| France refuses citizenship to foreigner forcing French wife to Islamic veil |
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`He was depriving his wife of liberty’ The foreigner had come from Morocco. 03 February 2010: Less than a fortnight after a parliamentary investigation suggested ban on burkas in French public offices, hospitals, trains and buses, the French government has refused citizenship to a foreigner, who forced his French wife to wear a full-face Islamic veil. Immigration Minister Eric Besson said inquiries had shown the foreigner was compelling his French wife wear the veil. Besson said the foreigner was depriving his wife of liberty to come and go with her face uncovered. By doing so, he rejected the principles of secularism and equality between men and women, Besson said. According to Le Figaro newspaper, the foreigner came from Morocco. With this, the French Government has again made clear its stand on the issue of burkas. As of now, over 50 per cent of French think the full-length veil – a marginal but growing phenomenon in France – offends the French Republican values of liberty and equality. As such, it should be banned. Even though the French Catholic Church has warned the government against banning the veils saying France must respect the rights of its Muslims if it wanted Islamic countries to do the same for their Christian minorities, moderate Islamic leaders have aired their views against burka. In all, the total number of women wearing both full-body veil is around 1,900. The total French population of adult, Muslim women is approximately 2 million. In Britain, the British national party (BNP) has adopted a motion for banning burka from public view. Nigel Farage, who heads the UK Independence party’s 13 MEPs, recently asserted he was not in favour of Muslim women covering their faces. Besides security reasons, they were also a symbol of a divided Britain, he said. |
