Ban the burka
This letter was addressed to Attorney General of Canada Robert Douglas Nicholson and Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Jason Kenney. A copy was filed with The Mississauga News for publication.
Dear Sirs:
The Muslim Canadian Congress is a Toronto-based organization that speaks on behalf of liberal and secular Muslims who feel they are first and foremost Canadians, notwithstanding the many other identities that shape us citizens of this country. As Muslim Canadians, we take ownership of and pride in the Canadian values of liberal democracy, gender equality, and universal human rights and the separation of religion and state. We value the fact our citizenship is based on human created laws and not on inherited race, religion or gender.We feel one of the issues Muslim Canadians face today is the challenge of gender apartheid that is encouraged and practiced in parts of our community.
Over the last few years we have seen an increasing presence and a disturbing growth of Muslim women concealing their identities behind facemasks called burkas or niqabs, both face-concealing veils. We, as ordinary Muslim citizens of Canada, feel it is our obligation and responsibility to take the lead in opposing this harmful trend and ask for legislation or regulations that will discourage the growth of this medieval facemask. We ask you to set up a task force that would study the roots of this phenomenon, the risks this poses to broader Canadian society.
Our objection to the burka or niqab is based on five separate, yet related areas that affect all Canadians — security, safety, health, gender equality and misuse of religion for political objectives. In July this year, an armed man dressed in a burka robbed a Scotiabank in Mississauga. Had this been an isolated incident, one could have overlooked the fact that so-called religious attire, instead of the typical facemask, had been used to hold up a bank. Such hold-ups have been reported south of the border, too.
The United Kingdom, Holland, Jordan, Iraq, Pakistan and Afghanistan also have seen a spate of crimes committed by burka-clad (attackers), while both Mulla Omar and Osama Bin Laden are said to have escaped arrest while hiding behind a burka.
In October 2007, a Calgary school bus was involved in a roadside accident in which one girl was killed. News clips showed the driver was wearing a very restrictive headgear that had almost certainly eliminated all peripheral vision and could have been the reason she slammed into a truck parked on the shoulder on a clear day. The Muslim Canadian Congress has done extensive tests with volunteers that indicate wearers of the burka or niqab have little peripheral vision, are unable to see their own feet and are permanently at risk of tripping.
Anyone driving an automobile with loss of peripheral vision is a risk to herself as well as other drivers and pedestrians. The Muslim Canadian Congress agrees that the state has no place in the bedrooms or wardrobes of the country. However, if the status of any woman in Canada is affected by what happens in the bedroom or wardrobe, be it spousal abuse or the forced wearing of attire meant to marginalize girls or women, then we feel the state must intervene. The equal rights of women are guaranteed under the Canadian Constitution. According to Section 28 of the Canadian Charter, “Notwithstanding anything in this Charter, the rights and freedoms referred to in it are guaranteed equally to male and female persons.”
Proponents and defenders of the burka and the niqab invoke the Charter’s right of freedom of religion as the basis of the right of a woman to conceal her identity ... but the right to practice a religion does not permit any Canadian to indulge in activity that is harmful to its adherents, even if they are willing participants in such religious ritual.
For example, Islam permits polygamy and slavery. Islam also allows for waging jihad against the infidel. Will these medieval practices be permitted because the Charter allows for freedom of religion?
The Muslim world is comprised of 57 countries and over a billion people who are roughly divided between the Shia and Sunni sects. The leaders of both the Shia and Sunni communities have stated explicitly that the burka or niqab are not an Islamic requirement, but a cultural and tribal custom. We believe Muslim women and girls who wear the burka or niqab as their own choice are doing so because they have been told that not wearing one is a sin and will be their path to eternal hell. In conclusion, the Muslim Canadian Congress requests you to set up a task force that would study the ill effects of the segregation of Muslim women from the rest of society as a result of their wearing or being forced to wear the face veil.
We believe your government should work with provincial jurisdictions to ensure no one in Canada is allowed to have any public dealings with any government agency, private business or NGO (non-government organization) if they are wearing a facemask. We ask you to ensure no person be permitted to vote, enter a bank, enter an airport or public transportation hub, attend public school or university or campaign door-to-door if he or she is wearing a facemask.
We also feel any private or public institution must have the right to refuse service to any person who is concealing their identity by wearing a facemask and that such refusal of service should not be considered discrimination against an identifiable group under various human rights laws of Canada.
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