Kermanshah Friday Prayer’s Imam has criticised the Kurdish dance (Helperki) performed during the third exhibition of achievements and abilities of the villagers and nomads of Iran held in Tehran from March 6 to 09, 2018.

According to the reports received by Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN), the performance of the mixed dance ceremony at the Kermanshah Governor’s Pavilion at the opening ceremony of the exhibition was met with widespread public spectators on March 6. However, the publication of photographs and films from this traditional ceremony led to the protest of Friday prayer’s Imam of Kermanshah, Ayatollah Ulema. He called it an nonconstructive move and asked the authorities to deal with its executive agents.

Ayatollah Olama, who also represents the supreme leader in Kermanshah province, not only criticised the aforementioned ceremony but also alleged that some of the Kermanshah governmental agencies have violated the Islamic and religious principles instead of reporting the performance and doing their duties.

“Mersad News” website affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), which published the news about the reaction of the Friday Prayer’s Imam of Kermanshah to the traditional ceremony, has also announced the request of the Friday Prayer’s Imam of Kermanshah from the Kermanshah Provincial Judiciary and Supervisory Authorities to deal with such actions.

It should be noted that on Jan 18, 2017, during the fourth “Conference on the History of Architecture and Urban Development of Iran” held in Kermanshah, four members the Dirak Khatun Women’s Music Group played a short Kurdish music piece to which the websites affiliated with the IRGC also reacted sharply. This ceremony also led to a quick reaction by the head of the community of teachers in the Qom Seminary. He also asked the authorities to seriously deal with the institutions holding such so-called nonreligious ceremonies.