The conference will formulate an action plan to educate people on hijab, multi-culturalism and diversity

By Ahmad Maher, IOL Staff

CAIRO, July 7 (IslamOnline.net) – London Mayor Ken Livingstone will host on July 12 a one-day conference on hijab at the Greater London Authority to defend the Muslim women’s right to wear the headscarf, an organizer said on Wednesday, July 7.

Organized by the nascent Pro-Hijab, the conference brings together a cohort of leading Muslim figures, a British Member of Parliament and Members of European Parliament (MEPs).

"We, individuals and organization with the same aim of protecting religious freedom, open this conference to defend the Muslim right to wear hijab," Pro-Hijab activist and Treasurer Rajnaara Akhtar told IslamOnline.net over the phone from London.

She said Head of the European Council for Fatwa and Research Sheikh Youssef Al-Qaradawi will be the special guest of honor.

"Mr. Livingstone will host Sheikh Qaradawi on Wednesday night," she added.

British MP Fiona McTaggart will be sending a recorded massage to the conference "expressing the British Government's view of the hijab ban" in different European countries, she said.

Also MEP Caroline Lucas will attend the conference as she committed herself to defend this issue along with religious freedom in Europe.

"You see, we invite people from all sectors to express different viewpoints. Sheikh Qaradawi will express the Islamic point of view, Mrs. McTaggart the British government and we have also Dr. Tariq Ramadan, who will address the audience about the significance and status of the hijab in Islam," Akhtar said.

Other representatives from the Commission of the Bishop’s Conference, Liberty for Human rights, the Centre for European Policy Research, British Sikh Federation and others have also been invited to give speeches.

Hijab Solidarity Day

Akhtar further said the conference will formulate an "action plan to basically educate people on hijab, multi-culturalism and diversity".

She said Pro-Hijab will follow up the conference’s recommendations and take concrete steps to translate them into action.

"The steps will culminate in organizing the hijab solidarity day on September 4, which will be a worldwide event," she said.

Akhtar also said EU Rights Court’s endorsement of Turkey’s hijab ban will be hottest on the agenda.

"A sister from Turkey will put forward this issue," she said.

Pro-Hijab, which comprises a network of British and international organizations, was officially declared in London on June 14, 2004, with a call to defend the right of Muslim women in Europe and world-wide to wear hijab.

It is not also the first time that Livingstone hosts a conference on hijab, which has taken center stage in Europe recently.

Last February, the mayor defended Muslim women’s rights to wear hijab, sending a "good signal" for the rest of European countries, particularly France.

Livingstone has further sent a letter to French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin, urging him "to reconsider restricting fundamental religious freedoms in France through the proposed legislation".

He underlined that "any form of discrimination against Muslims' religious freedom has the effect of stigmatizing them."

France has triggered the controversy by adopting a bill banning hijab in state schools.

The US-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) said the French move is "discriminatory".