Hawzah News Agency- Thursday’s legislation marks the second time that a government led by the centre-right People’s party (ÖVP) has set its sights on the headscarf. In 2019, as part of a coalition that included the far right, Austria introduced a ban on headscarves for girls under 10 years of age. The legislation was later overturned by the country’s constitutional court, which described it as discriminatory in that it specifically targeted Muslims.
In the lead-up to the vote, the bill was criticised by rights organisations, including Amnesty International, which said it would “not empower girls – on the contrary, it will add to the current racist climate towards Muslims”.
The official Islamic Community in Austria, the IGGÖ, said the ban would leave children “stigmatised and marginalised”. In a statement on its website, the IGGÖ added: “This is symbolic politics at the expense of those affected''.
Angelika Atzinger of the Amazone women’s rights association, said the ban “sends girls the message that decisions are being made about their bodies and that this is legitimate”.
Others pointed to the broader picture. Farid Hafez, a senior researcher at Georgetown University, suggested the debate was being used strategically to distract from Austria’s severe economic pressures, including a budget deficit of 4.7% of GDP. “In this context, debate over the hijab offers a convenient way to divert attention from deeper fiscal problems'', he wrote earlier this year.
“Austria’s fixation on legislating against the hijab is not about safeguarding children but about entrenching exclusion, normalising Islamophobia as mainstream politics, and signalling to a new generation of Muslims that their place in Austrian society will always be precarious''.
Source: The Guardian
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