Islamic Council of Norway criticised for appointing niqab-wearing spokesperson

The organisation insists that the appointment was on merit

The Islamic Council of Norway [IRN] has faced criticism for hiring a woman who does full-face hijab as a communications officer, The Local reported.

Leyla Hasic, an administrative consultant at the IRN was promoted as its spokesperson soon after the Ministry of Culture granted the organisation half a million kroner [US $59, 000] to encourage harmony between Muslim and non-Muslim communities.



Taking exception to the appointment, the country’s Minister for Culture, Linda Hofsted Helleland expressed her dismay on a social media post on Facebook.

[fbpost link="https://www.facebook.com/LindaHHelleland/posts/1241501869296372"]

"Freedom of religion is strong in Norwegian society, and it will continue to be so. It therefore takes a lot for me, as minister of culture, to make statements about internal appointments in independent organisations such as Islamic Council Norway. But here it is important to take a stand!," she writes.

Joining Helleland in reproving the selection, local Muslim member parliament Abid Raja told the NRK that this was “not a good day for Muslims”.



The newspaper further reports that five Muslim organisations, currently under the IRN banner, have criticised Hasic’s appointment in a joint statement and are considering opting out of the IRN.

"IRN seems since last year to have ignored their social responsibilities, in an era where dialogue is more important than ever. It's a disturbing trend and do not serve Norwegian Muslim cause in the community,” the statement said.

According to the BBC, expressing disappointment at the scrutiny the Muslim organisation was facing, the general secretary Mehtab Afsar told Norwegian TV that Hasic’s appointment was purely based on merit. "I find it amazing that the same people who are so concerned about freedom of expression act this way when a woman in a niqab comes out and participates in working life," he said.



Last year, Norwegian [right-wing] government had announced plans to ban the full-face Islamic veil from classrooms and university lecture halls. Education Minister Torbjorn Roe Isaksen, quoted in the Vart Land newspaper, said the government was seeking “national regulations prohibiting the full-face veil in schools and universities”.

Roe Isaksen stressed that the ban would not apply to Islamic headscarves that leave the face exposed such as the hijab. People should be allowed to express their faith in public in Norway, he said. “I want a young Christian girl who wears a cross to be able to show it,” he told parliament. “I want a Jewish boy who wears a kippa to be able to show it. And I do not want a ban on the hijab.”