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Prime Minister John Howard fueled the anger of Muslim leaders and other by not rejecting the suggestion
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SYDNEY,
November 21 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - A state lawmaker sparked
an uproar in Australia Thursday, November 21, with a demand that Muslim
women be barred from wearing their traditional dress in public places
for fear it could “conceal bombs”.
The
Reverend Fred Nile, a Christian Democrat lawmaker, said in the New South
Wales state parliament late Wednesday, November 20, that recent threats
to Australia from Islamic radicals made it necessary to ban the
head-to-toe robes warn by some Muslim women.
“Is
it fact that such a total body covering completely conceals a person’s
identity and even whether they are male or female, which is a perfect
disguise for terrorists as it conceals both weapons and explosives?,”
he asked.
“Will
the government, in view of the new terrorist threat as part of our new
Australian security precautions, consider a prohibition on the wearing
of the chador in public places, especially at railway stations, city
streets and shopping centers?”
The
New South Wales Labor Party government rejected the suggestion outright.
But
conservative Prime Minister John Howard did not, fueling the anger of
Muslim leaders and others who demanded Nile’s resignation.
“I
understand what he’s getting at, but I also stop short of agreeing
with him because I’ve got to frankly myself have a better
understanding of just how fundamental that is,” Howard said of
Nile’s remarks.
Howard
left open the possibility that public interest concerns could override
religious practices like wearing the Islamic dress.
“Sometimes
you don’t have a flat yes or no on something like this,” he said.
Senator
Kerry Nettle of the opposition Greens party denounced Howard’s refusal
to rule out such a ban.
“John
Howard has again displayed a frightening willingness to flirt with
clearly racist and divisive ideas,” he said.
Keysar
Trad of the Australian Lebanese-Muslim Association accused Nile of
resorting to religious persecution to score political points.
“The
scarf is about modesty, not about violence and there is not an incident
in history of a woman in Australia engaging in violence while wearing
the scarf,” he said.
“He’s
riding on the fear that exists out there and exploiting it for possible
political gain,” he said.
The
Independent Education Union, which represents teachers in Christian,
Islamic and Jewish religious schools, said Nile’s comments were “a
disgrace that does not befit a member of parliament.”
“The
IEU is appalled that anyone, particularly an MP, would come out and
promote such religious intolerance,” union secretary Dick Shearman
said in a statement, demanding Nile’s resignation.
Australia’s
large Muslim community has complained about a spate of attacks on women
wearing Islamic robes since an October 12 car bombing in the Indonesian
island of Bali which killed some 190 people, nearly 90 of them
Australian.
