(Foremost, there's a difference between Burqa and Hijab. While the former covers almost the entire face, the latter covers only the head and ears with face still visible. So, banning Hijab doesn’t make sense. It's ludicrous. And there's virtually no reason to ban it.
Henceforth, my arguments would only be on the burqa. Hijabshould NOT be banned!)
(Courtesy: India Today)***
For security purpose, it does seem like a sane idea. However, will it then not be an infringement in one's freedom and rights?
If the government or Supreme Court bans burqa, it's basically commanding its citizens to what to wear and what not to wear.
It comes in direct contradiction to the rights and freedom our constitution provide us with.
So, issuing a diktat to ban burqa is controversial and should be intensively thought through.
It's also important to scrutinize the underlying reasons why we want to ban burqa.
Is it really for security reasons? If so, is it the only way to ensure the security of everyone?
(Courtesy: News18)How many times have the terrorists attacked under the disguise of a burqa?
For that matter, skip terrorism, let's talk about crimes. How many crimes really happen that involves the culprit disguising in a burqa?
All these diverse factors need to be considered.
Burqa existed for decades and centuries. How many times has it promoted terrorism and crime? What does the data say about this? What do the experts, who hold no political and religious prejudice, really think on this topic?
Heck! For that matter, we should look at the facts on how banning veils (and scarves) has impacted the security countries like France, China, Denmark, and Germany.
If all these factors point that banning burqa is a right move to ensure security to the citizens then, by all means, the government and SC should take immediate measure to ban burqa.
But if these factors don’t return with anything substantial against burqa, then it's essential we realize that such rushed measures usually come in the backdrop of some events. The government issue such diktats as vanilla measures to ensure the citizens that it's doing something when in reality they know that this won’t help in any way. (Yes, I am talking about Sri Lanka.)
If we’re really serious about security, there are so many other effective things we can do.