Niqab, religeous or cultural ! ?

Once again, Muslims of Britain are under the microscope. The recent controversy in UK on the Niqab ( face veil worn by muslim women) started when a woman in court was ordered to remove her veil while presenting herself as witness. The judge said this is necessary to evaluate her witness statement.

While Niqab is a sign of religion in the west and not the sign of culture, it has become more or less a culture in the east. Religious women in the west hide their face and body completely to represent their faith but in the east it has been part of mere culture. Most women in the east who may not practice their religion but wear it as part of their culture.

While there is a debate for banning the veil , no one seems to have clear idea why muslim women wear it. Some non-muslims and the so called “progressive Muslims” which I believe is non-practicing muslims are supporting the ban. Wearing a face veil is not brutal but their opposition towards it is brutal. If we just think outside a box it is not only a religeos issue but issue of civil liberties.

In a country where women have won the right to bare almost everything, we have a proposal to ban people from covering almost everything. People’s freedoms are being limited in the name of emancipating them. The newspaper that has page 3, is campaigning for the niqab ban on page 1. Male MPs want to tell women what they can’t wear; ‘progressive Muslims’ i.e. non-practising Muslims are the new Muslim theologians; and practising Muslims are the extremists.