Sir, – As a proponent of political secularism, I find reports of armed police making a woman in Nice remove her clothing worrying, and ironic.
A Nice tribunal has found that the burkini was “liable to offend the religious convictions or (religious) non-convictions of other users of the beach”, and “felt as a defiance or a provocation exacerbating tensions felt by” the community. No-one has the right not to be offended. This is an argument that we secularists use in relation to blasphemy laws, but it swings both ways.
In any event, I do not see the rationale for a police-enforced burkini ban. Concerns about religious clothing in the wake of recent terrorist killings have been proffered as justification. I don't recall the demented truck-driver who massacred innocent people in Nice wearing a burkini, nor would it be an integral part of the modus operandi of a terrorist attack by a woman.
The Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice (religious police) in Saudi Arabia has rightly been criticised for enforcing a dress code among women. Is it not ironic that the police in France – the great bastion of liberté, égalité and fraternité – is now doing it too?
There has been an increase in sales of the burkini since the ban was introduced. There have been reports of non-Muslim women purchasing and wearing them in acts of solidarity.
Are the police going to arrest and fine all these women? What about women who wear wetsuits, or women who suffer from sun allergy? Are they to be told that they must remove their clothes on beaches too?
Individual rights, such as how one dresses, should only be compromised where there is a risk to others.
The ban will not do anything to combat Islamic extremism. If anything, it will do the opposite. – Yours, etc,
ROB SADLIER,
Rathfarnham,
Dublin 16.
Sir, – Images of a woman being forced to remove her long-sleeved top and leggings at the request of armed French police officers on a beach in Nice are not only offensive to women everywhere but also deeply sinister and evocative of some very dark history in Europe.
This woman was singled out because of the way she dressed; an assumption was clearly made by those officers about her faith and therefore that she was some kind of threat to public order and safety.
Women have the right to wear whatever they want. Women have the right to be a member of whatever faith they wish. And yet, Ireland’s progressive forces remain silent at how that woman and other women on the beaches of France are being legislated against and profiled for attention because of what they choose to wear because of their chosen faith or even personal fashion sense. French laws about beachwear of any sort are wrong. Yet, where is the protest of support in Ireland?
Where are the outraged opinion pieces in the Irish media?
Where is the demonstration of burkini-clad protestors outside the French embassy in Dublin?
It is clear that if you a Muslim woman you are not worthy of support and solidarity from the sisterhood and progressive agencies, especially at a time when it is clearly needed. Why not? Are Islamic women not good enough? Why the silence?
It is not so long ago that Jewish women were forced to undress in front of armed guards. The Irish silence then remains to our eternal shame. We should remember that our worst examples of sectarian horror began with profiling people because of how they looked, what they wore, and where they professed their faith and practised their way of life.
Clearly, nothing has been learned since. – Yours, etc,
JUDITH GOLDBERGER,
Donnybrook,
Dublin 4.
Sir, – It is not such a long time ago that Catholic nuns wore pretty much identical daywear and swimwear as devout Muslim women of today, although I don’t recall any of them being forced to change out of their swimming garb on the beaches of France. – Yours, etc,
LIAM POWER,
Ballina,
Co Mayo.
Sir, – Did women burn their bras to be told by men to don burkinis? – Yours, etc,
EVE PARNELL,
Dublin 8.
A chara, – Patricia Mulkeen is being either naive or disingenuous when she claims France's decision to ban the "burkini" as a victory for feminism (August 26th).
Let there be no doubt that this decision was motivated entirely by the French government’s knee-jerk reaction to recent atrocities.
The authorities here in France could not care less about the rights of Muslim women, which should be obvious given that many of the latter are compelled by male relatives to wear such garb. – Is mise,
Dr GARETH P KEELEY,
Grenoble,
France.
Sir, – The opinion piece by Dr Roja Fazaeli appears to indicate that Muslim women covering themselves up to appear in public is something optional, and is done purely out of personal choice ("Burkini ban is another way to subjugate Muslim women", Opinion & Analysis, August 25th). If so, there can be no objection. We live in a modern western democracy and religious displays such as special headgear or wearing a crucifix are tolerated. The psychological and legal aspects of non-verbal communication are well understood.
However, if there is any element of coercion or threat of violence then we have a societal right to be concerned.
Islam, like Christianity, makes extraordinary claims for itself, and makes intelligent people do and say silly things. The French approach of accosting people at the beach seems to be a silly response to a silly display. – Yours, etc,
JIM BRILLY,
Dublin 8.