All is said and done and the “Burqa Ban” is in place. French police started following orders and have even arrested a couple of burqa-wearing women protesting the ban. Huge uproar was the result. Sarkozy was called a dictator, a hypocrite, accused of making a mockery of the French equality. Mostly from “left-libs,” and people who never wore a burqa in their lives.
Ironically enough, massive support for President Nicolas Sarkozy came from quarters who are traditionally known as conservative. Yes, while the majority of the liberals kept a marked uncomfortable silence, and some whispered mutedly about how offensive and Islamophobic the ban is, a massive show of support came from women columnists – and who were all Muslim.
Nazneen Sheikh, Mona Eltahawy, Marvi Sirmed, and Shazia Nawaz…all muslim women, all supported this ban, for different reasons however.
Thing is, the critics of this ban have raised two questions, and they couldn’t provide the answers to the counter-question raised by those issues:
1. Law of the Land: As a rule, citizens, migrants and other individuals are supposed to follow law of the land – the local constitution – no matter what they are. Also, France, with its highly secular character, has got a right, as a sovereign, to formulate her own rules and laws. Democracy is the rule of majority and the rules should not be changed for a mere handful.
2. The state has no right to dictate dress code: Well, we never heard a single protest when the Saudis or Iranians imposed dress codes on their people. The day these practices are equally condemned, that will be the day the people against the ban will have a right to criticize France.
There cannot be denial that the people who want to wear a burqa should not be stopped. Granted, it is their right to dress like they want. But what about wanting to wear a Burqa to a school, or work in hospital, where there is a fixed dress code? Where is the guaranty, a way to stop young, impressionable minds from being scared of committing “moral sins” if they don’t cover their face? Who’s to stop the thousands of honor killings across the globe without any such laws?
Also, interestingly, Syria and Turkey have banned all sorts of veils and headscarves. Not a single accusation of Islamophobia came out from anyone.
I am not sure if we can still call it a “Clash of Civilisations.” In this case, it is just a country that is formulating a law which it thinks is best for their populace, without any repression, physical assault, and with the support of an overwhelming majority of that populace. They have a right to form their own laws. Let’s best leave it at that.
