On Jul 2, 2009, at 3:59 AM, sujeet.bhatt at gmail.com wrote:
> http://67.222.134.214/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/columnists/irfan-husain-the-great-burqa-debate-179
>
One aspect of this not mentioned below is that the burka makes its
wearer absolutely invisible. Anything can be under there, including a
man with one or several assault weapons and enough ammo to massacre
hundreds. There is no reason why such a camouflage "costume" should
be tolerated in public.
> Pakistan Dawn
>
> The great burqa debate
> By Irfan Husain
> Wednesday, 01 Jul, 2009 | 12:56 AM PST
>
> For the first time in my life, I put on a burqa this morning. Not
> because I have suddenly become a cross-dresser, but just to undergo
> the experience millions of Muslim women go through every day of
> their adult lives. Although I only had it on for a couple of
> minutes, the world grew dark, even though I was wearing the garment
> with two veils, rather than the extreme one that leaves only a
> narrow slit to see through.
>
> The lower veil, consisting of fine black nylon netting, did let in
> some light, but the heavier outer one allowed me to see only vague
> outlines of objects. Apart from drastically curtailing visibility,
> the full burqa restricted my movement, and even on a relatively cool
> summer morning in England, I felt very hot. The thought of having to
> wear one of these garments for much of my waking life fills me with
> horror, even though my wife thought it was a big improvement.
>
> Certainly, given my very brief experience, I would not wish anybody
> to wear it. But what if somebody wanted to, whatever her reasons? As
> a liberal, I have always believed in the right of others to act as
> they wish, provided they are not usurping the rights of anybody
> else. But what if by claiming this right, a woman is challenging the
> values of the society she has chosen to live in? This is the
> question the French are currently grappling with.
>
> By insisting that women wearing the full burqa or the niqab are not
> welcome on French soil, the French president has opened a bitter
> debate that has split the feminist movement as well as French civil
> society at large. The issue broke into the open when Andre Gerin,
> the (Communist) MP from Rhone, moved a motion in the Assembly
> calling for the establishment of 'an enquiry commission to study the
> practice of wearing the burqa and the niqab on national territory'.
> The motion was supported by 58 MPs, and a commission of 16 members
> from across the political spectrum has now been set up to look into
> the matter. It is entirely possible that after this commission has
> submitted its report, the government may move the Assembly to vote
> on an outright ban.
>
> According to estimates, only a handful of French Muslims actually
> wear the full burqa that leaves a narrow slit to see through,
> covering every inch of the body. Presumably, this is the sort of
> attire the Taliban forced women into when they were in power in
> Afghanistan. Even though some Muslim women might choose to wear this
> garment of their own free will, the general perception is that they
> are forced to by their husbands, fathers or brothers.
>
> Liberals as well as conservatives in France have welcomed this move.
> Nicolas Sarkozy, the French President, has made it clear where he
> stands on the debate by calling the burqa 'a sign of subjugation …
> of debasement.' Other MPs have called burqas 'veritable walking
> prisons.'
>
> For nearly a century, France has adhered to a very strict secular
> code. Five years ago, a ban on wearing religious symbols like the
> hijab in state schools was imposed amidst much controversy. Although
> France has the biggest Muslim population in Europe, Muslims remain
> largely marginalised, confined to banlieues or suburban concrete
> jungles. Unemployment rate among young Muslims is high, and they
> complain of regular police harassment. Often, this resentment erupts
> into violent riots. But before readers conclude that the French are
> bigots, let me remind them that hundreds of mosques have been built
> in France over the years, and there are many private Muslim schools
> in the country. Which Muslim country extends this degree of
> religious tolerance to its non-Muslim residents?
>
> The extent of the divergent opinions over the burqa issue can be
> judged by the reaction of Fadela Amara, a (Muslim) member of
> Sarkozy's cabinet. A founder of a women's rights group, Ms Amara has
> called the burqa 'a coffin that kills individual liberties', and a
> sign of the 'political exploitation of Islam.'
>
> Others have argued that a ban would fuel the Islamophobia already
> rife in French society. But by and large, even the most liberal
> European views burqas with unease, if not horror. The debate has
> crossed the Channel, with many British newspapers joining in. Marian
> Whittaker writes to the editor of the Guardian:
>
> 'The key point is this: the face is far too important to be covered.
> It is crucial both to being recognised as an individual and to
> communication between people. Facial expression and body posture
> (also masked by the burqa) contribute a huge proportion of the
> information we transmit to each other, irrespective of the voice… In
> this instance, I believe Sarkozy is dead right. The burqa deprives
> its wearer of identity and cuts her off from effective communication
> with the rest of society. It is not a sartorial choice, but an
> instrument of oppression in the guise of a religious observance…'
>
> In the same issue of the Guardian, Claire Dolman writes: '…there are
> many French women, like me, who find it very difficult to accept in
> our country 'women who are prisoners behind netting, cut off from
> all social life, deprived of identity.'
>
> Quite apart from the principle of free will involved here, how does
> wearing the burqa impact on Muslim women wearing it in the West?
> There have been anecdotal reports of muttered insults from passers-
> by. Some veiled women have been asked for job interviews, but when
> the prospective employer has seen the hijab or the burqa, applicants
> have been rejected.
>
> In one extreme case, a woman of Moroccan descent was denied French
> nationality, even though her children were automatically accorded
> the right as they had been born in France. According to Le Monde,
> the judge ruled that the woman had adopted 'in the name of a radical
> interpretation of her faith a social behaviour incompatible with the
> fundamental values of the French community, notably the principle of
> gender equality…'
>
> In such a tricky area where personal rights overlap and infringe on
> the values of the host population, it is difficult to see what is
> best for the individual burqa-clad Muslim woman.
>
> If pressed to voice an opinion, I would suggest if there is no
> coercion, a woman should be free to choose what she wants to wear.
> But if her choice has been formed by peer group or family pressure,
> she would be better off in less conspicuous garments.
Shane Mage
> This cosmos did none of gods or men make, but it
> always was and is and shall be: an everlasting fire,
> kindling in measures and going out in measures."
>
> Herakleitos of Ephesos