by Sadaf Farooqi

Created on: September 12, 2009   Last Updated: September 17, 2009

The burka is not a religious problem, it's a question of liberty and women's dignity. It's not a religious symbol, but a sign of subservience and debasement. I want to say solemnly, the burka is not welcome in France. In our country, we can't accept women prisoners behind a screen, cut off from all social life, deprived of all identity. That is not our idea of freedom." - Nicolas Sarkozy.

Here we go again. After the hue and cry following the comments made by Jack Straw in 2006, another political statement made very publicly by a notable politician in Europe has sent the Muslim Ummah into a defensive global backlash and rhetoric. As for the tremendous vocal support Sarkozy's comments have garnered, both from non-Muslims and secular-minded Muslims, it is indeed a shame, a staggeringly startling shame, for people who claim to be champions of 'freedom' and 'equality', to support any kind of ban on an individual's choice of dress.

Whether a woman chooses to don the burka out of cultural factors or religious ones, - what difference does it make? She is making a conscious choice to clad herself in this garment. For the onlookers to assume that she was oppressed into wearing it just screams of naivete and a purported facade of concern. Also, if the burka is restrictive and isolating, isn't that the wearer's prerogative? Since when is it 'unacceptable' for a woman to choose not to mingle with men or roam around freely sans outer garments? If that is her choice: to be home-bound, largely unidentified and covered-up; can we not let her be!?

Perhaps not being offended by one's wife's nude photographs being auctioned off for thousands of dollars speaks more aptly of 'freedom', liberty and the piece de resistance: women's "dignity"? Since when is it "dignified" to peel off a woman's clothing and commoditize her body for the world to ogle and wow at as a piece of artwork? What if a woman chooses to do the absolute opposite i.e. wear layers of clothing that gives this clear message to men: "hands off", "eyes off" and last but not least, "back off"? That is a sign of "subservience and debasement"? Subhan Allah!

British Muslim Ms. Saira Khan, who was extremely vocal of her viewsabout the burka in the UK in 2006, and reiterated her stance this yearafter Nicolas Sarkozy's comments, claims to have once tried it on and found it to be "the most horrid experience. It restricted the way I walked, what I saw, and how I interacted with the world. It took away my personality. I felt alienated

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