Call to ban burka fuels climate of fear

I WOULD like to challenge Councillor Joe O’Callaghan to produce official figures showing that in Britain today “hundred of thousands of people are floating around in burkas.” I live in Holland, which currently has one and a quarter million Muslims (1,219753 by 2011 statistics, to be exact).

The number of burkas worn in 2006 (last official count) was approximated at 100 and, even if this has increased by an exaggerated three-fold, that would mean the current figures would be at a maximum of 300. If O’Callaghan is correct about the figures in Britain, France and Belgium, then why are the figures so high compared to Holland? Is this Islamophobia? Who or what is creating the problem?

Has O’Callaghan spoken directly to women wearing the burka to ask them why they wear this garment in northern Europe where the climate is so wet? If he showed genuine interest, respect and openness without judgement or assumptions, he might have some answers. Many are worn by older women who came to the country already wearing one. Some choose to do so because of their religion, while others do so not fully by choice but in the same way that some Catholic women obey their husbands by having sexual relations without birth control, while still being terrified of becoming pregnant. who wear them as a protest against their family or society because they no longer feel safe or at home in their environment. In these cases it has more to do with identity than religion, and one should feel compassion rather than judgement.