A call for a controversial ban on wearing the burqa in public has split opinion and sparked outrage from the Muslim community who labelled it a political stunt.
Liberal Senator Cory Bernardi yesterday sparked outrage after he called for the Islamic headdress to be banned following an earlier robbery in a Sydney store by a burqa clad man.
Writing on his personal blog, the outspoken senator said the veil was “emerging as the preferred disguise of bandits and n’er do wells”.
He wants to see it banned, but also because it prevents women from interacting in normal day-to-day life. “The burqa isolates some Australians from others,” he wrote.
“It is un-Australian - and it’s symbolic barrier is far greater than the measure of cloth it is created from. For safety and for society, the burqa needs to be banned.”
However Assisting Shift in Multicultural Australia director Janine Evans, who is a Muslim, said it was too simplistic to say that burqas did not fit into Australian society.
“To say it doesn’t fit with our way of life and culture shuts the door to (Muslim) women becoming active members of society,” she said.
Other Islamic groups dismissed the call as a political stunt aimed at tapping into anti-Islamic sentiment.
Senator Bernardi’s comments were backed by security experts but Opposition Leader Tony Abbott said while there was “understandable concern in the community” about people wearing the burqa, a ban was not Coalition policy.
Islamic Friendship Association’s Keysar Trad rejected the call as ignorant and said it was a political stunt.
Wearing the burqa actually encouraged women to integrate into Australian society, whereas a ban would only force them indoors where they’d “miss out on the vitamin D”.
“It’s tantamount to denying them the right to drive, the right to enjoy all the services of society as well as equal opportunity,” Mr Trad said.
In France, a bid to ban the veil from public places was about President Nicolas Sarkozy trying to win anti-Islamic votes, Mr Trad said.
Former Victoria Police deputy commissioner Bob Falconer said most police were reluctant to search suspects wearing burqas.
Counter-terrorism and aviation security consultant Roger Henning said that anything which prevented identification of the face posed “a massive risk” to public safety.
“People have used burqas to escape prison, for bank robberies and terrorists carrying explosive devices are sometimes disguised as women,” Mr Henning said.