, with whom I am honored and proud to be on 16 Azar (last 7^th of December) shoulder to shoulder shouting against tyranny.  For freedom.”

Human rights groups are very concerned about Tavakoli’s safety in detention, as he has been held in prison before, and according to one group, the toughest treatment in Iran’s jails of late has been meted out to student protestors.

One Iranian analyst here in London says about the campaign of solidarity with Tavakoli—and the bizarre kaleidoscope of veil wearing men–“it shows the Iranian sense of humor, and it shows the gulf between the youth and the hardline ayatollahs.”