Italian interior minister Giuliano Amato last Thursday rejected calls for banning the Muslim veil in public places.
"If we are going to ban the veil in public places, it immediately begs the question: why should a nun be allowed to wear her habit and not a female Muslim," he told newspaper La Stampa, reported AFP.
The minister said that the Italian constitution guaranteed freedom of religion.
The Italian minister said that any true ban had to be applied on all citizens in the European country.
"If a Muslim woman is ill in hospital, she must not wear the veil -- whereas a nun would be allowed to," he said.
However Amato said that he was against the wearing of the full-face veil, and in particular the burka.
A debate has been raging about the veil wearing in Italy.
Recently, the veil has become a sign of terror and a sign of anti-integration to the Italian society specially in Milan where the right-wing Lega Nord party has campaigned against the face-veil.
Source: The Muslim Weekly (English)
See also: Italy: Muslim law encourages respect towards women, EU: Map radical mosques
2 comments:
I think something has been lost in translation. He is opposeed to a ban on the veil but Amato also said 'he was against the wearing of the full-face veil, and in particular the burka.'
Does he not mean the hijab or headscarf in his original statement?
Hi anonymous,
'veil' is used for both the headscarf and veiling the face. The hijab controversy in France is often referred to as the 'veil controversy' and the headscarf/hijab is often called the "Muslim veil", even by Muslims.
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