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| Great White North |
| Scholar decries Quebec acceptance of niqab |
| 2007-03-26 |
| A Muslim scholar from Canada has criticised Quebec’s chief electoral officer who said that Muslim women who wear the niqab would not have to show their faces to confirm their identities at the ballot box. Dr Mahfooz Kanwar, a criminologist and professor of sociology at Mount Royal College in Calgary, as well as a director of the Muslim Canadian Congress (MCC), says this issue will continue to arise unless the government makes a national law once and for all. “It should be against the law to hide your face in this society, period,” said Kanwar, who has contacted the Calgary Police in response to the threat made against all members of the MCC. “Covering the face is not required by the religion of Islam and is not mentioned – not once – in the Quran. That means those who do it are either being forced to do it or it is their personal choice and therefore there is no reason for the government to accommodate these personal choices,” explained Kanwar. Ultimately, Kanwar believes Canada’s well-meaning eagerness to be tolerant is allowing a dangerous form of intolerance to flourish and it must be stopped, according to a report in the Calgary Sun newspaper. “Every time a western society changes its traditions and culture to accommodate a demand that goes counter to the dominant culture, that encourages many other people to make demands and that creates ghettos – or reference groups – and that is very unhealthy.” |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #2 There is no reason for anyone who wants to vote not to identify themselves to the Elections Officer. Refusal to do so on the basis of gender would likely violate the equality rights of the Elections Officer under the Constitution. Also, bomb Iran. |
| Posted by: Excalibur 2007-03-26 14:06 |
| #1 There is also no reason for a religiously conservative woman to remain veiled in front of a female election worker. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2007-03-26 13:26 |