A Veiled Attack On Freedom!
The political wrangling over the right of Muslim women to wear face veils in France could have far reaching consequences in the United Kingdom and beyond. It is my opinion that if people are not vociferous in their condemnation of the direction that the French government is taking then civil rights as a whole will suffer.
The right to wear what you choose should be an inalienable right, as should the right to follow the religion of your choice. Moves across the channel however are seeking to limit both of these rights, whether implicitly or hidden, and there are many on this side of the water who would love to take similar measures in the UK.
France has for many decades been a proudly secular country, keeping state and religion separate. It has, however, previously been tolerant of religious practises. The far right FN movement led by Jean-Marie Le Pen tried to intimidate the growing number of muslims in the country, but always without the support of the nation as a whole. It is worrying therefore to see some of his policies now being adopted by the political mainstream.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy sparked the debate by saying that full-face veils are ’not welcome in France’. A report published today by a French parliamentary committee has fully endorsed this view and called for a ban on such veils. Most alarming to me however is the strong, amd offensive wording contained within the report.
“The wearing of the full veil is a challenge to our republic. This is unacceptable. We must condemn this excess” the report stated and also says that anyone “showing signs of radical religious practise should be refused citizenship and residence cards.”
Even Sarkozy’s Socialist opposition have admitted that they oppose the wearing of full face veils in principle. Of course there are many different veils worn by Muslim women, but once a ban on a certain kind of veil is enforced then surely it will not be long until a ban on all veils is introduced. The logical conclusion to this argument is to ban all religious clothing or symbols.
The BNP will be watching the French actions with glee. No doubt they will be telling their supporters that such a ban should be enforced in Britain as well and such views are likely to find widespread support in Britains right-leaning tabloid newspapers.
Without a doubt this ban is not being mooted because any significant amount of people are upset or offended by full-face veils. It is being used as a stick to beat Muslim people with, to emphasise perceived differences between an ’us’ and ’them’ and to discourage immigration from Islamic countries. It is part of an increasing drive towards the ghettoisation of Muslims throughout Europe and it must be resisted in the strongest fashion.
We need to organise protests now, and write to both politicians and newspapers to show that we are not prepared to countenance any such ban in the United Kingdom. Our historic culture of tolerance is coming increasingly under pressure, and we must fight now to show that we stand besides our Muslim sisters and brothers, and friends of all faiths and none, however they choose to dress.
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