Chad Muslims divided over ban on veil

Nobody claimed responsibility for suicide bombings, but authorities blame Nigeria’s Boko Haram

Chad’s decision to ban women from wearing the Islamic veil, which came two days after bloody suicide bombings hit the capital, has divided Muslims but the government defends it as part of an anti-terror strategy.

“Wearing the burqa must stop immediately from today,” Prime Minister Kalzeube Pahimi Deubet told religious leaders on Wednesday, after the twin bombings left 33 people dead and more than 100 others injured in the capital N’Djamena.

Nobody has claimed responsibility for the attacks, but authorities blame Nigerian terrorist group Boko Haram, which has carried out many suicide bombings inside Nigeria in the past six years, sometimes by women who hid explosives under modest outer garments.

Chad’s army has spearheaded a regional military effort to fight Boko Haram as the militant sect extended activities beyond Nigeria’s northeastern borders. After Monday’s blasts, the Chadian air force bombed Boko Haram positions inside Nigeria.

Many Muslim women in N’Djamena wear the full-face veil with just the eyes exposed known as the niqab, which is usually black. But Deubet outlawed any clothing “where you can only see the eyes”. In a country where Muslims make up 53 per cent of the population — with Christians accounting for 35 per cent — the ban on the Islamic veil, including the completely face-covering burqa, has prompted mixed reactions.

Abdul Sadiq Djidda, a 45-year-old teacher, said the move was “taken for our safety”. “Wearing the burqa doesn’t derive from Chadian culture,” he said. “It comes from elsewhere. And it’s recommended nowhere in the holy book (Quran).”

Djidda added: “As a Muslim, I find that people go overboard a little with this camouflage.”

Other Muslims are shocked by the decision. Hassan Barka, a mechanic, said. “It isn’t people in burqas who commit attacks and this dress has become customary for many Chadians,” said Barka, a mechanic. “It is difficult to implement this decision. Maybe time is needed to spread awareness.”

● In a country where Muslims make up 53% of the population — with Christians accounting for 35% — the ban on the veil, including the face-covering burqa, has prompted mixed reactions.