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EDITOR IN CHIEF- ABDULLAH BIN SALIM AL SHUEILI

Burqa ban splits Morocco

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Morocco’s ban on the sale and production of burqa has sharply divided opinions in the North African country.


The burqa ban signals that Morocco is moving “towards greater equality between the sexes,” award-winning French-Moroccan novelist Leila Slimani wrote in an opinion piece on news website Le360.


Another vocal supporter, Nouzha Skalli, a lawmaker and former family and social development minister, said the ban constituted “an important step in the battle against extremism”.


The reason for the ban on wearing and selling the full face veil in Morocco seems to be based on security concerns. While there has been no official announcement, media reports said the interior ministry order banning the burqa would take effect this week.


“We have taken the step of completely banning the import, manufacture and marketing of this garment in all the cities and towns of the kingdom,” Le360 quoted a high-ranking interior ministry official as saying.


Interior ministry officials on Monday started carrying out “awareness-raising campaigns with traders to inform them of this new decision”, said another website, Media 24.


Le360 said the measure appeared to be motivated by security concerns, “since bandits have repeatedly used this garment to perpetrate their crimes”. Most women in Morocco prefer the hijab headscarf that does not cover the face.


Writers and intellectuals have condemned the burqa ban.


Social media users in Morocco are divided between proponents of the decision and opponents who see the wearing of the burqa as a personal freedom.


“No authority in the world has the right to impose a dress code on a woman or a man for their everyday life,” wrote columnist Abdellah Tourabi, in a view widely shared on social media in Morocco.


Is the burqa foreign to Moroccan culture? he asked.


On the web, a social media commentator suggested the interior ministry go further by banning makeup “as it used more to cover up women’s faces”.


Oussama Boutaher, coordinator of a committee which defends detainees, said the ban was outright “discriminatory” and would turn devout Muslims into “second-class citizens”. — AFP


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