Thursday 3 February 2011

Burka is Banned in Hesse Germany

Male or Female?
The state of Hesse has banned the wearing of the burka--the Muslim dress that covers a woman’s face--by state employees during work hours. The decision was made by Interior Minister Boris Rhein in response to a worker at a local administrative office, or Bürgeramt, in Frankfurt who wanted to report for work wearing a burka.

Here is part of the  report from The Local (German News in English) A 39-year-old stated she wished to return to work wearing a burka. Before she went on parenting leave, she wore a headscarf only. She announced she wanted to wear a full burka on religious grounds. There were reports that her lawyer had discussed a financial settlement, but the office has insisted the woman was not due for any kind of financial settlement. Nor is she being paid at the moment, because she is a part-time worker.

Frankfurt city head of personnel Markus Frank has said “We will not pay a cent of taxpayers’ money for this”. The city was following the clear rule that workers in the public service must make their faces visible. Frank said he hoped that the woman would think the matter over and return to work without the burka. “We’re giving her another chance. Either she takes it or she doesn’t,” he said. “That is a clear limit that we are sticking to.”

Interior Minister Rhein said the state government was on safe legal ground because public  service workers were obliged to be politically and religiously neutral. Veiled women conveyed the image that was not consistent with liberal and cosmopolitan values. “What’s more, the burka can be understood as a sign of an attitude contrary to the values of the western world,” said Rhein.

The environmentalist Greens members of Hesse’s state parliament backed the decision. “We regret the fact that it’s actually come to this debate because this abstruse interpretation of Islam by the city employee shows an image of Islam that has nothing to do with the views of almost all Muslims in Germany,” said Mürvet Öztürk, the integration policy spokesman for the party’s parliamentary group in the state.
 
I sincerely hope that government officials in all western countries adopt this view. This hideous tent is a disgrace to women, and has no place in a free society. People who wish to immigrate to western countries should not be bringing their oppressive customs and expect the rest of us to adapt  There is no freedom in this  dark-age garment.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

This is my country, my city :) And I freely admit, I'm proud that they stood up and said "No" to the burka!

I agree with you that it is a very oppressive custom that has no place here (or in any other western country for that matter).

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