Report comment

Given that there have been at least two highly publicized stories of terrorists evading law enforcement by dressing up in the garb of muslim women the outlook of the French is wholly justified on safety and fairness grounds.

The fact is that there is no such thing as Islamic garb that must be worn - the tenet for women to cover their hair could equally be achieved by the wearing of a bobble hat, a swimming cap or a sombrero for that matter (just to get a world cup reference in).

We are not in the Sahara - there is no sane reason to adopt Bedouin costume in a European winter.

The wearing of a burka represents a willful stab at elitism (implicitly branding all other women as decadent infidel) and of separateness from the society offering muslims shelter (which is itself contrary to Islamic law that specifically entreats muslims to respect the law of the land sheltering them by way of gratitude for tolerance of their faith).

If muslims are allowed to declare their contempt (yes, contempt) for non-islamic norms by adopting an elite uniform, how can the wearing of say a gestapo uniform be justifiably banned on the same basis.

Society rightly opposes the latter scenario vehemently, society should be permitted to express the same distaste for the former.