Restricting burqa in France
My attention was drawn to the article entitled, "The thorn in France's side" by Sabria Chowdhury that appeared in The Daily Star on 20th September 2011. In this article Ms Sabria referred to two recent proclamations by the French government that prohibited wearing of 'Burqa' in public, and saying of prayer on public thoroughfare.
The French government did not prohibit wearing Burqa, what they prohibited was "wearing any headgear that prevents identification of a person." Thus, there was no problem with 'Hijab' or 'Abaya'; only the all-covering Burqa that prevents individual identification was banned. Burqa is banned in a number of countries as well as in places such as banks or airports where positive identification is necessary. We have seen in Russia, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Jordan and in many other places that terrorists, male and female, garbed in a burqa have detonated explosives and killed hundreds.
The writer argued that the Muslims pray on the road because there are not enough space inside the mosque and the French government should make more space available for people to pray. The fact is that the French government, by constitution, cannot fund any places of worship.
It is the responsibility of the community to raise money and build and maintain places of worship. Muslims should build mosques with their own money or get some help from the oil-rich Arab states to build a few for them. The French had already offered a large space to the Muslim community in Paris to buy the land and build a mosque there.
Meanwhile, the Muslims have no reason to block the traffic on the street during Friday prayer. One's right to pray must not impinge on someone else's right to use public thoroughfare. I think the article lacked objectivity.
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