After France, now the English feel growing pressure to prohibit the wearing of the full Islamic veil

Will Britain join the burqa ban wagon?

After France, now the English feel growing pressure to prohibit the wearing of the full Islamic veil

The rapid increase in the full-face veils on the streets of Britain is responsible for the demand to ban it.

Tory member of Parliament Philip Hollobone, who has launched a Private Member's Bill to ban facial coverings, said yesterday, "It is unnatural for someone to cover their face and it is not a religious requirement.

"We are never going to have a fully-integrated society if an increasing proportion of the population cover their faces."

The UK Independence Party is also calling for a ban, describing the burqa as a symbol of 'divided Britain'.

The leader of the UKIP Lord Pearson is quoted by the Daily Express as saying, "The French ban not only makes sense but finds legitimacy in the Quran, which only calls for women to dress modestly. Instead, it has become the symbol of the more radical forms of Islam."

Condemning veils
The paper says France has already banned religious clothing such as Muslim headscarves, Jewish skullcaps and Christian crosses from schools.

Veil to go: France became the second country, after Belgium in Europe to introduce the ban on burqas in public, as the French government sees the burqa as undermining women's right and constituting a threat to France's secular status. Pic/AFP

On Tuesday, France became the second country in Europe to introduce a ban on burqas in public after Belgium voted earlier this year to outlaw headscarves that hide the face.

The French government sees the burqa as undermining women's rights and constituting a threat to France's secular status.

During the parliamentary debate over the law, Andrew Gerin of the French Communist Party called the burqa a "walking coffin, a muzzle" and President Nicolas Sarkozy condemned full-face veils as a "sign of debasement".

Prime Minister Francois Fillon accused wearers of "hijacking Islam" and "displaying a dark sectarian image".

Change in law
Under the amended French law, women caught wearing a burqa, which covers the entire face and body with just a mesh for the eyes of a niqab, which has a slit for the wearer's eyes, will face an initial fine of ufffd117 (Rs 8,500) but repeat offenders will be jailed.

And men who force their wives to cover their faces could be fined up to ufffd25,000 (Rs 18 lakh) or jailed for 12 months.

The new French law will also apply to foreigners.

However, women will be given a period of six months to adapt to the ban, during which period penalties will not be imposed.

Whereas, recent polls suggested that more than 80 per cent of French people, including some of France's five million-strong Muslims (only 5,000 women in that country are believed to wear the burqa) wanted it banned, in Britain, a poll conducted by the Daily Express last month showed the ban on burqas is supported by 99 per cent of the population.

The newspaper concluded that the face and body coverings are seen to "create a divided Britain".

With effect
The French ban is due to become law next September, when it will in all probability be ratified by the Senate upper house, it could be overturned by the European Court of Human Rights and the Council of State, France's constitutional watchdog on human rights grounds and could lead to costly litigation.

The main body representing French Muslims fears the ban will stigmatise the religion, which it says does not require women to cover their faces.

Meanwhile, French Muslim millionaire Rachid Nekkaz, a property tycoon, who failed in his bid for the Presidency in 2007, has condemned the ban as unconstitutional and pledged to sell property worth 1 million eurosu00a0 to set up a fund to help fundamentalist women pay their "burqa fines."

Opponents of the ban have accused President Sarkozy of using the ban, set within a debate on national identity as a smokescreen for his allegedly corrupt financial dealings.
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Meanwhile, according to unconfirmed reports, terror group al-Qaeda has vowed to "seek dreadful revenge of France" if the ban is introduced.

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