On Wednesday, Spain became the latest European country to advance legislation to ban burqas and other such face veils. Many of those in favor of such laws cite women’s rights, but does criminalizing their clothing help?
Category Archives: State Oppression
European MPs vote against bans on veils and minarets
MPs from 47 countries have unanimously voted against a general ban on the wearing of the burka in public.
The Parliamentary Assembly of Europe’s human rights watchdog, the Council of Europe, passed a resolution warning that if governments imposed such a ban they would be denying women “who genuinely and freely desire to do so” their right to cover their faces.
The resolution was part of a report on Islam, Islamism and Islamophobia, which also called on European governments to work to educate Muslim women, their families and communities on their human rights and to encourage them to take part in “public and professional life”.
It also called on Switzerland to repeal as soon as possible its general ban on the construction of minarets, which it described as discriminatory.
Associated Press, 23 June 2010
See also Swissinfo, 23 June 2010
Spanish Senate calls for nationwide ban on veil
The Spanish Senate on Wednesday approved a motion urging Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero’s government to ban Islamic all-body veils in public places.
The government needed to take legal measures against the niqab, which covers the entire body except for the eyes, and against the burqa, which hides even the eyes, the motion said.
It was approved with the narrow majority of 131 votes against 129, with two conservative parties backing it, while Zapatero’s Socialists and others voted against.
Spain should outlaw “any usage, custom or discriminatory practice that limits the freedom of women,” said the document, which was drafted by the main conservative opposition People’s Party (PP).
The Socialists, on the other hand, argued that the use of all-body veils was best opposed through education and by using the current legislation, which already prohibits people with covered faces from entering public buildings.
Eight Spanish municipalities, located mainly in the north-eastern region of Catalonia, have outlawed or are planning to outlaw all-body veils in public places. The Senate is now seeking a nationwide ban.
Critics say the Spanish debate on the burqa and niqab is only political point-scoring, because all-body veils are rare in the country.
Lawyers condemn Zakir Naik ban
Lawyers representing an Indian Muslim preacher banned from entering the UK say the move was rushed and he was not given a proper chance to respond to it.
Majeed Memon, representing Mumbai-based television preacher Zakir Naik, described the move by the UK government as “barbaric and inhuman”. Mr Memon said the move was all the more extraordinary because Dr Naik was granted a five year UK visa in 2008.
The Islamic Research Foundation, based in Mumbai, India, said on Saturday that it was seeking a judicial review of the decision in the London High Court. Dr Naik said the move to exclude him was more of a political decision than a legal one.
His lawyers say that complimentary references he made in a speech about Osama Bin Laden were uttered in 1996 – and not 10 years later as detailed in the exclusion order made by the British government. Mr Memon said the comments were made before the 9/11 attacks and “should not be read into”. He accused the newly-elected British coalition government of making a “political decision to gain political mileage”.
Dr Naik – who is based in Mumbai (Bombay) and works for the Peace TV channel – is president of the Islamic Research Foundation. He has won support for his campaign against the exclusion order from Bollywood film maker Mahesh Bhatt, who praised him for “locking horns with the might of the British empire”.
Update: Zakir Naik has apparently been told that he will be refused entry to Canada, where he was due to speak at a conference in Toronto early next month. See the Toronto Star, 22 June 2010
Further update: See also “Muslim preachers, Zakir Naik & Bilal Phillips, denied entry into UK”, Muslim Matters, 23 June 2010
France veil ban bill goes to parliament July 6
French lawmakers will begin on July 6 to debate a government proposal to ban the Muslim full-face veil from public spaces, a minister said on Tuesday.
The lower house National Assembly will read the bill before it passes to the Senate in September and it could be adopted into law soon after, said Henri de Raincourt, the minister for parliamentary relations.
Australia: right-wing bigot introduces veil ban bill
Christian Democratic Party MP Fred Nile has succeeded in introducing a bill to ban the wearing of the burqa in the NSW Upper House. Mr Nile introduced his private member’s bill, seeking to ban the wearing of the burqa and other face veils in public, shortly after 8pm (AEST) on Tuesday.
