Opinion - Letters to the Editor   

The burqa row

The articles "The message behind the burqa row" (Oct. 24) and "Even other Muslims turn and look at me" (Oct. 25) provide an insight into the on-going row in the U.K. over the wearing of the veil by Muslim women at the workplace. Tony Blair's defence of the school that suspended Aishah Azmi for refusing to remove her veil in the classroom should be seen as a reflection of the general thinking. By insisting that its women wear the burqa, the Muslim community is alienating itself.

N.K. Vijayan,
Kizhakkambalam, Kerala

I do not know whether the publication of Zaiba Malik's article in the OP-ED page and the photograph of Pakistani cricket fans, mostly young women, crossing the Wagah border to support their team on the next page is incidental or otherwise. But both are informative. I find nothing immodest about the Pakistani women in sunglasses, majestically striding with their children in tow. A dress that explicitly identifies one with a religion should be avoided in public places. It can isolate and alienate the community from the rest of the population.

V. Pandy,
Tuticorin

There has to be a via media between blatant immodesty and `burying yourself in black snow.' The Holy Koran does not favour extremism. "Lowering their gaze and guarding their modesty" is enjoined upon men as much as women, but nowhere does the Koran command women to de-individualise themselves by covering their faces with veils.

Covering oneself from head to toe with only a slit for the eyes is doubtless cumbersome. While some women do it voluntarily, others do it out of compulsion from their menfolk and yet others out of peer pressure. Like Zaiba Malik, I too find people turning and staring more at one clad in a burqa. When it is possible to dress and behave modestly and follow the tenets of Islam, why attract unnecessary attention by doing what you have not been asked to do?

A decree issued by the Sultan of Oman that came into effect last year said girls must lift the veil from their faces once they are inside their schools or colleges. The argument was that the teacher had to know the faces of the students. Is it not equally reasonable, then, that teachers too have to be known by sight rather than by sound alone?

Gulnar Khan,
Chennai

Zaiba Malik's sensitive description of a day behind the burqa reminded me of a conversation I had with a Kashmiri Muslim 10 years ago. He belonged to the Lal Chowk area of Srinagar, probably in his late twenties, and represented the man on the street. I asked him if his wife wore a burqa. His reply was remarkable for its matter-of-factness: "She is very pretty, why should she hide her face?"

Rajesh Kochhar,
New Delhi

Those advocating the removal of the veil feel the burqa hampers effective communication. What more is required to prove the degradation of values than the fact that we cannot accept a woman dressed decently and respectfully but would love to see her in indecent costumes? We put forward the most inane and senseless reasons to support our argument.

Humera Batool,
Mumbai

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