The Burqa. The Niqab. The Purdah. (from left to right)Never has any piece of clothing become so political. Save la brassiere, but let's keep that for another day.
This is quite a late post, but it's not outdated either. So shut up and read on.
As you probably would have read a few weeks ago, Belgium's lower house of parliament passed a law banning the burka in public places.
Before I launch a full-blown tirade against this xenophobic move, let me first start with what I personally think about the burqa/niqab/purdah/veil.
I personally loathe it. When I was small, at the height of the Al-Arqam movement, the Purdah (Malaysia's equivalent of the Niqab, the word came from the 'purda' in Rajasthan) was quite ubiquitous. Every time I see women in purdahs I came close to wetting my pants. For some unknown reason I felt intimidated by the mere sight of it. Now before you think that I'm such a prejudice bastardo, lemme make this clear; the house I was brought up in always sees the niqab/burka as a personal choice. It was entirely my fault. The prejudice is innate. But you obviously can't blame me, I was too small. After all, children, despite the noise that they make, the smell they emit, and the pain that they inflict on any civilised man's emotion can't possibly be responsible for their actions/thoughts, right?
And then there was the time when I went for my medical check-up at an 'Islamic' medical centre. I was attended by a female doctor in the niqab who didn't even look at me, and proceeded with stamping my forms without asking a single question. What if I have a medical condition that I forgot to disclose on the forms? What if I made false claims? Damn, if only I knew she's gonna do that I would've said that I've got three testicles or sth and
claim for incapacity benefits. Anyway, my point is, if you don't want any contact with an ajnabi (foreign man) then don't be a doctor.
*picture for decorative purposes only.It was such a terrible feeling to be treated by a doctor in such a way. I would've punched her face had I known where it was.
Anyway, my point being that people in niqabs shouldn't be allowed to participate in any profession that requires clear, succinct inter-personnel communication. If you're a doctor, a school teacher, or a bank teller, we need to see your face. We need to read your lips. Which is why I firmly support Jack Straw's request that women should remove full veils when they're visiting his office. After all, that old man has got some hearing problem, for goodness' sake. He actually NEEDS to lip-read to do his job.
But then again, imposing a full ban on the burka is not the way either. Basically, there are two principal reasons why they're pressing for the Burqa ban, one is that the burqa is seen as a security threat, the other one is that the burqa is 'unwestern', and that it represents a backward eastern culture that oppresses women.
#1. The Burqa as a security threat.
Check this out. Ok so maybe an Australian man did wear the Burqa and robbed a bank. (Is he outta his mind???) Anyway, that simply does not provide a concrete excuse to ban the burqa. Will you also ban stockings, ultraman masks, and balaclavas then, since they all have been used by robbers?
And then there's this argument that the Burqa makes facial recognition difficult. Now, my problem is, in these places where they're talking about banning the burqa, only a tiny fraction of Muslim women actually wear them. Let's take France, for example, which has the highest number+percentage of Muslims in Europe. The home ministry gives the number of people who actually wear the burqa at 1,900. That is 0.04% of the total Muslim population of France, or 0.00003% of the French public. That means you are twice more likely to be murdered than spotting someone in a burqa. Now if you consider the percentage of people in burqas who ARE actually security threats, that will further push the probability down, such that you'll probably be more likely to make love to a magical pink unicorn than to be bombed by a burqa-clad woman. Enough said.
The concept of a nation-wide ban is also stupid because if you're living in a French city where the number of Muslims is much lower, the burqa actually makes it easier to identify individuals. Imagine if there's a burqa-clad suicide bomber in city X, where only 2 people actually wear them. Won't it be easier to identify them as opposed to "Black hair and eyes, olive skin, slight moustache"? From my own unscientific observation, 88% of women look like that. Now tell me, which of these two are easier for you to tell apart, this;
Anyway, my point being that people in niqabs shouldn't be allowed to participate in any profession that requires clear, succinct inter-personnel communication. If you're a doctor, a school teacher, or a bank teller, we need to see your face. We need to read your lips. Which is why I firmly support Jack Straw's request that women should remove full veils when they're visiting his office. After all, that old man has got some hearing problem, for goodness' sake. He actually NEEDS to lip-read to do his job.
But then again, imposing a full ban on the burka is not the way either. Basically, there are two principal reasons why they're pressing for the Burqa ban, one is that the burqa is seen as a security threat, the other one is that the burqa is 'unwestern', and that it represents a backward eastern culture that oppresses women.
