On April
17, a refugee camp at Kohat in Pakistan was struck by two suicide bombers who
disguised themselves in burqas. The attack, which killed 41 people and injured
62, is sure to heighten the debate in Europe about whether wearing burqas and
niqabs in public should be banned....
Daniel
Bacquelaine of the Reformist Movement party in Belgium says that he supports the
ban because it contradicts liberal democratic values. “There is nothing in Islam
or the Quran about the burqa. It has become an instrument of intimidation, and
is a sign of submission of women. And a civilised society cannot accept the
imprisonment of women,” he told Time Magazine. The argument follows that the
ban, therefore, does not violate freedom of religion since wearing burqas is
more of a cultural practice than something mandated by Islam. -- Ryan Mauro
By Ryan Mauro
On April 17, a refugee camp at
Kohat in Pakistan was struck by two suicide bombers who disguised themselves in
burqas. The attack, which killed 41 people and injured 62, is sure to heighten
the debate in Europe about whether wearing burqas and niqabs in public should be
banned. A parliamentary committee in Belgium has unanimously approved such a
ban, with the final vote in the House of Representatives on April 22 expected to
pass it. Movements to ban the burqa in Europe are growing due to concern that
the Islamic veil can be used to disguise the identities of terrorists planning
attacks like those that just took place in Pakistan and over the lack of
assimilation of Muslim immigrants.
These concerns are not
unfounded. Even though Islam frowns upon cross-dressing, male terrorists
dressing up as burqa-clad women in order to carry out attacks is becoming more
and more part of their modus operandi. This tactic has even been used by bank
robbers and other criminals on many occasions, including in the US.
Terrorists have repeatedly
donned burqas in Afghanistan and Pakistan, as well as in the UK, Iraq, the Gaza
Strip, India, Somalia and Mauritania. In the UK, one man who tried to set off a
bomb in July 2005 in London was able to escape by wearing a burqa. The use of
this clothing makes counter-terrorism difficult because female police, who are
in short supply, must be used to search those wearing burqas. The police chief
of Iraq’s Babil Province in August 2008 complained about this after two
burqa-wearing females attacked Shiite pilgrims.
Daniel Bacquelaine of the
Reformist Movement party in Belgium says that he supports the ban because it
contradicts liberal democratic values. “There is nothing in Islam or the Quran
about the burqa. It has become an instrument of intimidation, and is a sign of
submission of women. And a civilised society cannot accept the imprisonment of
women,” he told Time Magazine. The argument follows that the ban, therefore,
does not violate freedom of religion since wearing burqas is more of a cultural
practice than something mandated by Islam.
10:33 PM
Sultan Shahin
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