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Rising Criticism Of Singapore Over Scarves Ban
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| The right to wear the veil has become a controversy in Singapore |
KUALA LUMPUR, Feb. 4 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - The wife of Malaysia's jailed ex-deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim joined Monday the criticism of Singapore for banning schoolgirls from wearing the hijab (Islamic headscarves), news agencies reported.
Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, who heads the opposition National Justice Party and wears a headscarf herself, urged the Singapore authorities to exercise religious understanding and tolerance.
"Just as the attire of Sikhs, nuns and monks do not contribute to social disharmony, we believe the choice of wearing a certain attire by Muslims would not lead to social disintegration," she said in a statement, AFP reported.
"In fact, tolerating and facilitating the expression of religion as understood by adherents of a particular faith could only lead to a society imbued with tolerance and moral virtues."
Four Muslim schoolgirls in Singapore were threatened with suspension for wearing headscarves scarves at school. The scarves (or tudung), can be worn to and from school but have to be taken off during lessons under strict Singaporean rules designed to promote racial harmony.
Two students have now complied with the rules after pressure from the authorities, and two others were given until Monday to fall in line or face expulsion.
Other Malaysian politicians have also criticized Singapore's stance but the city-state has objected to interference in its internal affairs.
Malaysia has a majority Muslim population with a large Chinese minority, while Singapore is dominated by ethnic Chinese with a Muslim minority.
In remarks published in The Sunday Times the Singaporean premier Goh Chok Tong said that there would be no compromise on the Singaporean stance.
"You cannot give way on that. If the schools give way, then I think let us not have any rules," Goh said in his first public comments on the issue. "So that is very clear. They will be suspended," he said.
Defending the government's policy, which has attracted criticism from some officials and groups in neighboring Malaysia, Goh said the ban was aimed at fostering interracial harmony in schools.
"Our national school system enables young Singaporeans to mix and study and play together without being conscious of their race, religion or social status. The schools are our common, Singapore space," he said.
Mustapha Ali, vice president of the Malaysian opposition Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS) told AFP that the tiny republic should allow the schoolgirls to wear Islamic headscarves in class.
"Headscarves do not disrupt racial unity. It poses no problems," he said.
"We support the girls' parents in their stand. This does not mean PAS is interfering in Singapore's affairs," Mustapha said.
Malaysian Women and Family Development Minister Shahrizat Abdul Jalil said every person must be allowed to practice his or her religion and no government can demand otherwise.
"To many Muslim women, asking them to take off their headscarves is like asking them to appear naked in public," she was quoted as saying by Malaysian newspaper The Sun.
Shahrizat said while it is Singapore's internal matter and it is the policy of Malaysia not to interfere, there has to be some kind of respect towards all religions.
Meanwhile, Dr. Chandra Muzaffar, President of Malaysian anti-globalization movement, International Movement for a Just World (JUST) said in statement that JUST was dismayed by the “utter lack of sensitivity displayed by the Singapore government in banning the Muslim girls in government schools from using the tudung (headscarf).
It shows that the government has very little respect for the religious sentiments of the Muslim minority which constitutes 15 per cent of the population.”
He added that most Muslims regard the headscarf as an expression of modesty, a highly cherished virtue in Islam. “This is why the headscarf has remained an integral aspect of Muslim female attire even in secularized environments in which Islam plays hardly any role in the public sphere.”
He added that there is no doubt at all that the 'tudung' decision of the Singapore government will also alienate the Muslim community from the state.
“It will also widen the chasm between a largely non-Muslim Chinese political leadership and a crucial religious minority whose relationship with the state has always been somewhat uneasy,” he added.
JUST is a multi-religious Malaysian based citizens’ group seeking to create public awareness of the injustices within the existing global system.
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