Talk about cultural narcissism...
LAHORE: The Lahore pages of your newspaper carried on April 13 a photograph of hijab-clad women holding placards. Two of these read: “Ban Mini Scirt (sic)’ and “My Niqab, May (my?) Right.” These placards exemplify the dismal state of English education in Pakistan. But more than that, this shows a remarkable inability to see the incongruity of this sanctimonious drama.
On the one hand, these women demand banning the mini ‘scirt’ which no one wears in Pakistan but is worn in France and, on the other hand, they declare their right to wear the hijab in France. If they have their way, these women will not let Frenchwomen wear what they want in their own country, but will foist upon the westerners an item of attire totally alien to them. Talk about cultural narcissism.
Salman Rashid
Published in The Express Tribune, April 17th, 2011.
