Not something new. Bollywood characters often use the burka to sneak past police or into hostels.

Jewish men wearing skull caps – yes. I glare at them. Most recently we had an incident where a bunch of sports fans ripped the skull cap of a Jewish bloke. No criminal charges were laid Nuns – I letch at them brazenly. Some of them are hot. Sikh men – Have not seen a Sardar in months now. A raised eyebrow only.

My annoyance is with folks displaying religious symbols in public. Keeping your religion at home makes for peaceful co-existence. My beliefs include nudism but coz it is offensive to most people I am a nudist at home not in public. Similarly the full battle dress of the muslim women is offensive and confronting.

My point was simply that respecting religousness might warrant some leeway here.

look, in my religion–Manjuism–the sacred texts explain that if enough women wear the veil/hijab/niqab, a giant tarantuala will eat the earth. you may think this silly, but it’s a matter of faith.

therefore, i’ve decided to ban the wearing of the veil/hijab/niqab in my business, as is my (exiled) constitutional right…freedom of religion, association, and property. Please respect my religiousness and don’t impose by force your morality on me.

Truly priceless… one doesn’t have to see her face to see her “oh-damn-I-forgot-about-that” expression. Something reeks of a setup. Maybe she was just bored with the job and planned to leave anyway. This way she can claim “discrimination” and get a payout.

A Quaker cannot join the Army and then state that his religion prohibits him from fighting. By the same token, a Muslim woman who wants to cover her face has no absolute right to work in a school or an office where face-to-face conversations are part of the job

kali billi

As a public official in England how can Straw request women not to wear niqab in his office?

Jack Straw has every right to request women to take off their veils when they come to meet him in surgery, and they are equally free to turn down his request. Jack Straw feels that seeing the it will aid him in better understanding and helping his constituents. He’d clearly stated in interviews that he always makes the request after ensuring a female member of his staff is present and his constituents are free to turn down his request though none have refused so far. [Link]

Its also interesting to note that Miss Azmi did not wear the veil when she was interviewed for the post, and her reaction when she was quizzed about it on the BBC is just priceless. [Video Link]

Most people do conform to work attire requirements and you will probably find very few muslims who agree with this nitwit woman’s stance. If the school allowed her to wear a niqab at work they would have to allow others to do so too which could lead to a worst case scenario of having a majority of niqabi teachers (which is possible since 90% of the students are muslims). This is totally unacceptable in a teaching environment especially since the students are so young and still developing non verbal communication skills.

Every time I see a woman who wears the hijab / niqab I shake my head in vigorous disapproval and I make sure that they see it.

Do you vigorously shake your head at Sikh men, Jews wearing skull caps, nuns, Hindus wearing the kumkum/tilak?

Tosser.

The problem is when some people’s personal beliefs become a sense of entitlement around which everything and everyone else must revolve.

Mainstreaming at work is not about selling out, folks. It is about leading a balanced life in which personal beliefs are nicely counterbalanced by other human urges such as recognition and rewards. Someday all of you will have other mouths to feed, other bodies to clothe and other souls to nourish. Some of you have these problems already. When you do, please leave the niqabs, saris and kurtas at home Mon-Fri, unless of course you live in countries where the aforementioned are common attire.