Wes Hosking
Herald Sun
July 14, 2011
A NATIONAL day of protest demanding the burqa be banned has raised fears it could provoke Cronulla riot-style hysteria.
Almost 14,000 people have signed up for Monday's "Ban the Burqa Day", which urges protesters to wear a balaclava or mask.
But Islamic leaders labelled the event racist.
Organiser Kye Keating, 20, instigated the protest with two friends via Facebook after Sydney woman Carnita Matthews used her burqa to quash a jail sentence for deliberately making a false statement to police.
"This event is not aimed at race, it is not aimed at religion," Mr Keating said.
"It is just aimed at concealing your identity in a public place. If everyone is not allowed to do it, no one should be allowed to do it."
Mr Keating, a former hospitality student from Victoria looking for work, has been surprised by interest in the event.
Even an elderly nursing home resident will be among protesters going about with their faces covered.
"It's not so much about adopting our culture and completely dropping your own," Mr Keating said.
"It is just making those slight little changes that make it easier for you to become an Aussie."
The furore comes after the Baillieu Government revealed this month it would investigate if there was a need in Victoria for laws, being adopted in other states, that empower police to force Muslim women wearing a full veil to reveal their faces.
Islamic Council of Victoria director Nazeem Hussain said that fewer than 3000 Muslim women who wore burqas in Australia had no problem taking the garment off for police, who have power to demand identification.
"This kind of mass demonstration, this mass show of intolerance is just that," Mr Hussain said. "I would say it's hysteria reminiscent of Cronulla."
Muslim community spokesman Keysar Trad said women chose to wear the burqa for religious observance, not to hide their identity. "All I see beneath that call is bigotry and intolerance," Mr Trad said.
Liberal backbencher Bernie Finn, who supports banning the burqa in some places for security reasons, said people were entitled to express concerns about the garment.
Ben Fordham speaks to Nazeem Hussain
from the Islamic Council of Victoria and Melbourne
and MP Bernie Finn about a group in
Victoria planning 'Ban The Burqa Day'.
14 7 2011
“A NATIONAL day of protest demanding the burqa be banned has raised fears it could provoke Cronulla riot-style hysteria” Interesting there is no one concerned about another week of State Government sanctioned Intifada, and can someone tell me again what RACE IS the Burqah again?
Australia : Ban the Burka Day & Day of Infamy wrap up
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