Uncertainty abounds for women in niqabs

Quebec’s religious neutrality bill prompts heated debate

MONTREAL— Warda Naili says the first time she donned a niqab six years ago, it became a part of her.

The Quebec woman, a convert to Islam, said she decided to cover her face out of a desire to practice her faith more authentically and to protect her modesty.

And in an image-driven society, she found it liberating that people would now have to connect with her based on who she was, not what she looked like.

“My interpretation — and it’s very personal — is that my niqab is my portable curtain,” Naili, 34, said in an interview near her home in Montreal. “I can go everywhere and be reached, and reach people as I want.”

Since its adoption on Wednesday, the Quebec government’s religious neutrality bill has been the subject of heated debate.

In light of this, the government will publish the rules on how it will be applied, the province’s justice minister said Sunday.

Stéphanie Vallée said the decision to publish the document, which was originally intended only for administrators, was made in order to fully inform the public on the controversial legislation.

In a lengthy interview with The Canadian Press, Vallée said she was stunned by the intense reaction to Bill 62, which requires anyone giving or receiving state services to do so with an uncovered face.

On Sunday, Vallée called for calm and stressed the need to “reposition the law in its context.”

She noted that most members of Quebec’s legislature agree with the principle behind the bill.

“I must admit that the interpretation we’ve heard is quite particular, because we were concerned throughout the bill with preserving balance and especially preserving individual freedoms,” she said.

Fatima Ahmad, a 21-year-old Montreal university student, said she felt compelled to begin wearing the niqab just over a year ago, during the month of Ramadan.

“I realized it was something I wanted to do — and I loved it,” she said. “It’s part of my devotion towards God and it also deals with modesty.”

The legislation forbids anyone from receiving or giving a public service with their face covered.

That includes city services such as public transit.

While the law does not mention a particular religion, many say it unfairly targets Muslim women who wear religious face coverings.

Ahmad says the bill could technically stop her from attending university, although she’s hoping that won’t happen since most of the faculty members she’s spoken to have said they’ll support her.

In the future, she says she expects to have to stay home more often.

Naili, for her part, says she already stays home most of the time to avoid the discrimination she faces on the street. She says she doesn’t see how the law can claim to be helping women when it will make her depend on her husband for rides and force her to change what she wears.

“I want to control who I give the permission to access my body,” she said. “I think every woman — and every person — should have this right.” Anti-niqab bill brings Trumpism to Canada, Walkom, A11 Take on Quebec’s hateful law, A10