 |
"It is not women choosing to wear what they want that is sowing division in our society," Galloway said. |
LONDON — Former British foreign secretary and now leader of the House of Commons Jack Straw was under fire again Friday, October 6, after defending his call for Muslim women to remove their veils and went further saying he would like veils not to be worn at all.
His remarks again provoked fury among many activists, with lawmaker and Respect party leader George Galloway leading the attacks by calling for his resignation, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).
"It is not women choosing to wear what they want that is sowing division in our society," Galloway told reporters.
"It is poverty, racism and the despicable competition between the Tory and New Labour frontbenches over who can grab the headlines as the hammer of the Muslims," he said.
Galloway, formerly a colleague of Straw in the ruling Labour Party before he was ousted over his vehement opposition to the Iraq war and set up Respect, said that Straw was effectively asking women to "wear less".
The Lancashire Council of Mosques also described his comments as "ill-judged and misconceived" and said many women found them "offensive and disturbing".
In a regular column Thursday in his local newspaper, the Lancashire Evening Telegraph, Straw expressed discomfort at talking to someone he could not see.
But in a follow-up interview with BBC radio on Friday, he broadened his remarks to suggest that the veil had become a symbol of separateness between ethnic groups.
"I started this practice I think well over a year ago...because I had observed in the street that, although it's still a tiny minority, more women were wearing the veil and picked up quite considerable concerns about this being a rather visible demonstration of separateness," he said.
Asked if he would prefer that women did not wear veils, he said: "I'm not talking about being prescriptive but with all the caveats, yes, I would rather."
Prime Minister Tony Blair's spokesman insisted Straw was expressing "personal views" which did not represent government policy, although he expressed support for discussion of the issue.
Lack of Understanding
|
| "It shows a fundamental lack of understanding," said Akhtar. |
Britain is home to about 1.8 million Muslims but Rajnaara Akhtar, chairman of the UK Protect-Hijab organization, said fewer than five percent of the women wore a full veil.
"It shows a fundamental lack of understanding," she told Reuters on Friday, saying the government had failed to address the real issues of unemployment and poor education that had led to areas becoming "ghettoized".
"Surely that is where his attention should be focused rather than on a tiny minority of Muslim woman that choose to cover their face out of religious conviction," she added.
A government-backed study showed in May that the Muslim minority in Britain — estimated at some 1.8 million people — faced some of the most acute conditions of multiple deprivation.
The study, conducted by university researchers in Birmingham, Derby, Oxford and Warwick, said 14% of Muslims aged over 25 were unemployed, compared with the national unemployment rate of 4%.
Commissioned to review the prospects of faith communities in England, it also found Muslims had poorer levels of education and were more vulnerable to long-term illness.
Political Gains
The timing of Straw's comments may be significant, raising his profile as debate rages within the Labour Party as to who will succeed Blair and his deputy John Prescott.
Straw is currently Leader of the House of Commons, a government business management role, and has been widely tipped to stand as deputy leader of the ruling Labour Party when Blair and his number two, John Prescott, step down within the next year.
Many of his Muslim constituents also condemned his remarks -- one, 34-year-old Baksedha Khan, accused Straw of "looking for publicity" ahead of a deputy leadership bid.
His comments are the latest in a recent wave from politicians of all sides on Muslim integration into society, which has been high on the political agenda since the July 7, 2005 attacks on London's transport system.
Last month, Home Secretary John Reid used a speech to vow to face down extremist Muslim "bullies", adding that there should be no "no-go areas", in terms of geography or debate.
And at this week's Conservative Party conference, party leader David Cameron said new immigrants to Britain should not be isolated in inner city enclaves and expressed concern over different communities living "parallel lives".
In his interview Straw said: "Communities are bound together by informal chance relations between strangers. That is just made more difficult if people are wearing a veil."
|
