Australia Rejected the Bill to ban Burqa

New South Wales, the most populous state in Australia on 20 May 2010 rejected a bill to ban Burqa. Frede Nile, leader of the Christian Democratic Party, had moved the bill. The state’s upper house rejected Nille’s bill by 26 to 3 votes. The above bill was introduced to follow the trend of banning the burqa in countries like France and Belgium. Before the bill was tabled, a debate took place inside the nation whether to allow the use of burqa or not. Conservative lawmakers gave security reasons to ban burqa. According to them, burqa can allow a terrorist to hide explosives or weapons under its cover.  However, majority of legislators voted against the bill because they felt that the bill would spread hatred and bring disunity within the country.

• Muslims are 1.7% of Australia’s population of 22 millions.
• Fred Nile had moved a similar bill in 2006 and 2002 but resulted in defeat of the bill.
• Besides Australia, France and Belgium are the other two nations which have proposed a ban on burqa.