I am joining my colleague Tarek Fatah in appealing to Ontario premier-elect Doug Ford to ban the burka, the oppressive face covering. In fact, I would like to extend this suggestion to premiers of other provinces.
Fundamentalist insistence on the veil is more political than religious. There is nothing in the Qur’an that expressly prescribes wearing even the hijab, let alone the niqab or other forms of face veiling.
Of course, Fatah is citing the burka as a security threat. This alone is compelling enough reason to ban it. There is no denying that the garment has been used to commit heinous crimes, not only in Canada but also overseas.
But I want the burka banned also because I care about Canadian Muslims. I care about their image as a diaspora community. If they continue to promote or allow the face veil, the image they project is one of backwardness and misogyny.
Muslims should be the first to seek a ban on this oppressive garment that has no basis in Islam and that portrays them in such negative light. That the garment is inherently misogynistic is undeniable. It is rooted in the conviction that women are a source of evil if they are left unshielded from the male gaze. [Toronto Sun] Read more
