Wednesday, April 09, 2008

DAR AL HARB-DENMARK: HEADSCARVES FOR MOSLEM DANISH MP'S

Green light for headscarves in parliament

In a victory for Muslims in Denmark, the parliament's board of governors has ruled women MPs may wear the traditional Islamic headscarf inside the building.

But the board said the MPs must be recognisable, ruling out the wearing in parliament of the burka - which covers a women's body from head to toe, including her face.

The board's decision was greeted with satisfaction by the leftist Red-Green Alliance party's parliamentary candidate, Asmaa Abdol-Hamid, a Danish immigrant born in the United Arab Emirates to Palestinian parents.

"It's the decision I expected. Anything else would have been a blow against democracy and in conflict with the constitution,' she said.

The board's ruling on Tuesday came as a blow to the far-right Danish People's Party. The party waged a drawn-out battle against the headscarf and had sought to ban it in parliament.

Danish People's Party board member Soeren Espersen was the only one who voted against allowing the headscarf in parliament.

'I'm saddened by the decision. It's a blow to the oppression the headscarf symbolises,' said Espersen, cited by the Copenhagen Post.

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Pertinent Links:

1) Green light for headscarves in parliament

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