Veil a ‘mark of separation’ says Jack Straw

Selectively discriminating, or just stating his opinion?

Jack Straw, foreign secretary waded into controversy after commenting that veils make community relations more difficult and concealing the face is "a visible statement of separation and difference".

He remarked that in his constituency surgery in Blackburn, he asked women to remove the veil when they wanted to speak to him so he could have a face to face conversation, and could see what the person meant, not just what he heard by their faces, and wearing the veils, according to Jack Straw, made this more “difficult” in terms of integration in society.

This sparked off anger amongst the Muslim community, the Islamic Rights Commission regarding Jack Straws comments as “selectively discriminating on the basis of religion” and it was astonishing for him to do so when a quarter of the population was Muslim in Blackburn though Jack Straw hit back that he had “considered carefully his remarks.” Be that as it may, it is not right for the government to say what people can and cannot wear and Muslim women who wear the veil have the right to do so, promoting integration or not.

However, the wearing of the veil is a practice that has no agreement amongst scholars but there are two bases of thoughts, one of which is obligatory to wear the veil and the other is that it is “highly recommended but ultimately a personal choice.” Some British Muslims also feel slightly targeted as Islam is constantly portrayed on the news and for various MPs to illustrate veils as a sign of separation would make any Muslim feel uncomfortable and Mr Cameron said, “I think there is a danger of politicians piling in to have their ten pence-worth and really they have to ask themselves whether this is having an overall good effect or not."

Jack Straw also stressed the fact that he was making a request and not a demand and also expressed his anxiety on the “implications of separateness" and the development of "parallel communities”. Although, if his prime target was to achieve integration, I doubt it has left the desired effect that it was supposed to.

There was also a case where a teacher was suspended for wearing a veil in classrooms, and lost her claim of religious discrimination on religious grounds. Ms Azmi was asked to remove her veil as children could not understand her and when she refused to, she was suspended and as a result, Ms Azmi took the case to the courts. Kirklees council had reached their decision after assessing the impact of wearing the veil on teaching and learning and stated, In this case the school and local authority had to balance the rights of the children to receive the best quality education possible and Mrs Azmi's desire to express her cultural beliefs by wearing a veil in class.

"The education of the children is of paramount importance and it is disappointing that the school was unable to reach a compromise with Mrs Azmi in this case."

By Eda Issa