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The right to wear a burqa
I differ with the writer in that a burqa is a prison where the women are in and the men out.
NIDDERAU / GERMANY: This is with reference to Meera Ghani’s article of April 15 titled “The right to wear burqa”. I differ with the writer in that a burqa is a prison where the women are in and the men out. What we need to do is free the women. And in that regard, criticising France is not right. I often visit South Africa where I see women wear revealing clothes or bikinis and I also see men with long beards and women in burqas and chaddars. But in most Muslim countries, women have no choice and are forced to adhere to dress codes which are designed keeping in mind only one particular religious outlook or interpretation.
It appears ironic that this freedom of choice for women, to dress as they wish, disappears the minute they enter a Muslim country. It seems hypocritical that while Muslims talk about their rights as minorities in western countries , the same freedoms are not given to minorities in Muslim-majority countries.
We need to understand why millions of Muslims live in countries like France – surely there must be something good in such societies.
Sharif Lone
Published in The Express Tribune, April 16th, 2011.
Reader Comments (11)
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The right to wear a burqa (II)
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I would like to add one thing here, in a lot of Muslim countries, as well as in countries where Muslims are a minority such as France or the United Kingdom, thousands upon thousands of Muslim women grow up with a combination of conditioned and subliminal learning with regards to the burqa and how it is mandatory for righteous God fearing Muslim women. I will not count those women as those who wear it by-choice, as they have been directly or indirectly brain washed into believing it as an mandatory aspect of their faith which they have to abide by regardless. Has any one ever noticed, when your at a get together, some women react in such a paranoid manner showing extreme discomfort through their body language and facial expression when a non-mehrum man appears in the room or in close vicinity as if all Hell is about to break loose and they will go to hell for being seen by such a man.Recommend
atleast from a scientific point of view Burqa can create following problems:
Lack of exposure of oxygen to the face and to the body in general. This can cause long term effects of brain retardation, shrinking
Psychological effects of shyness and shy thinking.
During summers, wearing Burqa can cause skin lesions or skin diseases due to lack of air and heat.
Sometimes I see Muslim women coming out to protest as to it is their right to wear a Burqa……But hardly do Muslim women have the opportunities to think for themselves and are very backward in thinking and outlook.
We Hindus also used to deliberately keep Women confined to household chores but with reformation thankfully all this has changed and Hindu Women are today very confident and stand shoulder to shoulder to their men.Recommend
Saurav, I agree with your views about the health hazards for wearing Burqa. Women wearing burqa are generally shy and cannot cope with competitive life styles of the world. Girls should be treated equally and only then can they grow up to stand tall and have analytical minds. Many Muslims think that women are there just to satisfy men’s desires and are not aware that women also have desires, sexual and otherwise.Recommend
I think the ban is not on burqa but on muslims only. I see nuns wearing burqa in India, England, and all over the world. The minanites cover them selves but no body cares. Their kids are not allowes to go to school after grade 10 but its ok. Its their community anf they have freedom to make these choices. Islam on the other hand is forcing woman to wear burqas. Why cant France let woman walk naked. They are FORCING them to wear all these clothes. Ahhh poor women. France is such a brutal country and men are so mean that they force women to wear clothes. Let the skin come out in India, France,switzerland, and in all the non muslim countires. Give women the freedom to be naked.
On other hand i am also against muslim countires who don’t give minorities their rights. Islam teaches peace. Islam respects all religion. So muslim countires you are surely not following islam of the holy prophet Muhammad pbuh. You are following the mullahs islam so stop it and give minorities their rights or Allah will punish you as you are ready being punishedRecommend
Waseem, Nuns do not cover their faces and are easily recognizable. Furthermore, nuns can always leave nun hood and start living without extra attire. Muslim women are struck for life, inside and outside their homes. In Pakistan, in many towns, women cannot come out of their homes at all and never see the light of day. There are millions of Muslims living in France and elsewhere and more and more want to come. Muslims are respected to perform their rituals and customs in general. So do not blame others for persecuting Muslims.Recommend
@Saurav:
Excuse me , doctors prescribe women to cover their faces to protect their faces from direct sunlight, it will protect their skin and please stop comparing muslim women with hindu women , i know you will agree that muslim women are much more beautiful than hindi women.its a fact.so your theory is failed.Recommend
Karachi,
Be careful of what you say. There are not many strong sunny days in Paris so protecting from sun shine may be true in Karachi but not in Europe.
This comparison with beauty is a racist comment. It is like saying European women are prettier than Muslim women. I think Karena Kapoor and Ashweria Roy are not ugly. Most of our fellow Pakistanis are glued to Hindi movies. I wonder why.Recommend
I think Muslims get offended if anybody says anything negative about Muslim women, But it appears they do not mind hindu bashing by claiming that they are less pretty. Shame on Karachi.Recommend
I ask my wife and my daughters to wear veil when they go out because men are evil by nature and they will be full of lustful of thoughts. If they the faces of my beautiful daughters without niqab Allah knows what they will do to them. Even in our Holy Book it is said clearly that the moment a man looks the face of a woman, satan enters his head.
So, women should cover their bodies and face so that men don’t get tempted by seeing them. That is the reason fathers ask the women in the family to wear burqa. There is no medical reason behind this.Recommend
Great, Malik you say men are evil by nature. This includes all men including yourself? There is good and bad in all of us. Show trust and independence to women. In most cases, they can cope with staring men without getting involved. Men stare more in Pakistan because they do not get many chances to see women. In France men and women walk around in the streets and work places without any major hazards.Recommend
@Malik
What crap. Because you (men) can’t control the beast in you, the women have to put an extra lair of protection over and above what they normally have to.
A friendly advice. Please keep your (including that of other male members of your family) family jewels under lock and key, so that even if the satan enters your head, your body will not be able to do what you want to do.Recommend