In a move condemned by some Muslim groups here, a British Member of Parliament yesterday said he will refuse to hold meetings with Muslim women wearing full Islamic dress at his constituency surgery unless they lift their face veil

In the face of communication

Conservative Member of Parliament Philip Hollobone told the Independent newspaper: "I would ask her to remove her veil. If she said 'No', I would take the view that she could see my face. If Iu00a0 could not see her's, I am not able to satisfy myselfu00a0 she is who she says she is. I would invite her to communicate with me in a different way, probably in the form of a letter".

He said the vast majority of women in the U.K. wore dress allowing people to see their face and claimed no Islamic clerics or scholars said wearing the burqa or niqab was a religious requirement.

"It is not a necessity," he said.

"I just take what I regard as a commonsense view. If you want to engage in normal, daily, interactive dialogue with your fellow human beings, you can only do this properly by seeing each other's face.

"Seventy-five per cent of the communication between two human beings is done with personal experience. God gave us faces to be expressive. It is not just the words we utter but whether we are smiling, sad, angry or frustrated. You don't get any of that if your face is covered."

Hollobone will bring a Private Members Bill to ban women wearing the burqa or niqab in public. He hopes that the French Parliament's decision last week will encourage other governments, notably in Spain, Germany and others in Europe to follow suit.

Hollobone claimed that 95 per cent of letters, e mails and phone calls he received supported his measure and that many Muslims said they were embarrassed that women chose to cover themselves in this way.

The MP added that British people often say "when in Rome do as the Romans do". He pointed out that women dressed modestly when in Islamic countries or wore a headscarf.

"They say that when women come to this country, they ought to adapt to our way of life. The Muslim population is growing across Europe, as is Islamic fundamentalism. It is important to stress I am a respecter of Islam as one of the world's great religions. I also respect the right of women to protect their modesty."

Theoretically it will be illegal to wear a burqa or any full-face mask in France from next spring (the lower house of the French parliament voted by 335 to one last week (KHALIDOSCOPE, July 13) to approve a law: against the "concealment of the face in public".

However, in practice the law may never be enforced in its present form. It is expected to be passed by the upper house or Senate in September, but is almost certain to be struck down, or watered down, by the constitutional watchdog of the French state, the Conseil Constitutionnel.

French authorities estimate that only 1,900 women in France wear the full-face veil or roughly 0.1 per cent of the adult female Muslim population.

Under the law approved last week, anyone wearing a face mask, with a few stated exceptions, can be fined euros 150 or sent on a "citizenship" course. Anyone forcing a woman to wear a full-face mask can be fined euros 30,000 or jailed for a year.

However, exceptions are permitted for motor-cyclists and carnival-goers, and for sportspersons such as fencers and skiers.

Source: The Independent.

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