Talk:Burqa

Bangladesh
Burka, Burqa. This ia not limited to Afghanistan, It was also the Bengali term used in East Pakistan (Bangladeish) when I lived there (1965). It (to me) refers to the fully-sewn fully-enclosing (head and upper body or longer) womens clothing. Most have an eye port, usually covered with a lace fabric flap. Some are rather elaborate; though now used by poorer women, many are severely worn and tattered. In 1995, I was shocked to see almost no burqas (except worn by old women in Old Dhaka or remote villages). I was told that this was due to the revolutionary social reforms since the split from West Pakistan. Young girls, typically wore school uniforms in public.

See also the term Chador, which (in Iran, Farsi) was the simple (usually black and unsewn) sheet, thrown over the head, clasped at the neck, extending to the ground.

Chador vs. Burka
I'm not an expert on these things by any means, but isn't a chador different from an (afghan) burka? The article seems to suggest that it's just another word for it, but I don't think that's the case - or is it? -- Schnee 11:18, 19 Aug 2004 (UTC)

You are correct, per my experience in the late 1960's. In Iran, the Farsi term "Chador" referred to a usually black {sheet-like} cloth, thrown around the body over the head, clasped at the neck, like a flowing full body cape. Some women liked it as they could go out without "dressing up."

Whereas, to my experience the "Burka" was a sewn tan-colored garment enclosing the head and upper body, with a minimal face or eye opening, coverable with a lace flap. The Burkae-type garment was common in East Pakistan, (posssibly West Pakistan) and Afghanistan. I'm not sure of the Urdu (Pakistan) or Dari (Afghanistan) name. Perhaps someone more familiar with Mideast/Asian clothing and language can clarify these terms.

It is possible that the distinction in some areas may be based on class; with the Burka worn by poorer, less educated, more (rural) conservative women, and the Chador worn by more urban, educated upper class women. -- Visitor 23Oct04

Comment by editor
I have removed the following sentences:
 * The term chadri needs to be defined when introduced. I think it is an older term for the Afgan burqa.  A reference is www.worldviewmagazine.com/issues/article.cfm?id=77&issue=17 -

Matthews case
The Matthews case in Australia is very poorly explained. Judges do not "consult" experts. Evidence is produced in court by the parties. If there was evidence from "forensic handwriting examiners", whatever they are, why wasn't this produced in court? Be very careful of accusing a court of being wrong. Finally it is insulting to call the judge by surname alone. This entry is very clearer POV and quite bigoted.

Covid
Mention https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2020/05/face-masks-and-niqabs/ conflict. Jidanni (talk) 02:57, 2 December 2022 (UTC)

Map is in need of fixing
The current world map (File:Burka_ban_world_map.svg) is a problem when it comes to the purple category. Sweden was recently included on it and placed in the same category as Turkey and Egypt. Sweden has no specific laws against religiously motivated facial covering. There are bans on facial coverings during demonstrations, but overall, it's pretty hard to encroach on religious freedoms like wearing any kind of hijab. In short, there's no lawful way of excluding or restricting someone from in the public space because they're wearing a burqa.

There's no formal ban on facial coverings in the "public workspace", only specific restrictions that bars facial covering in preschools and schools that was decided by a few municipalities (schools are administrated by the municipalities and only partially regulated by the state). However, this decision was overturned by the administrative courts. Enacting a ban would require changing national laws and possibly reinterpreting a constitutional right to freedom of religion.

In a somewhat related case, SAS denied a woman the right to wear hijab at work based on an EU regulation.

In practice, it would be almost impossible to find employment if you insist on wearing a burqa or niqab in Sweden. It's because it's completely incompatible with Swedish majority culture. Even with less covering hijabs, employers have the right to deny employment in certain cases. Hijab is acceptable in some lines of work, but not all. This is regulated more as a part of labor relations which is primarily negotiated between unions and employer organizations.

Even if the municipal bans here in Sweden had been approved, I believe placing Sweden and Turkey in the same category would border on misinformation and misleading readers and definitely a violation of WP:NPOV. Either leave countries with highly local bans unmarked, or come up with a separate category with a properly descriptive label. Peter Isotalo 08:29, 10 October 2023 (UTC)