Frenchman to the Rescue of the Niqab and Burq’a………
Iranian TV reports from AFP on a French businessman plans to sell properties to help Muslim women pay any fines they receive for wearing burqa in public if a bill on banning the full-face veil is passed. The generous offer comes as lawmakers in France prepare to vote on a bill banning the full-face veil, also known as burqa or niqab, on Tuesday. The bill stipulates a fine of up to EUR 150 for any one seen wearing the veil in public.
Rachid Nekkaz, who tried to stand in the 2007 Presidential elections, said in a statement that he would use the proceeds from property sales to set up a EUR 1 million fund, which will be aimed at helping women pay any fines they receive, the Irish Times reported. The channel reports that Nekkaz views the veil ban as "unconstitutional," leading him to set up a "Hands off My Constitution" association, AFP reported. France is home to over 5 million Muslims, making it Europe's largest Muslim minority. France has already banned Muslim headscarves in schools and is the second country after Belgium planning to ban the full-face veil in public.
Official Iranian media has not opined strongly on the burq’a or niqab bans in Europe, mainly because these are considered the attire of the rival Sunnis fundamentalists and they are not used in Iran (they are ubiquitous in Saudi Arabia and used among Arab, Pakistani, and Afghani fundamentalist women, or more correctly among women whose husbands are Sunni fundamentalists). Now if the paranoid French and Belgians extend the legislative ban to the hijab head cover, which is required in Iran…………
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