Why is France banning the Burqa?

France's government on Thursday said that it would apply a proposed ban on the face-covering Islamic veils on tourists as well as residents. Next month, the cabinet will examine a bill that bans wearing a burqa in public; this could even become a law by as early as July.

With a population of about 64 million and with about 5 million Muslims, France has the highest Islamic population in Western Europe. Out of these 5 million Muslims, only about 2,000 women wear the burqa. The French government says that this ban is not aimed at the Muslims but at the gender inequality that the burqa signifies.

The French believe that many Muslim women are forced to wear the burqa by their husbands. This is true in many cases, where Muslim men consider women their property and think that no part of a woman's body should be seen by anyone besides her husband (in many cases Muslim men refused to let their pregnant wives and daughters be treated by male doctors, even during an emergency when no one else was available). But since I have lived in a Muslim country I know that this isn't true for all Muslims and that not all Muslim women are forced to wear the burqa. Some women simply choose to wear it because they want to preserve their culture.

I personally don't support France's proposal about baning the burqa. In a democratic country like France, everybody has basic freedoms and rights; like the freedom of religion. And the burqa, being a strong part of the Muslim religion and culture, shouldn't and cannot be banned, as this violates basic rights of French citizens.

This situation is different when you look at it as a means of preventing crime. In numerous instances, people (men and women) have worn the burqa to hide their identity and commit crimes that they, otherwise, could not have committed. Terrorists have dodge arrests for days, even months, by disguising themselves with a burqa.

But no matter what reason is used, this proposal definately violates freedom of religion, and could be challenged in the European Court of Human Rights. If the European Court or domestic courts strike it down, French President Nicolas Sarkozy would suffer his second constitutional defeat in the space of a few months - last year, his plan for a carbon tax was rejected because its many loopholes violated the principle of equality.

The actual decision, about whether this will become a law or not, will only be known after a month. I believe that the French should let the Muslims have the liberty of wearing the burqa and treat them with equality; afterall their moto is "liberte egalite fraternite".