Islamic leaders have condemned a call by a NSW MP to ban Muslim women from wearing their traditional dress for fear it could conceal “both weapons and explosives”.
Christian Democrat MLC, Reverend Fred Nile, sparked an uproar in parliament after urging the government to consider banning the wearing of the hijab in public places.
Citing the recent Moscow theatre siege as an example of how the dress could be used to stage a terrorist attack, Rev Nile said the recent terrorist threat on Australia was reason to ban it.
“Is it fact that such a total body covering completely conceals a person’s identity and even whether they are male or female, which is a perfect disguise for terrorists as it conceals both weapons and explosives?
“Will the government, in view of the new terrorist threat as part of our new Australian security precautions, consider a prohibition on the wearing of the chador in public places, especially at railway stations, city streets and shopping centres?”
The question drew condemnation from other MPs who accused Rev Nile of religious intolerance.
Responding to the call, NSW Police Minister Michael Costa swiftly rejected the request.
The Lebanese-Muslim Association accused Rev Nile of trying to score political points.
“The scarf is about modesty, not about violence and there is not an incident in history of a woman in Australia engaging in violence while wearing the scarf,” said association spokesman, Keysar Trad.
“He’s riding on the fear that exists out there and exploiting it for possible political gain.
“But what he is actually doing is causing a lot of hurt to a lot of people and raising further suspicion and fear.”
Mr Trad said he believed the majority of the community had no problem with the scarf.
With National Scarf Day being held on November 29, Mr Trad said the community had an opportunity to experience first-hand what it was like to wear the dress.
Editors notes: One wonders if Nuns and other religious Christians & Jews, who also chose to cover their hair, will also be called upon to remove their headscrafs.
PM’s Veiled Comments On How Muslim Women Dress
By Mark Riley, Kelly Burke and AAP
Source: The Sydney Morning Herald
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/11/21/1037697806923.html
November 22 2002
Prime Minister John Howard said yesterday it would “obviously” be better if Muslim women were less conspicuous, but would not say whether he supported or opposed a call by the Rev Fred Nile to ban the Islamic headdress, the chador, for national security reasons.
“I don’t have a clear response to what Fred has put,” Mr Howard said. “I mean, I like Fred and I don’t always agree with him, but you know Fred speaks for the views of a lot of people.”
Asked in an interview if it would be better if Muslim women “were less conspicuous at this time” by not wearing their traditional clothing, Mr Howard replied: “Well obviously, consistent with their religious beliefs.”
The lack of precision in Mr Howard’s answers sparked immediate debate over whether he was adding momentum to Mr Nile’s campaign by declining to rule out a ban. In what his office later described as “a discursive conversation” on radio with John Laws, Mr Howard said: “Sometimes you don’t have a flat yes or no on something like this. Different people of goodwill will have a different view.”
Several hours later, his press office issued a statement, saying it would be “absurd to suggest Mr Howard had implied that Muslim women could be banned from wearing the chador in public”.
AAP then reported a spokeswoman saying he had ruled out his support for the ban. However, the spokeswoman said her clarifying comments had themselves been misinterpreted. Mr Howard had neither ruled in his support nor ruled it out, she said.
However, the Opposition Leader, Simon Crean, said Mr Nile’s comments were “silly and inappropriate”.
Mr Nile, a Christian Democrat member of the State upper house, called for a ban on the chador, which covers the hair and entire body.
He claimed the shawl could be used by terrorists to conceal weapons and explosives. “Will the Government, in view of the terrorist threat, as part of our new Australian security precautions, consider a prohibition on the wearing of the chador in public places, especially railway stations, city streets and shopping centres?” he asked during Question Time.
Mr Nile stressed yesterday it was only the chador he was concerned about, because of its supposed potential use by terrorists. However, two weeks ago he called for an inquiry into the impact of female Muslim students wearing the hijab, a head scarf, in state schools, suggesting it should be banned in the interests of “discouraging divisiveness and promoting unity and tolerance”.
The Premier, Bob Carr, said Mr Nile’s comments risked creating a breeding ground for extremism.
“We’ve got a lot of loyal Australians … who happen to be of the Islamic faith, and there should be no finger-pointing or vilification or stereotyping of them as we go through this difficult period,” he said.
The Opposition Leader, John Brogden, joined religious leaders in rejecting Mr Nile’s comments.
The Australian Federation of Islamic Councils’ chief executive officer, Amjad Mehboob, said Muslim women were already being singled out for harassment.
“I can understand [Mr Nile’s] concerns and we all are concerned about issues of terrorism and security but I guess people can hide weapons in many things – in bags and briefcases – there are many ways of dealing with that so I think that’s totally irrelevant,” he said.
