Muslim scholar: France should not ban burqas

[AlphaCentauri]

Source: ap


Muslim scholar Tariq Ramadan acknowledged Wednesday that women can be forced to wear head-to-toe Islamic garments such as burqas, but he insisted France should not ban them.


The often provocative Geneva-born university professor told a French parliamentary commission looking into the body-length garments that it is examining a "scarecrow" issue that masks broader troubles of integration among Muslims in France.

The National Assembly panel is studying a marginal but growing trend of wearing full face-and-body veils, such as the burqa and niqab, open only at slits for the eyes. It has been conducting hearings intermittently since September.

"This is a society that has doubts about itself. For me, this commission is born of a real self-doubt, and suddenly they're looking at one element, at the most extreme slice," Ramadan said. "The problem won't be solved like that."

"Clearly, there are men who put pressure on women — not just men, but the social context and social ghettoization" that leads some women to wear the full-body garb, Ramadan said. "But a law (to ban it) is the wrong solution."




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