Everything that is wrong with the burkini ban 

Women’s right to cover up may not be as protected as their right to strip down

France’s recent ban on burkini swimsuits represents everything that is wrong with our understanding of Islam, terrorism and women. The town of Cannes was the first to pass the summer ban, which was later followed by the towns of Villeneuve-Loubet, near Nice, and Sisco in Corsica. While the French Muslim women have been critical of the decision, feminists around the world have been more or less mum on the issue. Perhaps the right of women to cover up is not as well protected and cherished as their right to strip down.

The proponents of the ban argue that burkini swimsuit is not compatible with the French values. France’s Prime Minister even went as far as to say that the swimsuits are based on the “enslavement of women”. Lionnel Luca, the mayor of Villeneuve-Loubet, didn’t make matters better when he said that the ban was put in place for sanitary reasons. Out rightly ridiculing the religious belief of Muslims he said that “in France, one does not come to the beach dressed to display one’s religious convictions, especially as they are false convictions that the religion does not demand.”

Many are using the unfortunate recent terrorist attack in Nice as a reason for the ban, however, almost no one seems to be able to explain the link between the burkini swimsuits and terrorism. If anything, it plays right into the narrative set by ISIS to divide the societies on the basis of their religious differences. It alienates the Muslim population living in France and taking away their agency, invokes a sense of helplessness in the Muslim women who choose to wear burkini swimsuits out of their personal choice rather than out of coercion or compulsion.

Wrong foreign policy decisions, short-sightedness and capitalistic greed has led us to this point where almost every part of the world is affected by terrorism. While the reason for what has led to the rise of terrorism might rest in past, but the future of this menace depends on how we deal with it today. That is precisely why France’s politicians’ justification of burkini swimsuits ban is equally relevant for the rest of the world. Correlation of a harmless piece of clothing with a symbol of terrorism is not only offensive but politically incorrect and setting such a precedent is extremely dangerous.

Cannes mayor David Lisnard said that “the burkini is like a uniform, a symbol of Islamist extremism.” Commenting along the same lines, Thierry Migoule, head of Municipal Services in Cannes said that the rule is about banning “ostentatious clothing which refers to an allegiance to terrorist movements which are at war with us”. This is the perfect example of fundamentalist secularism and cultural imperialism where the supposedly weaker gender is targeted to further an ideology by undertaking a certain set of supposedly approved actions. Let it be a burka or a burkini swimsuit, under the pretext of freeing women, coercing a woman out of covering is in fact the worst kind of cultural oppression where the oppressor is convinced of his moral righteousness and superiority.

The problem with our so-called modern societies is that they supposedly are the champions of freedom, liberty and democracy but the implementation of these principles is fairly restricted and doesn’t not apply equally to all spheres of life. Last year, the world stood with France to condemn the Charlie Hebdo shooting because ‘freedom of expression’ is a globally cherished goal. However, we don’t see any response from the global community when Muslim French women are prohibited to express their freedom by wearing clothes that they feel comfortable in. The message is clear – no matter who you are and where you are, all your rights are protected….unless….you are a Muslim or worse yet, a Muslim woman.

The French ban on the burkini swimsuit is an addition to the rising incidents of Islamophobia all over the world. It confirms the long-standing fear of law abiding Muslim citizens that they are deemed as a ‘threat’ and not treated as ‘equals’ merely on the basis of their religion. Clubbing such senseless policy decisions with the efforts to curb terrorism can have disastrous effects for the multi-cultural and multi-religious societies. While we must work together towards formulating sound policies to prevent terrorism to grow, undertaking such haphazard and nonsensical decisions can have the opposite and probably, catastrophic effects.