Irish journalist calls for hijab ban
Friday, January 29, 2010 "Forcing women to hide their hair, and sometimes their bodies and faces, is a form of fanaticism amounting to repression. How many Muslim women cover up voluntarily, without any form of coercion whether explicit or implicit? Just a minute while I do the sums. Okay, I'm ready: the answer is none.
"Even those who claim to do it willingly are brainwashed. They conceal their appearance because they are bulldozed into it by a patchwork quilt of reasons, from social to familial to cockeyed religious grounds. Free will is a fig leaf when it comes to the veil.
"Muslim women in Ireland, as in other countries, may tell themselves they choose to wear headscarves. They may even believe it. But a woman living in a tight-knit immigrant community is under intense pressure to conform. Rebel, and she becomes an outcast.
"So it is up to the host country to set the standard. It is not racist to want all women to be free. Forcing them to hide their hair, and sometimes their bodies and faces, is a form of fanaticism amounting to repression which we should not tolerate.
"We need policies on Muslim dress codes, and we should formulate them now while we have a relatively small Muslim population. Anyone who opts to live here subsequently will be aware of the standards our society is setting...
"We are paralysed by political correctness, however; horrified at the thought of our Muslim community waving the racist card, protesting against victimisation, or complaining about restrictions on their religious freedom. But the Muslim headscarf is the tyranny – not its prohibition."
Martina Devlin in the Irish Independent, 28 January 2010