#1. The Burqa as a security threat.
Check this out. Ok so maybe an Australian man did wear the Burqa and robbed a bank. (Is he outta his mind???) Anyway, that simply does not provide a concrete excuse to ban the burqa. Will you also ban stockings, ultraman masks, and balaclavas then, since they all have been used by robbers?
And then there's this argument that the Burqa makes facial recognition difficult. Now, my problem is, in these places where they're talking about banning the burqa, only a tiny fraction of Muslim women actually wear them. Let's take France, for example, which has the highest number+percentage of Muslims in Europe. The home ministry gives the number of people who actually wear the burqa at 1,900. That is 0.04% of the total Muslim population of France, or 0.00003% of the French public. That means you are twice more likely to be murdered than spotting someone in a burqa. Now if you consider the percentage of people in burqas who ARE actually security threats, that will further push the probability down, such that you'll probably be more likely to make love to a magical pink unicorn than to be bombed by a burqa-clad woman. Enough said.
The concept of a nation-wide ban is also stupid because if you're living in a French city where the number of Muslims is much lower, the burqa actually makes it easier to identify individuals. Imagine if there's a burqa-clad suicide bomber in city X, where only 2 people actually wear them. Won't it be easier to identify them as opposed to "Black hair and eyes, olive skin, slight moustache"? From my own unscientific observation, 88% of women look like that. Now tell me, which of these two are easier for you to tell apart, this;
left: Zoe Deschanel, right: Katy Perry. Wait. Which one... I think I'm mistaken. Arrrgh nevermind.
#2 The Burqa as 'unwestern', a symbol of oppression.
Let's face it. For a husband to force his wife to wear the burqa is indeed an oppression. Just as much as for a wife to tell her husband to stop smoking is an oppression. Smoking, and exposing your face are both fundamental rights, so if your spouse stops you from doing either of them, surely that's an oppression, right?
The actual fact is that many of these women in Europe choose to wear the burqa out of their own choice. It's their face. Leave them alone.
And then some people argued that the Burqa is unwelcome in Europe because it contradicts with "Western" values. Wait. Who's the barbarian here? Apparently some people still think that the earth is flat, and that there is such a thing as a rigid, fixed, "Western" point on earth. Galilei died for nothing, it seems. So what is 'Western'? Where do they think Christianity came from? Manchester?
Another concern about this argument is that it won't be long before they'll go further and ban anything uwestern/foreign/eastern. Halal food, goodbye. Late-night Kebabs, goodbye. Shisha bars, goodbye. Chinatowns, goodbye. If you're a minority, you should be scared. Everyone is a minority in some way. So everyone should be scared, actually!
So, my final word is, I really don't think banning the niqab/burqa is the way to go, regardless of what you personally think of it. After all, these poor women have suffered enough. The last thing you'd want to do is to ban the burqa, make their husbands keep them at home, isolating them from the rest of the world. Now THAT is unWESTern.
note: my friend Nigel has an interesting post on the ban.
Let's face it. For a husband to force his wife to wear the burqa is indeed an oppression. Just as much as for a wife to tell her husband to stop smoking is an oppression. Smoking, and exposing your face are both fundamental rights, so if your spouse stops you from doing either of them, surely that's an oppression, right?
The actual fact is that many of these women in Europe choose to wear the burqa out of their own choice. It's their face. Leave them alone.
And then some people argued that the Burqa is unwelcome in Europe because it contradicts with "Western" values. Wait. Who's the barbarian here? Apparently some people still think that the earth is flat, and that there is such a thing as a rigid, fixed, "Western" point on earth. Galilei died for nothing, it seems. So what is 'Western'? Where do they think Christianity came from? Manchester?
Another concern about this argument is that it won't be long before they'll go further and ban anything uwestern/foreign/eastern. Halal food, goodbye. Late-night Kebabs, goodbye. Shisha bars, goodbye. Chinatowns, goodbye. If you're a minority, you should be scared. Everyone is a minority in some way. So everyone should be scared, actually!
So, my final word is, I really don't think banning the niqab/burqa is the way to go, regardless of what you personally think of it. After all, these poor women have suffered enough. The last thing you'd want to do is to ban the burqa, make their husbands keep them at home, isolating them from the rest of the world. Now THAT is unWESTern.
note: my friend Nigel has an interesting post on the ban.
best r hammad.. hohoho
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