Politics

People Are Criticizing Another Country's Call to Ban Burqas

December 6th 2016

A storm of controversy followed after Nice, France, sought to ban women from wearing "burkinis" in August. Now, another country is seeking to ban the burqa, the face-shielding clothing item some Islamic women wear as part of their faith, which has people divided with some calling it out as yet another country's attempt to tell women what to wear.

Woman with BurqaDirk Haas of Germany/Flickr - flic.kr

"The full-face veil is not acceptable in our country."

Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany and Time magazine's 2015 "Person of the Year," is calling for a ban on burqas "wherever legally possible" in Germany, The Independent reports. Merkel was speaking to her party, the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) who re-elected her Tuesday when she declared, "The full-face veil is not acceptable in our country. It should be banned, wherever it is legally possible."

angela-merkelAP/Ozan Kose - apimages.com

The statement was apparently met with "rapturous applause" by her delegates, where a growing anti-immigrant and anti-Islamic stance is gaining traction in Germany, especially among the far-right, The Independent reports.

She further backed her proposed ban to her party by explaining, "In communication between people, which is of course essential to our living together, we have to show our faces," Time reports.

Public opinion on the proposed ban is divided.

Some are against the notion that anyone has a right to tell women what they can and cannot wear, and that women's clothing isn't inherently harmful.

But others, like Nigel Farage, leader of the (right-wing) U.K. Independence Party (UKIP) and Brexit enthusiast, believes Merkel has the right notion but is already too late to act on it.

Merkel is currently seeking her fourth re-election for Chancellor.

[H/T The Hill]

Share your opinion

Do you know someone who has been affected by Islamophobia?

No 45%Yes 55%