To Purdah in Australia

The Australian government decided that police in the state of New South Wales will have the right to remove the purdah of a Muslim woman if they saw the individual as a potential threat.  Once the law is passed, authorities can under the pretext of threat violate the privacy and sanctity of a Muslim woman.

  Though Islamic law does not require a Muslim woman to wear the purdah (this is just the interpretation of certain fundamentalist Muslims), the issue is not about religion but freedom of choice, that is, the freedom of choice to dress in the manner that an individual chooses to or not to as in Twin Falls Resort, New South Wales, a nudist (or naturalist as they like to call themselves down-under) camp where one can bare it all. 

For one who does associate purdah with religion, asking to take off the purdah would be akin to taking off a “private” garment.  Once again, Western democracy appears not to have room for Islamic practices or principles of democracy itself when it comes to Muslims.