Sarkozy war against garment has merit

• Women across the world must join fight for gender equality

President Nicholas Sarkozy of France has declared war against a garment Muslim women wear, the burqa.

For emphasis, President Sarkozy made the announcement to both houses of the National Assembly. He also chose the first day in 136 years that a French President attended a parliamentary session.

To add real punch, he summoned the legislators to Versailles Palace. From there, French emperors reigned until les misérables decreed otherwise.

President Sarkozy need not worry about meeting the fate of the last emperor. He’s popular. Tough and irritating decisions fit.

An eerie feeling

The loose fitting burqa covers the wearer from head to toe. Variations exist. Some leave the face visible; others provide holes for the eyes. In tense situations, the latter create an eerie feeling.

Moreover, in these days of terrorist attacks, other issues arise. Explosive belts and rocket-propelled grenade launchers can easily find comfort under the garment.

Conspiratorial thoughts, however, weren’t President Sarkozy’s concern. France can’t accept the presence of “women who are prisoners behind netting, cut off from all social life, deprived of identity.”

That isn’t France’s “idea of women dignity.” The burqa isn’t a sign of religion. It’s a sign of subservience.

The following day, the National Assembly announced a commission of 30 to look at the prevalence of the garment. The country already bars female public servants from wearing headscarves at work and girls in public schools.

Support from burqa haters followed. For example, Mr James Delingpole wrote in TimesOnline that France was “setting a moral example and standing up for freedom.” A young Muslim girl, he wrote, needs protection to choose between livings “in a kind of religious apartheid” or “integrate more closely with the host culture.”

That’s pointing a finger at Muslim men who force women to wear the burqa.

Some Muslims agree with President Sarkozy. Mr Mohammed Moussaoui, head of France’s Representative Muslim Council opposes burqa wearing.

However, the burqa defenders, legion worldwide, insist the Koran and subsequent writings by holy men are on their side.

“Say to the believing women that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty; that they should not display their beauty and ornaments except what must ordinarily appear thereof...” (Koran: 24.31) That’s a recommendation, not a requirement.