Raise Your Voice on Social Issues

By: Sahrash I. Chatha , Surrey As a practicing Muslimah living in Canada, I find it unfortunate that a bill such as Bill 62 has been able to find its way into the legislative assembly of one of our provinces. Canada has a legacy of being the epitome of what its like to have the rights and freedom to observe cultures, traditions and religious practices while living in a multicultural society. Bill 62 was introduced last Wednesday in what is being phrased as an “attempt” at addressing an issue of safety, identification and communication in the public sphere, all of which is baseless and has no concrete foundations as Muslim women have always been compliant when dealing with public services. Introduction of the bill means Muslim women living in Quebec who wear a Niqab or Burka cannot cover their faces while in public spaces. Muslim women should have equal rights as like any other Canadian citizen and the introduction of this bill deprives Muslim women of their fundamental rights; This bill is an attack on the women who choose to cover themselves and forces them to compromise a part of their faith and by calling it a bill of neutrality, as stated by the government in Quebec, the depth of the impact that this bill is having on the Muslim women in Quebec is incomprehensible. By allowing such a bill to succeed, the government is providing another false reason for people to foster hate crime and discriminatory sentiments against Muslim women. The Canadian charter states that people would be allowed to practice their faith without interference and therefore as Canadian citizens, the affairs of the Muslim women in respect to their apparel and religious practices should be of no concern to the state so long as it is not causing harm to anyone. There is no purpose of this ban as we have not seen any examples in which Muslim women have not been compliant in communicating or confirming their identity where required. This is nothing more than creating an issue using a non-issue to win popularity ahead of the 2018 election; this agenda has been pursued for the past 10 years and is no different from what the previous government had attempted at introducing and was recently overturned. Canadian society will not accept this move as it is against the values that Canada stands for. Muslims must and will fight this bill; we will not allow our fundamental right to practice our religion to be compromised.