Oz shops want hijab ban

The Queensland Retail Traders and Shopkeepers Association has backed a call by a Brisbane-based radio DJ for a ban on Muslim women wearing traditional hijabs, claiming it made it harder to identify offenders when a crime is committed.

Shock jock Michael Smith reignited national debate about the traditional wear with his comment, adding that a ban should be placed on the full-length burqa.

The Association said the ban should be in line with motorcycle riders being forced to remove their helmets when entering a store or bank.

Scott Driscoll, president of the Association, said the ban should also be extended to include sunglasses, baseball caps and hoodie-style tops.

"Retailers should not have to fear any form of retribution or backlash for requiring the removal of any obscuring headwear, including hijabs, as a condition of entry," he said.

However, Islamic Friendship Association of Australia founder Keysar Trad criticised the move, saying it
was sexual harassment to ask a Muslim woman to remove her hijab.

Said Trad, "It is like asking any woman to remove an item of clothing."

A columnist in the influential The Australian newspaper says "some people seem to be getting bored of focussing on the plague of sharks now afflicting the country and have set about looking for fresh sources of terror".

He quotes Richard Evans, executive director of the Australian Retailers Associat-ion, as saying "Mr Driscoll's comments are extreme and harking back to a day when xenophobia was rife and serves to create a culture of angst, anger and mistrust... This is subliminal xenophobic behaviour and it saddens to have someone from a Queensland retail organisation not realise the consequences of such speech."