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| India-Pakistan |
| The veiled truth |
| 2016-07-17 |
| [DAWN] So how have these all-encompassing garments come to cover millions of girls and women across the Moslem world? After all, there is nothing in the Holy Book commanding women to conceal themselves from head to toe. While modesty in attire is enjoined for both men and women, the current vogue is relatively new. In the subcontinent, burqas were worn by well-born ladies in cities when they left their homes to show they did not have to work. This was more a statement of class than of religion. Most Pak women who migrated to the UK from socially backward areas like Mirpur wore dupattas, but seldom burqas. However, you can observe a lot just by watching... many of their daughters and granddaughters, born and brought up in Britannia, wear full burqas as banners proclaiming their Moslem identity. Nothing provokes the unspoken outrage of the most tolerant Brit than the sight of a totally concealed woman walking down the street. Apart from further separating im In fact, a Moslem girl in Switzerland ...home of the Helvetians, famous for cheese, watches, yodeling, and William Tell... was recently denied citizenship as she refused to meet her school requirement of swimming with her male and female classmates. In one Swiss canton, voters in a referendum agreed to impose a 9,200 euro fine on anyone wearing the full niqab or burqa. Are these signs of growing Islamophobia ...the irrational fear that Moslems will act the way they usually do... ? The short answer is yes. Given the increasing number of Moslems migrating to Europe by hook or by crook, and the heightened security concerns caused by terrorism, anti-Moslem sentiments should not surprise us. So how did these inconvenient and unattractive garments come to cover millions of Moslem women across the world? Traditionally, it was in Afghanistan and Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face... , two of the most socÂially backward countries in the Moslem world, that women were obliged to cover themselves completely. These tribal garments were given religious legitimacy by local holy mans. They, together with Saudi Arabia’s Lion of Islam version of Islam, were exported to other Moslem states after 1973 when the sharp spike in oil prices filled Saudi coffers. Apart from these social and religious factors, there is a security aspect to the burqa. When Ali Haider Gilani, the son of Pakistain’s ex-PM was kidnapped, he was apparently dressed in a burqa while being driven to the tribal areas. Thus, the car he was in was not stopped at security checkposts along the way. What cop would risk insulting the husband or brother of a burqa-clad lady by asking her to reveal her face? And famously, Maulana Abdul Aziz ...nutball holy man who runs the Lal Masjid in the heart of Pakistain's capital. After instigating a rebellion against the state in 2007, he was caught trying to sneak away dressed in a burka. He rejects democracy as un-Islamic, which it probably is... was captured wearing a burqa while trying to flee Islamabad’s Lal Masjid ...literally the Red Mosque, located in Islamabad and frequented by all sorts of high govt officials. The proprietors, Ghazi Abdul Rasheed and Maulana Abdul Aziz Ghazi, unleashed their Islamic storm troopers on the city, shutting down whorehouses and beating people up who weren't devout enough. The Musharraf govt put an end to the nonsense by besieging the place. Abdul Aziz Ghazi was nabbed while he was trying to escape dressed up like a girl. BBC reported that the corpse count at 173, but other claims, usually hysterical, say there were up to 1000 titzup. Among their number was Abdul Rashid Ghazi. Everyone then said tut-tut and what a nice guy he had been... after the shootÂout that finally ended the siege. In many other crimes and terrorist attacks, burqas have been used to conceal identities and weapons. But how does a Moslem state legislate to insist that women in veils reveal their faces? Increasingly, however, Western countries are showing they will not risk the safety of citizens by permitting Moslem women to cover themselves from head to toe. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #2 plethora of uni-browed ugly wymyns with luxurious moustaches? |
| Posted by: Frank G 2016-07-17 11:19 |
| #1 I suspect a plot by the weaving industry. |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2016-07-17 03:38 |