A matter of perspective
Thursday, 17 September 2009
Mahmudur Rahman
There have been a number of uncomplimentary words in the vilification of the Burka, Naqaab or veil used by Muslim women, in the western world. France, the champion of liberalism has now come out and banned all forms of this clothing and the human rights activists appear to have gone into selective amnesia.
Some of the comments ranged from "bestiality" to "dark age" comparisons apart from saying it looked horrid. Female visitors to France are gently advised to leave their Islamic coverings at home, should they want to enter the country and walk around. Given that its all a matter of perspective, there are others who have come up with some humorous connections between the Burka and Nun's attire. As we know, these ladies who took to the cloth, did so by avowing to becoming well-covered personages. In fact, apart from the face veil, they do in essence follow an Islamic code of clothing. And while debate rages whether a child should or should not be allowed to turn up at school wearing a scarf, naqaab or veil, missionary women teachers are allowed to teach in their traditional clothes and the men in their long flowing robes. What would be the backlash if Nuns were proscribed their attire?
One wonders too what the rules say about wearing bikinis to western schools. One doesn't see too much of them but why is that so? And why is it that western weddings always feature a bride in flowing gowns and trails whereas the shorter version is so much in vogue?
And the latest laugh, though this is by no means a laughing matter, is the use of masks to prevent swine-flu. The mask effectively has the same result as the veil in that the nose, mouth and chin are covered leaving only the eyes to be seen. Add to that a popular European custom, the headscarf and voila, one ends up with a similar effect. The swine-flu mask goes one step beyond the burka-it applies to male-female alike.
From an economic perspective, the burka or naqaab is actually a very viable proposition for clothing manufacturers. Since cloth is sold by length, there's more to sell and more profits to be gained and since it is a matter of choice, it does make life a lot simpler. Perhaps that's the flip side of a campaign that properly packaged could go a long-way in bringing the length back into particularly, women's clothing. In these days of recession and global downturn, our garments manufacturers really could be a little more innovative with slogans such as "long is in" or "the more the better". (The writer is a former head of Corporate and Regulatory Affairs, British American Tobacco, Bangladesh and former chief Executive Officer, Bangladesh Cricket Board. He can be reached at e-mail: mahmudrahman@gmail.com)
There have been a number of uncomplimentary words in the vilification of the Burka, Naqaab or veil used by Muslim women, in the western world. France, the champion of liberalism has now come out and banned all forms of this clothing and the human rights activists appear to have gone into selective amnesia.
Some of the comments ranged from "bestiality" to "dark age" comparisons apart from saying it looked horrid. Female visitors to France are gently advised to leave their Islamic coverings at home, should they want to enter the country and walk around. Given that its all a matter of perspective, there are others who have come up with some humorous connections between the Burka and Nun's attire. As we know, these ladies who took to the cloth, did so by avowing to becoming well-covered personages. In fact, apart from the face veil, they do in essence follow an Islamic code of clothing. And while debate rages whether a child should or should not be allowed to turn up at school wearing a scarf, naqaab or veil, missionary women teachers are allowed to teach in their traditional clothes and the men in their long flowing robes. What would be the backlash if Nuns were proscribed their attire?
One wonders too what the rules say about wearing bikinis to western schools. One doesn't see too much of them but why is that so? And why is it that western weddings always feature a bride in flowing gowns and trails whereas the shorter version is so much in vogue?
And the latest laugh, though this is by no means a laughing matter, is the use of masks to prevent swine-flu. The mask effectively has the same result as the veil in that the nose, mouth and chin are covered leaving only the eyes to be seen. Add to that a popular European custom, the headscarf and voila, one ends up with a similar effect. The swine-flu mask goes one step beyond the burka-it applies to male-female alike.
From an economic perspective, the burka or naqaab is actually a very viable proposition for clothing manufacturers. Since cloth is sold by length, there's more to sell and more profits to be gained and since it is a matter of choice, it does make life a lot simpler. Perhaps that's the flip side of a campaign that properly packaged could go a long-way in bringing the length back into particularly, women's clothing. In these days of recession and global downturn, our garments manufacturers really could be a little more innovative with slogans such as "long is in" or "the more the better". (The writer is a former head of Corporate and Regulatory Affairs, British American Tobacco, Bangladesh and former chief Executive Officer, Bangladesh Cricket Board. He can be reached at e-mail: mahmudrahman@gmail.com)