Muslim women in Denmark should be free to wear whatever they wish to wear, according to the Islamic Society in Denmark.
The reaction comes after the French government on Monday implemented a law banning women from wearing burkas and niqabs in public.
“We do not recommend that Danish Muslim women wear burkas or niqabs, but they are free to choose what they wear,” Imran Shah, the spokesperson of the the Islamic Society in Denmark, told The Copenhagen Post.
According to Shah, it has taken the Western democracies decades to obtain the freedoms that we can take for granted today. The French ban, he said, shows a new tendency towards demolishing these freedoms.
“It is important to let the Muslim population know that when they have fled dictatorship in their home country – or perhaps just left their country for work purposes – they will not encounter a new dictatorship or aspects of it in the Western democracies based on religious views.”
In 2009, the Conservative party proposed a burka ban in Denmark. It received little support in parliament; however, an opinion poll the same year showed that 56 percent of the population were in favour of a general ban on wearing burkas in public. Only 30 percent said they were opposed to such a ban.
In 2009 researchers at the University of Copenhagen concluded that only three women in Denmark wore a burka on a regular basis. The report also showed that between 150 and 200 women regularly wore a niqab, of which 60-80 were Danish women who had converted to Islam.
The French ban is the first of its kind in the Western democracy. A violation of the French ban can lead to a 150 euro fine or forced participation in a course on French citizenship. The police have, however, been told they are not allowed to remove burkas by force, and that the ban should be regarded as a ‘low priority’ by the police.
France has a Muslim population of around five million, but only around 200 women are thought to wear burkas on a regular basis.
French opinion polls have shown that 80 percent of the population is in favour of a burka ban.