Daily Express calls for banning the burqa

The niqab and burqa debate sparked off by Nicolas Sarkozy’s comments on Monday continues apace in today’s papers.

The Daily Express informs us that both Muslims and non – Muslims want Britain to ban the burqa. Their sources of authoritative commentary? Among others, the rabid neo-con Douglas Murray and Ghaffar Hussain of the Quilliam Foundation. What a surprise. Murray tells the Express that a religious defence of the burkha is “completely bogus”, and that “there are parts [of the Qur’an] which speak of modesty but not this complete covering up. This idea that it is a religious requisite is only put forward by the extremists.”

But you see, those defending the rights of women to wear the burqa aren’t doing so on the basis of a religious edict, but a liberal one. How a woman interprets verses on modest dress is her business, and whether she opts for a headscarf, a niqab, a burqa, or none of the above, is her business and her business alone. In proscribing her ability to exercise such a right Murray is no different to the extremists who compel Muslim women to observe dress codes not of their choosing. [ENGAGE] Read more