Recently, the French government enacted a law banning the wearing of the burqa and the niqab in public. The burqa is a loose garment (usually with veiled holes for the eyes) worn by Muslim women especially in India and Pakistan, while the niqab is a face veil covering the lower part of the face (up to the eyes) worn by observant Muslim women. Some people have deemed this law as infringing on the civil liberties of the minority of Muslim women practicing the use of the burqa and niqab.
But is it? Isn't this law a much needed legislation considering the socio-religious climate the world is currently in? Where religious extremist would hijack passenger planes and crash them into skyscrapers.
Arguments regarding how the burqa/niqab serve to demean women have been made throughout this issue. However, I am more concerned on how this issue impacts me more directly. How you might ask does it affect me (and you)? Here's how...
SECURITY ISSUE
Isn't a face veil a security issue? Imagine what the terrorists can do with it! I believe it has the same effect as someone wearing a ski mask going into a bank, or riding a subway train!
Some have claimed that, the wearing of burqa/niqab is protected by the law on freedom of religion. Although, I agree with that claim, we have to consider the impact it has on the general public and why not all religious customs are allowed by the government, especially when such customs affects the welfare of the general public.
WHY NOT BAN GUNS?
Another argument I have encountered is on the legal sale of weapons. Why are weapons not banned, while burqas/niqabs are? Why are burqas/niqabs a special case?
What these people fail to consider is that the legal sale of weapons, has the feature of being monitored through registration. Unlike the burqa/niqab, there is no way to monitor its use to prevent harm to the general public. That's a special case, isn't it? The fact that possession of legal weapons being monitored by the government acts as a deterrent to use it to harm others!
WHY NOT BAN SKI MASKS OR PAPER BAGS
This is one of the more obviously ridiculous arguments I have encountered. Why is it not illegal to wear a ski mask or a paper bag over the face, while the burqa/niqab is?
Wearing a paper bag or a ski mask is not illegal, only because people don't do it when they go banking, or take the subway! So legislation isn't necessary!
Unlike the burqa/niqab wearers, regardless whether it is for religious/cultural reasons that they wear it, voluntarily or not, in the current socio-religious climate the world is in, wearing it poses a real threat!
How would you feel if you go to your bank, with someone wearing a ski mask or a paperbag? Don't you feel that the bank/security has a responsibility to prohibit such a thing, for your own safety? In the same sense, the government has the responsibility to ensure the safety of their citizens, and to ban the practice of wearing the burqa and niqab in public places, because it poses a threat to the safety of the public.
WHY BAN IT NOW?
Here's another analogy I would like people to consider. Take the Internet for instance. In the beginning, there weren't any laws regarding the internet, and when some people started using it to commit acts harmful to others, it became necessary for government to legislate such acts and make them illegal, ergo Cyber Laws were created.
In the same sense, covering up faces weren't illegal, but as I have mentioned, in the current socio-religious climate the world is in, where religious extremist will do anything, banning the burqa/niqab is appropriate and timely legislation.
INFRINGING CIVIL LIBERTIES
Does the ban infringe on civil liberties? I believe so, but If I have to choose between my safety, and the right of another to wear a face veil in public for their religion or culture, I would choose my safety first, even if it infringes on their civil liberties.
Sacrificing one civil liberty for another is how the system works. We have to weigh the costs and benefits against each other. This is a sacrifice worth making, since the burqa/niqab is not essential to the physical welfare of the individual, and a minority group at that.
Think about it this way, what about the civil liberties of being protected from religious extremist. Does their right to wear a burqa/niqab, weigh more than the safety of the general public?
ANALOGY WITH THE AMISH
Consider that the same argument is used with regards to the Amish withholding education to their children for religious reasons. Should government protect the Amish's religious right of not providing an education to their children regardless of how it affects the children? Should government protect the Muslim's religious right of wearing face veils regardless of the risks to the general population?
To this analogy, the counter-argument has been made that the government has a legal responsibility to make sure children are educated. But they fail to consider that the government have a legal responsibility to ensure our safety as well.
Another argument is that there is a big difference in the potential amount of good from educating children and from banning the burqa. Again, they fail to consider that public safety is a potential amount of good, more than them wearing their burqa/niqab.
RESPONSIBILITY OF GOVERNMENT
According to the the origins of government, one of the reasons that groups of people came together and form a government, is to protect themselves from others.
The argument has been made that the government is not responsible for our safety, because the police is not held liable for crimes committed. Well of course, the police are not liable, only because it is impossible for the police to provide everyone and every inch of a city, with 24/7 protection. Also, liability means that the person or entity had a hand in the commission of the crime, how can you hold the police force liable for criminals committing a crime? However, the government does have the responsibility, to provide a police force to protect its citizens, and serves as a deterrent for the commission of crimes. Crimes will never totally be gone, but the presence of a police force manages to limit crime.
In the same sense, the government has the responsibility to do everything within its power to limit the opportunities available to terrorists. Weighing the cost versus the benefits of the ban. The mysogynistic religious right of wearing a burqa/niqab versus protecting the lives of the population against possible heinous acts of criminals. A piece of clothing versus a life, can anything be more simple?
LOW RISK OF BURQAS/NIQABS
The argument is made that the the risk of burqa/niqab to the safety of the general public is low. To that I ask, as opposed to a ski mask or paper bag? I think it is higher! Because, unlike the ski mask or paper bag worn over the face, the burqa/niqab is given legitimacy by religion/culture. Whereas, a ski mask/paper bag would make a person put his guard up, a burqa/niqab would make a person put his guard down. Which would make a person the target of a crime, or whose job it is is to provide protection (security, police, etc.) less vigilant (maybe out of fear of being accused of bigotry and prejudice?)
EXCESSIVE?
I don't think the ban is excessive, and I don't think I am exaggerating the concern for public safety, and I especially don't think that the risk should be downplayed either! In the mind of a criminal, why wouldn't he use a burqa/niqab to help him succeed in the commission of his crime? Whether it be suicide bombing, bank robbery, murder, etc...
I've seen a news report a while back, where even women are being used as suicide bombers somewhere in the middle east.
Among the arguments for the banning of burqas/niqabs, such as the concern for the women who are forced to wear them, I beleive that the risk to the general public is the strongest reasons for this ban. Those who choose to continue to practice this archaic tradition, have the freedom to move to another country where they can freely wear their burqas/niqabs. If this practice is so essential to their well-being, then the sacrifice of moving to another state would be one valid option for them.
