Last week, a college in Mangalore in India banned a student wearing a burqa from attending class. The principal told local media the college had a policy of not allowing symbols of religion.
The media did not say if there were students on campus with a ‘bindi’ (dot) on their foreheads or crucifixes around their necks or turbans on their heads, other symbols of religion one commonly sees in India, besides the ubiquitous “Om” scarves and t-shirts.
Mangalore, a cosmopolitan city, is no stranger to controversy; it was recently in the news for attacks on bars and women by a fundamentalist Hindu outfit that declared they were against Indian culture.
Nor is the controversy over headscarves and burqas limited to India. UK’s Jack Straw sparked a heated debate when he asked Muslim women in his constituency to remove their veils to promote better relations between people.
Turkey last year lifted a ban on women wearing headscarves at universities, ruling it violated the country’s secular constitution.
More recently, French president Sarkozy said burqas have no place in the country because they are a symbol of the subjugation of women. The issue has divided France, home to Europe’s largest Muslim minority, over how to reconcile secular values with religious freedom.
A 2004 French law bans students from wearing “conspicuous” signs of their religion in state schools, prompting Sikhs to launch a protest to allow them to keep their turbans on.
Sikhs have also fought in some countries for the right to carry the “kirpan”, a dagger mandated by their religion and have called on the U.S. Army to end a ban on men with turbans.
How about India, a secular country which allows its citizens the right to follow any religion of their choosing? Can a college or a workplace impose its own rules about religious symbols? And who gets to determine what’s conspicuous or not?
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BAN ON BURQA
ARNT PEOPLE IN INDIA BAISED TOWARD ONE RELIGON.WHY ONE PARTICULAR COMMUNITY SUFFERS FROM BAN…THAT ALSO BAN TO COVER THE FACE,AFTER SOME TIME BAN TO PUT DUPPATA THEN WHAT NOT….EVEN OUR INDIAN CULTRE ORDERS US TO COVER WHOLE OF BODY U CAN GO THROUGH VEDAS WERE IT IS CLEARY WRITTEN TO COVER YR BODY WEN U GO OUT.SO WAT WRONG IF A MUSLIM GIRL COVER HER FACE?
- Posted by adilAzad
@the simmering dichotomy in the mainly christian europe and the other immigrants is gaining a stern ground swell;
see the huge number of comments in Economist this week.Luckily for India its not immigration but only local population to be considered, by that I mean, race isnt an issue.”
Azad: Yes more than 700 comments on the article in a week!!!!!! seems like everyone is involved in the debate.
I agree such issues in India are PERHAPS more easily managable. Alien culture is not an issue.
- Posted by rajeevRajeev, Rohit
the simmering dichotomy in the mainly christian europe and the other immigrants is gaining a stern ground swell;
see the huge number of comments in Economist this week.Luckily for India its not immigration but only local population to be considered, by that I mean, race isnt an issue.
http://www.economist.com/books/displaySt ory.cfm?story_id=14302290&mode=comment&s ort=recommend#commentStartPosition
- Posted by azadBandits in Burqas Strike in Britain
http://news.aol.com/article/british-poli ce-hunt-robber-bandits-in/641486
- Posted by azadFundamentalists are the main enemy of our humanity and as they exist in all religions and in all ideologies and they do not accept the others and it is too much easy for anyone of them to harm or to insult or to kill in the name of his religion and I think history is a clear proof for what I have mentioned. We should unite against these people and we should fight for our freedom and for our humanity. To prevent a student from wearing a burqa is an act from some fundamentalists. I donot agree with Taliban because they are fundamentalists and also I donot agree with these people because they are fundamentalists.
- Posted by Hassan Elsisi@ Rohit and Azad
My last post was about religious symbols in India, not France. Sarkozy can do that in France and but imitating sarkozy in India is not wise.
Rohit:
-I will not take a broad brush and paint “French can never respect Sikhism” even assuming that by French you mean practicing Christians. Well french don;t respect lot other of things too-like america and goes vice-versa! Hardly matters. It is what Sikhs or any other community gives back to French society will earn them the respect. In any case, respect has been commanded as Sarkozy already said that Sikhs will be allowed turban in France in response to Manmohan Singh’s non-official memo. But he views burqa clad women as “prisoners behind netting” and sees burqa as a “sign of subservience”, not a sign of religion. I agree with him.
Turban in, burqa out, scarf allowed is the Sarkozy Rule.
