Senator calls for burqa ban after robbery
By ninemsn staff - May 7 2010
A Liberal senator has sparked outrage and debate after he called for a ban on wearing the burqa in public, saying it is "un-Australian".
South Australian senator Cory Bernardi yesterday wrote a post on his personal blog saying the veil was "emerging as the preferred disguise of bandits and n'er do wells".
It followed reports that a gunman wearing a full black burqa and sunglasses had robbed a Sydney store yesterday.
Senator Bernardi also said he believed the burqa stopped women from integrating into Australian society "The burqa isolates some Australians from others," he wrote.
"It is un-Australian — and its symbolic barrier is far greater than the measure of cloth it is created from.
"For safety and for society, the burqa needs to be banned."
In reaction to the comments, Opposition Leader Tony Abbott said the ban was not Coalition policy despite there being "understandable concern in the community" about the burqa.
The burqa was recently outlawed in public in Belgium, amid similar movements in France — where President Nicolas Sarkozy wants it banned.
Islamic Friendship Association's Keysar Trad told the Daily Telegraph he believed Senator Bernardi's call was a political stunt.
"It's tantamount to denying them the right to drive, the right to enjoy all the services of society as well as equal opportunity," Mr Trad said.
But counter-terrorism and aviation security consultant Roger Henning said anything which prevented identification posed "a massive risk" to public safety. "People have used burqas to escape prison, for bank robberies and terrorists carrying explosive devices are sometimes disguised as women," Mr Henning said.
comment:
Every failure that can't do anything on his own tries to gain fame by attacking Islam/Muslims.
These bigots try to use the excuse that these niqabis don't integrate into the society; what integration?! They are saying it as if everyone is friendly and talks to every person they meet on the street as if it were a tiny town where everyone knows you from childhood. In these western societies, people don't even know (or speak to) their neighbors let alone some stranger on the street!