In this long article many comments come to mind. However, the time to address them is more than I can muster at the moment
Suffice to say that it is pleasing to see the number of articles on any Islamic subject being aired and may they continue. They need to be debated, daily.
One in Melbourne yesterday from a member of the federal opposition; a detailed article in The Australian yesterday, one of the best ever written on the 'thought police'. So the more the merrier.
The threat that a burgeoning Muslim population in this country represents to most people in varying degrees, is a subject that should be aired with the hope that even the cricketing fans and other sporting affectionados may switch off the TV for long enough to realise that we are not isolated in Australia from the same social problems that are now being experienced in Europe, never to be repeated here, hopefully.
So keep the comment and articles coming; learn something every day on the activities that will impact not your lives particularly, but the lives of your children and grandchildren.
Right now our disappointing politicians are discussing immigration and probably considering only half of the important matters needing detailed analysis for the future of our country. Stay awake and listen, read and comment. No better way than through these pages.
One final comment, relevant to the article. If, as suggested by the writer, banning the burqa means that France may now experience terrorist bombings, a trade mark of Islam, then surely this confirms the aggressive nature of the ideology.

There is also a funny side to it:

"Ambassador calls for divorce after veil-wearing Muslim bride reveals a beard and crossed eyes

An Arab ambassador called for an instant divorce after discovering his veil-wearing fiancée had a beard and was cross-eyed, it emerged today.

The would-be bride had hidden her face behind a Muslim niqab throughout their short courtship, meaning the diplomat had no idea what she looked like.

But as soon as the marriage was contract was signed in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, he tried to kiss her, before coming face-to-face with her hairy face and strange squint.

‘He was absolutely horrified,’ said a wedding guest.

‘The bride had a nice personality, but there was a good reason why she was hiding her looks behind a veil.

‘A divorce was inevitable, and the groom went straight to court leaving his new bride in floods of tears.’"

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1249922/Ambassador-calls-divorce-veil-wearing-bride-reveals-beard-crossed-eyes.html#ixzz0fBd0f3N6

I do not know to what extent the burqa has been a political symbol in France up till now. But a ban is guaranteed to turn it into one.

What pray is the French State going to do if a few hundred burqa clad women, some carrying babies, take it into their heads to advance on the Gare du Nord?

--Release a truncheon wielding gendarmerie on them?

--Teargas them?

--Disperse them with rubber bullets?

Gimme a break

I agree with your article Sadanand, it raises some very good points- and personally I think the discouragement to shariah advocates is also a good justification for a ban.

But I think the most important thing to consider is that a staunchly secularist nation has every right to demand their citizens remove religiously-motivated headgear it finds unethical or obscene: just as much as a devoutly religious (in this case Islamic) country deserves the right to insist everyone cover up to the degree it considers modest and proper, when out in public.

It's no different from a standard of not being allowed to wear a ski mask (except when skiing), yet are, at all times outside, required to wear pants.

I am inclined to agree with the French on this matter.
The Muslim women can wear a Chador or Khimar (headscarves) that show they are modest, Muslim women, as required by the Koran, without having to wear a full face veil like the Burqa.

In fact, it is not written anywhere in the Koran that women must wear the Burqa. It does state that both male and female Muslims must wear modest dress at all times.

It is only a stipulation of fundamentalist Islamists to force women to wear the Burqa. However, many Muslim men wear westernised clothing out in public, while their women still wear coverings over their clothes while in public.

I see it as a woman's right to wear what she likes, but it is a human quality to show one's expression on the face or in the eyes. To deny this is to deny those women the full participation in their surrounding environment and with their fellow humans of all religions.

I think France has got it right , I find that type of dress aggressive , ugly and promoting insecurity for others .These people need to return to the Wonders and Beauty and terrific Extremes of the Middle East , it's a blast man !