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Down Under | |||
Multi-culti inquiry finds cultural tension in Australia | |||
2012-05-06 | |||
Muslim issues are at a flashpoint in Australia and ordinary people's concerns about sharia law and burqas must be heard, a federal MP says. Liberal Rowan Ramsey said about 80 per cent of submissions to a federal inquiry into multiculturalism were antagonistic to Muslims.
Ramsey is a member the Australian Parliament's committee on migration, which has received more than 400 submissions to its multicultural inquiry. The MP said there was concern about calls for limited sharia law in Australia and about issues such as burqas and the treatment of women in Islam. He said, "There is a strong body of opinion ... in the wider Australian community that we've got our laws and you can like it or lump it." Ramsey said the committee's report must address concerns and find ways to defuse community tension. Muhammad Sahu Khan, from the Bluestar Intercultural Centre, said that when people spoke about sharia law they thought of the worst. He said, "They think of bringing in a law here that women have to have the burqa. They think if anybody commits a theft, we will chop off their hand." Khan said Muslims didn't want to replace Australian law with sharia, but wanted changes in cases such as dying without a will. He said, "The distribution under the Australian law would be that all children would get equal shares, whereas under sharia law there is a certain proportion which is quite different from equal."
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#1 That'd be the perfect alternative to being subjected to... Uh,(...wait for it...) "cultural tension". |
Posted by: canalzone 2012-05-06 23:00 |