We mustn’t use the niqab and hijab as a political football

By Iman Abou-Atta

Last year, Laurie Penny wrote on LabourList’s Huffington Post pages about an experiment which saw her swap her outfit for that of a Muslim friend. What struck Laurie was that they both felt immensely liberated: “Our bodies were finally our own, hers to show off as she pleased, mine to cover if I wanted”. Laurie’s article highlighted that by seeking to restrict the free choice of women to dress as they please, “France is not protecting women but mounting a paranoid defence of its own right to determine feminine behaviour.”

Fast forward several months and the issue has surfaced once again. For several months, a Parliamentary Commission in France has been investigating whether the burka or the niqab should be banned. They have reported today, recommedning a partial ban on the wearing of the burka in public buildings an on public transport.

And so the debate is making its way to Britain. What exactly did the Euro MP Nigel Farage think he would achieve when on the Politics Show last Sunday he suggested that we should ban the burka and naqib in the UK, on the basis that they were offensive?

His ill-informed proposal was undoubtedly inspired by the French minister Jean-Francois Cope, who himself is planning legislation along these lines in France. Farage, like Cope, has launched a full frontal assault on the personal freedoms of the individual and his comments were abhorrent on many levels to us in the wider European Union.

What has always deeply troubled me when issues like this gain momentum is the blatant disregard with which men like Nigel Farage, President Sarkozy and Jean-Francois Cope feel they may influence what a woman should and should not wear. Farage couldn’t be more removed from the rich and diverse culture that Muslims bring to Britain. It is also not the norm for western politicians and heads of state to become involved in disputes about what women should wear. It makes us feel very uncomfortable.

Yet today, commentators feel at ease pigeon-holing – and thereby isolating – Muslims on issues of dress, therefore suggesting that if you are Islamic it is not possible to be an integral part of European culture.

Islam has of course shaped Europe in many positive ways. Muslims in Europe also have a history and a heritage; particularly in Southern Europe. The ignorance of the French Government’s view has allowed politicians like Jean-Francois Cope the space to develop legislation that I find offensive.

In the land where the notions of liberte, egalite et fraternite are the cornerstones of French society, the decision to impose legislation on cultural or religious identity leaves a bad taste – even for a secular nation.

One must agree that husbands should be stopped forcing their wives to do many other things which diminish their freedom – that is not an issue – but there is an assumption that Muslim women don’t wish to wear the burka or niqab. However, it remains an individual’s choice and it is that which should be protected in law.

Today’s modern Muslim women are at the heart of social activities within Muslim communities. They are like any other women: leading demonstrations, NGOs, self help groups, prayer classes. They are increasingly playing a role to support the income within the home by working outside of it.

Across Europe, Muslim women are empowered, self aware and confident, some through their faith and others through a sense of their personal identities and personalities. They neither welcome nor need legislation which is both patronising and offensive and above all shows a huge lack of cultural understanding for the faith.

Monsieur Cope looks at women through a stereotypical, male anthropological lens and still believes the dynamism and drive that Muslim women have to be actually something alien to them.

The least offensive act that French politicians can do is to stop using the niqab and the hijab as a political football and move beyond their simplistic and stereotypical anthropological lens.