Veiling Freedoms
It’s Tunisia’s turn to join France and Turkey in moving against headscarves in public places. Enforcing a decree from 1981, which banned Islamic dress in public places, police have begun stopping women in the streets and asking them to remove their headgear. The previously linked BBC News article gave the president’s opinion of the matter: “[He] described the headscarf as a sectarian form of dress which had come into Tunisia uninvited.” Thus, Tunisia becomes yet another country to move against headscarves for similarly suspect reasons.
While advocates of headscarves decry the move as a violation of religious freedoms, the government sees it as a suppression of extremist ideaologies who “exploited religion for their political ambitions.” Although this may seem as a slightly valid argument, it is hardly a convincing one. Religion is exploited, along with a variety of other factors, the world over. The United States has not seen a Catholic president since Kennedy (John Kerry came close), and republicans typically rely on religion to strengthen their voter base. Hispanic candidates are typically more successful in majority hispanic districts–the same goes for african americans, wealthy whites, and a variety of religions and races. Religion will be exploited, but banning headscarves is not the appropriate manner of dealing with the issue (or non-issue).
If the headscarf were a sign of allegiance to some entity, perhaps this move would be understandable. It would still not be acceptable, because suppression of opposing views is a poor way to run a government. Contrary to the government’s representation of the matter, the headscarf is a sign of modesty, not swearing allegiance to any political party, person, or ideology. Most women choose to wear the scarf of their own volition, not as a sign of oppression but piousness. Many women wear these scarves their whole lives, making it understandable that they are up in arms about the matter.
Tunisia can ban headscarves, but it will be a poor move on their part. If the goal is to suppress extremism, it will only alienate women and foster discontent among the Islamic community, perhaps breeding greater extremism. If the government’s goal is to suppress Islamic candidates and political uprising, that too will fail. Muslims will still vote for muslims, and christians will still vote for christians, whether or not they are defined by a scarf. Tunisia needs to look to France, and the anger of its disenfranchised Islamic community. If the goal is truly to stamp out extremism and form a more cohesive, safe, and united country, violating the freedoms of one of its most influential communities is probably not a good first step.