By Majed Iqbal-Not enough with banning the headscarf from government institutions and buildings including schools, colleges and universities, the French President Nicolas Sarkozy sparked off deeper controversies by calling for the burka to be banned.
The comments were aired in the first presidential address in 136 years to a joint session of France’s two houses of parliament where the French premier described the burka, a veil, worn by many Muslim women as part of their Islamic attire as a “debasement” of women – and not welcome in France.
He added: “In our country, we cannot accept that women be prisoners behind a screen, cut off from all social life, deprived of all identity. The burka is not a religious sign. It’s a sign of subservience, a sign of debasement”.
“I want to say it solemnly; it will not be welcome on the territory of the French Republic. We find it intolerable to see images of these imprisoned women when they come from Iran, Afghanistan or Saudi Arabia.”
MEP Chris Davies from the North West added more fuel to the fire when he stated that the burka does not belong in 21st century Britain.
“In my experience, the burka acts as a mask, reducing identity and discouraging women from developing their own skills and personality.”
Europe has witnessed rising rates of intolerance against minorities which have most often been ascribed to right wing parties. However, many statements like the French Presidents have signaled a very fine line line between right wing parties and ‘mainstream’ ones in Europe especially related to tackling Islamic and Muslim related issues.
According to a survey of global opinion released in September 2008, it found that more than half of Spaniards and half of Germans said that they did not like Muslims and the figures for Poland and France were 46% and 38% for those holding unfavorable opinions of Muslims.
The survey mentioned “Opinions of Muslims in almost all of these (European) countries were more negative than are views of Jews,” analysts said. While Americans and Britons displayed the lowest levels of anti-Semitism, one in four in both countries were hostile to Muslims.
Despite the French premier glossing French Secular values as the ideal for any society, a quick track record at Frances record towards women is one worth considering before embarking on the debate of treatment of Muslim women.
According to 2008 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices report, there was a 21 percent increase from 2006 to 2007 in the number of women killed by their spouses in domestic violence disputes (from 137 to 166) whilst current figures have shot to 400 a year. Approximately 38,000 women are raped each year in the country.
Sarkozy was keen to highlight how secular values must be the benchmark for France and seemed to gleam at the achievements made in France in ensuring equality for all.
However, despite laws which require that women receive equal pay for equal work the 2008 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices report highlighted that there was a gender pay discrepancy of around 25 percent. According to a 2007 survey by the government’s statistical agency, fewer than 20 percent of private sector executives were women, despite comprising 58.5 percent of the public workforce.
French women comprised approximately 50 percent of cabinet ministers in the government and were generally underrepresented in the legislature and in other levels of government leadership.
The War on Terror has now re-defined its focus to addressing what are acceptable Islamic ideas and practices and what are not such that Muslim women are now being questioned on even their dress code and role in Society.
The unprovoked debate of the burka to be brought into the limelight only once again serves to show the efforts in the last years in many European countries actively pursued by governments to force feed secular values to Muslim communities which themselves are questionable and open to scrutiny and debate. Hence Sarkozy confirmed this when he said
“I tell you, we must not be ashamed of our values, we must not be afraid of defending them.”
It seems that the French Premier was towing a similar tone like the Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi did in 2001 when he cited that “Western civilisation is superior to Islamic civilisation”.
The French Premier talked about “Debasement” of Women who wore a burka but has yet to answer for the divide in gender opportunities, sexual harassment at the workplaces and the rising rates of domestic violence that are carried out by men against women in France to this day.
the burka does debase women. it reduces them to nothing more than sexual objects. what exactly is the difference between a woman wearing a burka and a woman posing naked in mens magazines? nothing. in both cases, the womans body is nothing but a sex object.
i dont understand muslims who try to justifiy it. it is certainly no where in the koran, nor the hadiths. its a bedoin cultural tradition that is degrading and insulting to women. as society and humankind evolves, certain traditional practices need to be thrown out (ie the corset in the west.) there is nothing “liberating” about wearing a burka..why dont i start thinking that all my body is is a sex object, and start stripping. would that be liberating? as an educated woman, i believe there is more to my face and my whole body then sexual desire.
i am all for france banning the burka. infact, im all for every single country-espcially the islamic ones-also bringing about the ban. its been a long time coming. however, in the case of france, a simple ban wont solve the problem of extremism, infact it might just be counterproductive. if they’re serious about liberating some muslim women and improving the islamic community, they also need to tackle poverty and umemployment issues. they’re the problems that make most people turn to extremism.
muslims need to stop being so silent on issue like this, and other womens/human rights issues otherwise what the hell is the west supposed to think. not all muslims believe in medieval traditions such as the burka, in stoning, in polygamy, or in the subservient position of women to men. it is time for the EDUCATED and MODERN muslims to stand up and steer communities in the right direction
ariana,
“what exactly is the difference between a woman wearing a burka and a woman posing naked in mens magazines…”
There is no difference? ask a real man.
May be you posed naked in a mens magzine and it didn’t catch any body’s attention and thus it makes you think that there is no difference.
