Thaindian News

By Gina Gomez
Sep15, (THAINDIAN NEWS) France has become the first European country to pass a law banning burqa in public places. The bill was passed by the French Senate on Tuesday Sep 14 as per which wearing burqa in public places in France will be banned. The law allows a woman to be fined $200 if she chooses to defy the law and any man who forces a woman to wear a burqa will be fined $41000 and sentenced to prison.

Despite the fact that France sees this as a necessary step towards preserving the nation’s singular values and identity there is a certainty that this might play into the hands of the Islamic fundamentals by providing them with a reason to show the world how the capitalistic countries do not respect their religion. While the French President Nicolas Sarkozy said that the new law will support woman’s rights and include a six month grace period but the opposition to this law is already cropping up from different groups. Amnesty International have said that the new law violates freedom of expression and religion. Such oppositions may turn nasty in the future as though many countries have been facing the same issue they have not passes a law yet banning the practice.

Not everyone seems to be against the law as a leading cleric at Egypt’s Al- Azhar Mosque sees the law as a welcome change as he states that there is nothing in the Koran or Sunna that supports it and so it has no basis in Islam. The cleric, Abdel Muti al- Bayyumi has also penned down a book against the practice.