If Comments @ 9 are yours then how come you come out with your comments like @12?

What is this contradiction?

Khushwant Singh
April 30, 2011

Of the scores of Muslims I befriended in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, there was not one whose womenfolk wore burqas to cover their faces. Now I hear from Pakistanis who come to see me that more women are seen in burqa than 10 years ago. This is largely due to the upsurge of religious fundamentalism with the increasing influence of the Taliban.

I find it heart-breaking as I regard putting women in burqa as jihlat (ignorance). It deprives Muslim women of job opportunities and confines them to their homes. One of the outstanding champions of women wearing burqa is Dr Zakir Naik. His argument in favour of the burqa makes me laugh. He says: “Suppose there are three women out on a stroll — two are wearing burqa one is not. As they pass by a gang of roadside Romeos who will they pass lewd remarks at? Obviously the one without a burqa because they can see her face and not the other two; burqas protect them.”

If you examine the matter rather closely, you will notice that burqas are largely worn by the lower middle class. The upper class are educated and westernised. The lowest class, particularly those engaged in farming work along with their menfolk in the fields don’t wear burqas . Only the lower middle class are reluctant to free themselves from the bondage of burqas.

I was hoping that Dar-ul-Uloom would pass a fatwa in favour of abolishing hijab. This is not likely. I was also hoping that Al Azhar in Cairo would say something in support of the French government which has made burqa-wearing a punishable offence. France has more Muslims than any other European country. Most of them are from their erstwhile colonies. Hijab is not a crime but an irritant. Some other means should be found to remove this irritant. My mind goes back to Ata Turk Kamal Pasha of Turkey who with one stroke abolished institutions that were outdated. He abolished the Caliphate and took the wind out of the Khilafat movement in India. (Bapu Gandhi foolishly supported the Khilafat movement in the hope of winning support of India’s Muslims — and failed to do so.) Kamal Pasha also banned wearing burqas. That is why today Turkey is the most advanced Muslim country in the world. We need another Kamal Pasha.

Time to stich you? Talibans scr3wed you bl@@dy hard:-p