MAIL ONLINE: Wearing a burka does not prevent Muslim women ‘engaging in everyday life’ in Britain, the Conservative Party chairman Sayeeda Warsi claimed today.
In comments that will reignite the row about the full face veil, Baroness Warsi defended the right of Muslim women to ‘choose’ to wear the burka.
Backbench Tory MPs have launched a bid to ban the wearing of the burka in public.
Critics claim the burka is a symbol of oppression, with some Muslim women ordered to wear the full face veil by their husbands.
But Lady Warsi, the first Muslim woman to serve in the Cabinet, yesterday launched a passionate defence of the burka. She suggested that many Muslim women choose to wear the veil of their own free will.Lady Warsi, who was named last year as Britain’s most powerful Muslim woman, said: ‘Just because a woman wears the burka, it doesn’t mean she can’t engage in everyday life.
‘Why should we tell women what to wear? What it boils down to is choice. If women don’t have a choice over what to wear then they are oppressed.
‘But if a woman has a choice, and she chooses to wear whatever she chooses to wear then she’s not oppressed is she? She’s choosing what she wants.’
Critics claim that the burka alienates Muslim women from the rest of society. But Lady Warsi said the burka did not act as a barrier in itself.
She added: ‘There are women who wear the burka who run extremely successful businesses – internet businesses, which don’t actually require you to be there face to face.’
Lady Warsi’s intervention is the latest bid by the coalition Government to close down debate about the burka. Tory party chairman says Muslim women SHOULD be allowed to wear the Burka >>> Jason Groves | Monday, August 02, 2010
