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You are here: Home News Belgian News MR government wants to ban the burkha in Belgium
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03/09/2009MR government wants to ban the burkha in Belgium

Christine Defraigne has announced a proposal to ban the burkha in Belgium almost five years after a similar text was brought by the MR to parliament, reported Le Soir on Thursday.

The proposal suggests that wearing a burkha in public in a way that masks or hides the identity of the person under the veil should be prohibited. Violations of this law would result in a penalty charge of EUR 15 to 25 and/or imprisonment of between one and seven days.

Defraigne said that women were under no religious obligation to wear the burkha. “The Qur’an does not mention it. Banning women from wearing these items is not refusing Islam as a religion. The burkha and the niqab personify the subjugation of the individual and social dehumanisation.”

“For the anthropologist Dounia Bouzar, the burkha, which is already prohibited in some Muslim countries, is not a religious symbol but a uniform which signifies self-exclusion, as well as the exclusion of others.”

La Dernière Heure/Le Soir/Expatica


1 reaction to this article

Matt posted: 2009-09-03 15:40:22

So, in the name of freedom of choice we should ban freedom of choice?

You can't change peoples attitudes just by changing the law. If there are some people who are forced to wear these clothes against their will we need to address that, but then we could say similar things about the way fashion works in our society!

1 reaction to this article

Matt posted: 2009-09-03 15:40:22

So, in the name of freedom of choice we should ban freedom of choice?

You can't change peoples attitudes just by changing the law. If there are some people who are forced to wear these clothes against their will we need to address that, but then we could say similar things about the way fashion works in our society!

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