Azad:
I agree with you. Those who want to go to France will do the needful or have an option to stay back in sweet home. As I said I was talking about the near impossibility of this happening in india due to huge differences between the 2 countries.
Coming back to India, tolerance not escapism is the way out. If it is not in the head, it will not work. we unfortunately have politicians who cannot handle such delicate issues. The fallouts of such mishandling are huge.
- Posted by rajeevMy personal experience as a non-muslim is the following: I need to see the face of a person I want to get into contact with or who wants to contact me. Communication between people does not only take place via words but also via facial gestures. How can a person who hides her face expect others to take her seriously ? I cannot imagine having a professional discussion on whatever topic with a person hidden behind a burqa. I do not mind scarfs, tubans, crosses, bindis etc. as they don`t interfere with normal inter-human communication. Or is communication not wanted at all by persons who wear burqas ?
- Posted by RosmaRosma
Freedom of speech and expression allows one in India to practise his/her own religion and belief. No one has the authority to curtail that. It is no wonder why such an incident happened in a college in Karnataka. The state is governed by the BJP, who gives all supports to a particular communal outfit to grow up and to rule the roost. After the Mangalore incident was aired by a TV channel, the college principal had to concede that he ordered the ban at the behest of some Hindu fanatic outfit. Let’s not intrude into others’ privacy as long as we stay in a democratic and secular country.
- Posted by SainulLets say you join an office, would you demand to wear a burqa to the client meetings and all? Well you may but the office wont let you because they have a dress code, formals! Similarly if a private institution has a dress code, which requests you to dress in a particular manner, why do people defy that by wearing something else all together and then creating a scene when they are stopped from it. Tomorrow I will start wearing a nighty to college and say that it is something which my relegion demands, well let me wear it too.
- Posted by Kusumto Azad and Rajeev
I am for rationality not idiosyncracy. The French ban is made by Christians and for Christians. French can never respect Sikhism. If they knew facts of Sikhism, they would have thought about in rational manner. The act of French government tantamounts to interference in religion and faith in order to create chaos in life of Sikhs.
- Posted by RohitAs far as covering of a Muslim woman’s face goes I remember a case in the UK. A teacher asked one of the girls in his class a question. However, she did not respond even though they had covered the topic the day before. The girl he asked was a Muslim and she was wearing the burkha and had her face covered. It later turned out that the girl was not a pupil of that school and had been sent in the other’s place. This is wrong. The face should not be covered.
I would love to see girls wearing burkhas running down corridors and stairs when the fire alarm goes off. Like dominos falling.
- Posted by bulletfishIf country proclaims or declares it self as secular it is the duty of the government to safeguard the rights of the religious minorities. Every human being should be given their freedom to practice their respective religions in their own way.
- Posted by Jhon KotlerMinorities should not be crushed in the name secularism respective government should take proper action to protect religious freedom
Under Indian Constitution, Freedom to practice Religion is Fundamental Right of Citizens. However individuals rights are / have to be subject Civil/public Rights and anything which interferes in public Safety should not be allowed. As Burqa hides identity of a person, it violates fundamental freedom of citizens and can allow criminals to commit and get away with Crimes as with burqa on, how police will identify 7 prosecute?
- Posted by Atma Gandhi@ all this talk of “no place for religious symbols in public” is just a way for the atehesit to get things their way.
-says sydney
-I agree with bikini issue you raised. A woman is not liberated unless she is in the bikini. But you are jumping to conclusion by saying that this is the work of “atheists”. It is all mix bag–theists/atheists/agnostics all.
@i have seen women here in the U.S wear a head scarf and a burqa and i give them all the credit in the world. because when we americans see that we immediately make comments, give them dirty looks, and mistreat them.
-says sydeny
-mistreat women in head scarf in US–are you sure?-depends upon neighborhood may be. I am not so sure about Burqa though. That makes sense too as I said earlier that a white kid gets scared off a stranger lady wrapped head to toe in a Burqa. BYW why does a woman wear burqa–so that men do not give them dirty look, right. By waring Burqa and Burqini in the West, they are just doing that–the epicentre of attraction.
- Posted by rajeevThe burqa is a fashion statement, albeit a religious one, from Saudi Arabia’s wahabi islam. Surely if students are allowed to wear these articles of fashion, then students should also be allowed to exhibit other articles of fashion: ear/nose/tongue/eyebrow piercings, high-heels, short skirts and the works.
- Posted by abhishek