DAR AL HARB-INDIA: "HEAD TO TOE BAGS" RECEIVE APOLOGIES EVEN BEFORE BLOOD CURDLING PROTESTS ARISE

Jewelers in Western India Apologize for Burqa Ban
January 02, 2007

Jewelers in western India have apologized to Muslims for proposing to ban women wearing burqas from their shops following a series of thefts by burqa-clad customers.

British radio (BBC) reports that the jewelers association in the city of Pune withdrew its request Friday for a ban on serving women who wear face veils or burqas. The association says it decided not to pursue the ban for fear of offending religious sentiments.

Jewelers asked police for the ban after surveillance cameras showed veiled thieves stealing.

Shopkeepers and police say they cannot identify them because their faces are covered.

The jewelers say the request was a security measure and was not targeted at minority Muslims in Pune.

The request sparked tensions among local Muslim leaders who said the ban discriminated against Muslim women.


Ahhh such good dhimmis...

Original Story:

Indian jewellers seek ban on veiled women
(Reuters)Updated: 2006-12-28 13:30

MUMBAI - Women wearing the burqa and other face-concealing veils could be banned from jewellery stores in a west Indian city after a spate of thefts involving burqa-clad customers, jewellers said on Thursday.

More than a dozen thefts have occurred in jewellery shops in Pune in Maharashtra state in the past two months, with at least three cases of women wearing burqas spotted by surveillance cameras as they stole gold ornaments.

"Police could not find any clue about the women's identity because their faces were covered," Fatehchand Ranka, head of the Maharashtra Jewellers' Association, told Reuters.

Pune's jewellers, who deny targeting any religion, say they have written to the authorities asking for permission to stop serving customers who refuse to show their faces to surveillance cameras from January 1.

But the move has angered a section of India's Muslim community which says the attempt to profile customers on the basis of their attire is an attack on their freedom of religion.

"It's up to a Muslim woman to decide if she wants to shop in a burqa," said Naseem Siddique, head of Maharashtra's minority communities panel.

"Next they will say they will not allow a Sikh in a turban because he could be hiding a pistol under it."

But a council of powerful Islamic clerics said the jewellers had a right to defend their business.
"They are sustaining losses. Moreover, they have said it is not about burqas alone but veils of all sorts," said Maulana Zaheer Abbas Rizvi, secretary of the All-India Ulama Council.

Veils are used not only by millions of Muslim women but also women from other communities in Hindu-majority India.


Pertinent Links:

1) Jewelers in Western India Apologize for Burqa Ban

2) Indian jewellers seek ban on veiled women