Last month, a debate on the same bill was voted down by the NSW Upper House.
Greens MP John Kaye said only the four Greens MPs and Family First MP Gordon Moyes voted against introducing the bill on Tuesday. “Last month the coalition and the government did the right thing and said no, they would not allow the Upper House to be home to this kind of racist dog whistling,” Mr Kaye told AAP on Tuesday. “This time they caved in.”
Mr Kaye said Mr Nile’s bill has opened the door to a “dangerous and divisive attack on one of NSW’s communities”.
“Letting loose the ugly bigotry that lies behind this bill will only encourage hostility to the Muslim community,” he said. “While no woman should be forced to wear a burqa or any other form of clothing, this absurd bill will do nothing to enhance the rights of women.”
The bill has been adjourned until September 2010.
See also Sydney Morning Herald, 23 June 2010
Respect Party councillors lodge complaints over spy cameras
Two Birmingham councillors have lodged official complaints with the Independent Police Complaints Commission claiming they were deliberately misled over a hugely controversial project to tackle terrorism.
Sparkbrook Respect Party councillors Mohammed Ishtiaq and Salma Yaqoob have written to the IPPC demanding action is taken against senior officers who they said told them the prime focus of a £3million project would be to prevent crime in Sparkbrook and Moseley and not to spy on Muslims.
Police and council leaders were last week forced to put bags over 216 CCTV and ANPR equipment, which were installed in April, after accepting they had failed to consult community leaders from the wards affected.
Coun Salma Yaqoob said: “The way they went about it was very misleading and makes us lose confidence and trust. This is the only way to bring to light what’s gone on.”
Spying on British Muslims
This is an awful example of treating entire Muslim communities as suspicious and their democratic representatives as too unreliable to be trusted.
It stems from the same mentality that saw parts of the “Prevent” anti-extremism programme degenerate into police forces spying on Muslims’ political and religious views.
It is no accident that this has happened in Birmingham. Last year an Institute of Race Relations report revealed that Prevent work in Birmingham was being directly managed by a counterterrorism police officer.
Anwar Akhtar on the installation of spy cameras in Muslim neighbourhoods in Birmingham.
Legal challenge to ban on Zakir Naik
An Indian Muslim preacher banned by the home secretary from entering the UK for his “unacceptable behaviour” is to challenge the ruling in the courts.
Zakir Naik, a 44-year-old television preacher, had been due to give lectures in Sheffield on 25 June and Wembley Arena the following day. Mr Naik is based in Mumbai, where he works for the Peace TV channel. The Islamic Research Foundation said in a statement:
“It is deeply regrettable the British Government has bowed to pressure from sectarian and Islamophobic pressure groups by preventing the entry of Dr Zakir Naik, who has been visiting and delivering talks in the United Kingdom for the past 15 years.
“Dr Zakir Naik is undoubtedly an opponent of terrorism and as such has often spoken out against all acts of violence and violent extremism. He has emphatically and unequivocally condemned the killing of civilians and is one of the world’s regular noted orators on this topic.
“In the wake of the exclusion order and based on legal advice, Dr Zakir Naik intends to bring the matter before the High Court … and request a judicial review to have the exclusion order overturned.”
Meanwhile, the English Defence League are celebrating having secured “another victory by getting hate preacher Zakir Naik banned from entering Britain”. They have announced that they are calling off their Wembley demonstration on 26 June and holding it in Barking instead.
Theresa May bans Zakir Naik
A radical preacher who claimed that “every Muslim should be a terrorist” has been banned from coming to Britain, The Daily Telegraph can disclose. In her first major test of being tough on extremism, Theresa May, the new Home Secretary, said she was banning Zakir Naik from entering the UK.
Dr Naik, a 44-year-old Indian televangelist, had been due to give a series of lectures at arenas in Wembley and Sheffield.
Last night Patrick Mercer MP, the former chairman of the Commons counter-terrorism committee, said: “This is really good news. It shows that firm Government action can be taken against people. This is exactly the sort of man who we want to exclude from this country.”
Dr Naik has been named as the third most popular spiritual guru in India and was judged in 2009 to be 82nd in a list of India’s most powerful people.