Denmark to Ban Burqas?

[Sionnach Glic]

The immigration spokesman for Denmark's Conservative Party is calling for a ban on the wearing of burqas in public. He says the garment was introduced by the Taliban and is "not Islamic at all."

Denmark's Conservative Party said this week it wants to introduce a ban on Muslim burqa or niqab dress codes which require women to completely cover their faces in public.

A niqab wearer in Marseille: A Danish Conservative Party politician has called for a ban on burqas.
Zoom
AP

A niqab wearer in Marseille: A Danish Conservative Party politician has called for a ban on burqas.
"We don't want to see burqas in Denmark. We simply can't accept that some of our citizens walk around with their faces covered," Naser Khader, a Danish member of parliament of Syrian-Palestinian extraction who was recently appointed spokesman for integration issues for the Conservative Party, told the newspaper Jyllands-Posten.

In comments published on Sunday, Khader said the burqa is un-Danish and oppressive towards women and should be completely banned. He and his party say that what people do in their own homes is their business, but as soon as they walk into the public domain, one should be able to see their faces.

The Danish People's Party and the Social Democratic Party have welcomed the proposal, while the Liberal Party, which is the senior partner in Denmark's coalition government, rejects the idea of legislating about citizens' clothing, provided they are not employed in a public function.

"It's going too far if we start legislating on what sort of clothes people can and cannot wear. The burqa and covered faces should not be allowed if you work with people in the public sector -- but that is where we draw the line," says Liberal Party political spokesman Peter Christensen, who adds that it is important that politicians know where to draw the line in introducing policy.

FOUND IN...
This article has been provided by Politiken.dk as part of a special agreement with SPIEGEL INTERNATIONAL.

More articles on Politiken.dk:

*
Police dog killed in shootout
*
Burka ban causes govt. tumult

*
Maersk reports major 6-month loss
*
Officer and rapper shot during hash fine

Khader, however, says a ban is the only solution. "My view is that (the burqa) is not Islamic at all," Khader says. "The modern burqa was introduced by the Taliban when the movement came to power. So I associate the burqa with the Taliban."

The burqa ban is part of an integration initiative that the Conservatives' parliamentary group approved on Friday, although the party has not decided what punishment should be meted out to those who break the ban.

"Initially we're sending out a signal by saying that it should be banned. Then it's up to the lawyers to find out what sanctions should be introduced," Khader told the Jyllands-Posten.

Denmark is not the only European country where politicians have proposed a ban on burqas. French President Nicolas Sarkozy recently said that the burqa was "not welcome" in France, while France's urban regeneration minister, Fadela Amara, told the Saturday edition of the Financial Times that she was in favor of the burqa "not existing in my country." The Netherlands has also considered a ban on burqas.

[Tsukiyumi]

On one hand, they're right: the burqa isn't even mentioned in the Quran, and the Taliban instituted the mandatory wearing of it when they took power.

On the other hand, regulating what people wear could go south pretty fast.

Why don't they just ask the women if they want to wear them?

[Lazar]

On one hand, they're right: the burqa isn't even mentioned in the Quran, and the Taliban instituted the mandatory wearing of it when they took power.

I've read that traditionally there was a much greater diversity of clothing than you might think in the Muslim world, and that in some areas of Muslim Africa the women even used to go topless. When Islamists come to power, they tend to enforce more uniform garb for women and men.

[Aaron]

Why don't they just ask the women if they want to wear them?

Because you won't get a meaningful answer, or any answer at all in some cases. If the woman is wearing a burqa then you can pretty much bet that she isn't allowed to talk to any man without hubby present or leave the house without him.

I can't claim to be any fan of Islam nor this BS dress code but I'd rather see an effort to educate these woman and their kids before an outright ban is enforced.

[Tsukiyumi]

...I'd rather see an effort to educate these woman and their kids before an outright ban is enforced.

Agreed.

[Mikey]

Any legislation of this sort is bound to only create more problems than it solves.

[Sionnach Glic]

Why don't they just ask the women if they want to wear them?

Because the answer you'd get would primarily be motivated by fear of religion or vengeful relatives.

[stitch626]

So this is a banning of the actual article of clothing? What if the person wants to wear it?

Much more sensible would be the banning of the requirement to where it.

[Sionnach Glic]

There is no requirement to wear it. It's entirely "voluntary" already.

[stitch626]

Oh... then whats the big deal? Its not like the clothes are made out of asbestos.

[Nickswitz]

Oh... then whats the big deal? Its not like the clothes are made out of asbestos.

Haha, making clothes out of powder, now that is skill... haha.

[Sionnach Glic]

Oh... then whats the big deal? Its not like the clothes are made out of asbestos.

People have a problem with it because they percieve it to pretty much symbolise the inferior status of women in the Middle East.

[Reliant121]

Burqa's are completely voluntary. It isnt a requirement of Hijab in the slightest. Your HEAD has to be covered, and so should all your body but your hands and your face (although generally many women dont cover the arms). The common form of headscarf, a khimār or shaylah, is mandatory.

[Aaron]

The Koran merely states that woman are to dress "modestly", anything else is just crap someone made up. Lots of old tribal crap has made it's way into Islam, like female circumcision.

[Tsukiyumi]

"modestly"

Yeah, like wearing a wicked weasel instead of swimming naked.



What? It's more modest.