Much will be lost in terms of freedom of expression if Boris Johnson succumbs to the pressures of the holier-than-thou and apologises.
Boris often gets criticized by the political ‘correcties’ for his tongue-in-cheek expressive style, yet his argument on the face covering burqas is quite valid. He referred to it as a ‘letter boxes’ while Churchill described the same about a century back as ‘walking tents.’
When France, entrenched in its jurisprudence of Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité, has banned burqas in public arena and when the most accommodating and liberal Denmark implemented a similar ban, Boris Johnson’s point cannot be flippantly dismissed as being ‘Islamophobic’ or ‘Anti-Mohammedan.’
Banning the wearing of burqas is neither a Right or Left Wing issue. It is a matter of basic security. Humans identify others mainly through facial features. So far yesterday’s attackers of Bookmark Bookshop in Bloomsbury London have not been caught as they were masked. Did not the terror suspect, Mohammed Ahmed Mohammed escape internal and border surveillance by disguising himself as a woman wearing a burqa?
The banning of burqa in public places is neither an infringement of individual liberty nor does it fall within the realm of bigotry and intolerance. It is towards the protection of society at large similar to banning masked faces or Ku Klux Klan hoods in public.
Hope Boris does not bow to the pressure from the political ‘correcties’ or get forced by May to retract an opinion too honest for our time.
Look at the bright side Dinshaw, in today's crisis, these ladies wont need to go out and buy anti Corona masks, which are in short supply I might add. :)
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