Ariana
Dont you think that your comment above is a bit Medieval.
Banning the way people dress!!
Its a view from the cave ages. How can you ban people from wearing their religious dress (if you agree with it or not). Would you ban dreadlocks? Would you ban Jewish clothing? Would you ban Sikh turbans.
Its not about being ‘liberated’- its about people being allowed to express their religious beliefs without any prejudice or discrimination.
If you are indeed EDUCATED and MODERN, maybe you should accept that people have a right to express their religious belief. The world does not revolve around what Ariana thinks is good- does it???
I’m still trying to figure out your point that a Burqa reduces a woman to becoming a sex object??? Very strange observation..
France and many of it’s western friends has proven to be very in-tolerant towards the Muslims and Islam. This is secular “Fundamentalism”. However, this should not surprise Muslims, we have seen this before.
Hi Ariana. Your quotes “the burka does debase women. it reduces them to nothing more than sexual objects”
“what exactly is the difference between a woman wearing a burka and a woman posing naked in mens magazines? nothing. in both cases, the womans body is nothing but a sex object”
are reflective of the highly sexualised society we live in where everyhing has some sort of sexual sado mashicist element to it. this is very unfortunate as we then seem to loose all sense of debate and discussion on this issue.
Why has Sarkozy raised the burkha debate when no-one was even talking about it?????
When a 9 year old boy, rhys jones is murdered in a drive by by a 15 year old boy riding a bike, theri followed a national debate on Youth crime and gang culture. So what incident was it that sparked off the Burka debate if i may ask?????
Nothing……………….
Oppurtunistic politicians playing the usual game of playing the population on unrealistic ‘fears’ to boost their own ratings.
“In the case of france, a simple ban wont solve the problem of extremism”
What is extremism i may ask?????
“muslims need to stop being so silent on issue like this”
Spot on Ariana. hence this is why Muslims like myself and blogs like these serve to counter the propaganda that most people seem to fall for without any scrutiny.
Just in passing………………..what is Frances record in treatment of women??
“
majed, you said that my quotes
“are reflective of the highly sexualised society we live in where everyhing has some sort of sexual sado mashicist element to it. this is very unfortunate as we then seem to loose all sense of debate and discussion on this issue”
yet can you explain to me how the burqa does not have a sexual sado mashicist element to it? women are told to wear a burqa so as not to incite sexual lust amongst men. thus it can be fair to conclude, since the burqa covers absolutely every inch of your body, that those who hold such views believe that every part of a woman is sexually explicit. i dont think thats a leap of logic. i do not accept that view.
I can’t comment as to why Sarkozy brought up the subject, as I dont know all the facts. It probably did have alot to do with fear mongering. that is not my point. what I do know is that its a debate that has been going on for a long time in France (both amongst muslims and non-muslims), and Sarkozy highlighted it. Most muslims, like myself, believe that the burqa is an expression of female subservience and oppression. Infact i get offended when people call it an islamic tradition, because it has nothing to do with islam but it is rather an outdated cultural phenomenon. The reasons I am for the ban are very clear:
a) It does not encroach on any religious requirement and
b) i believe it impacts negatively on a womans social and political life, as it greatly seperates her from the rest of society.
In the case of france, a simple ban wont solve the problem of extremism”
What is extremism i may ask?????
Extremism where young men strapped bombs to themselves and killed thousands of people; as happened in London, Spain and the US. Or when women are being killed by their families for percieved crimes of dishonour as is happening around the world, UK included. These people are obviously in the minority; however they are the loud and aggressive ones.
The Infamous:
There are degrees of difference. Sikhs turbans, dreadlocks, and hijabs are different to burqas/niqabs. The difference being that the burqa/niqab completely hides ones identity, restricts intergration into maintsream society much more so than any other piece of clothing/fashion, and is not a religious requirement. I dont think that my view is medieval-laws already restrict many behaviours that are deemed to be unhealthy/detrimental to individuals or society. the most obvious being public decency laws: it is illegal to walk around naked, or topless. i dont think its that much of a strech to say that the other extreme-a burqa-can also be made illegal. Also, for me this ban is largely based on context. When communities are becoming segregated, or when poor youth are possibly becoming radicalized; then I support a committee to study the effects of a possible ban. You’ll find that a growing number of women who wear a burqa comes hand in hand with growing extremism. Please also note that although I dislike the burqa, I do not think a ban will solve all problems that the islamic communities in france face (and there are many). Access to better employment and education opportunites would be much more effective, and need to be implemented. But I think a ban could fix a few things.
@Kimi:
“There is no difference? ask a real man.
May be you posed naked in a mens magzine and it didn’t catch any body’s attention and thus it makes you think that there is no difference.”
lol there’s no need to resort to petty, childish insults when debating an important issue. the reason i compared it to a woman posing in a mens magazine, because to me the logic which underscores both actions is the same. ie. that women are primarily sexual creatures. this is a view that i strongly contest, and in equating the two together i expressed my disdain for both and the ideology that drives them