<table style="width: 175px; height: 170px" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="175" align="right" border="1">  <tbody>  <tr>  <td><img alt="" src="/imagedata/2010/oct/burqa_2_2.jpg" border="0" /></td></tr>  <tr>  <td>  <p align="center"><span style="font-size: 8pt"><strong>Unfriendly:</strong> Schools forcing students to wear burkhas could affect relations between Muslims and non-Muslims. <strong>File pic</strong></span></p></td></tr></tbody></table>Hundreds of girls are bring forced by British schools to wear the Islamic veil in a move, which has been heavily criticised by mainstream Muslims. <br /><br />Islamic schools have introduced uniform policies which force girls to wear the full headscarf and veil. Moderate followers of Islam said yesterday that enforcement of the veil was a "dangerous precedent" and that children attending such schools were being "brainwashed".u00a0 <br /><br />All three schools are independent, fee-paying, single-sex schools for girls aged 11 to 18. Critics warned that the spectacle of burkha-clad pupils entering and leaving the schools at the start and end of the day could damage relations between Muslim and non-Muslim communities. Ed Husain, co-director of Quilliam, the counter-extremist think-tank, said, "It is absurd that schools are enforcing this outdated ritual -- one that sends out a damaging message that Muslims do not want to fully partake in British society.<br /><br />"Although it is not the government's job to dictate how its citizens dress, it should nonetheless ensure that such schools are not bankrolled or subsidised by the British taxpayer."<br /><br />Dr Taj Hargey, an imam and chairman of the Muslim Educational Trust of Oxford, said, "This is very disturbing and sets a dangerous precedent. It means that Muslim children are being brainwashed into thinking they must segregate and separate themselves from mainstream society.<br /><br />None of the schools responded to questions posed by The Sunday Telegraph.

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Hundreds of girls are bring forced by British schools to wear the Islamic veil in a move, which has been heavily criticised by mainstream Muslims

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