Hijab may be PC, but it's not for PQ

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Sondos Abdelatif, a 19 year old woman in training to be a correctional officer in Quebec has been told to choose between her chosen profession, and her religious practice.

In just under a week, I've been faced with two stories from Quebec regarding the 'appropriateness' of the hijab. Yet again, in the image of Rosa Parks, a young woman is proving to be the force behind acceptance and equal rights. Sondos has chosen option three: The Human Rights Commission.

Quebec's Public Safety Department is firm on its opinion that the hijab must  not be worn to prevent it being used to strangle the wearer (a good argument), Sondos is arguing that she was accepted into the training program based on an application containing a full portfolio of pictures of her wearing the hijab. She wore it throughout the examination process and the first full week of training. This is also a good argument. We'll have to see if the Human Rights Commission can come up with a better explanation than Quebec's Primier did for Azzy Mansour's experience...

 Previous story:

Ahmahan 'Azzy' Mansour was told to take off her hijab (Muslim Headscarf) or leave a soccer tournament in Laval Quebec, which promptly resulted in the entire team banding together and walking off the playing field in protest. While Premier Jean Charest has likened the referee's request to 'asking me to tuck in my shirt', it is clear that this situation is not as simple as the politician's thoughts on the matter.

Azzy's family and community have rallied around her and are only concerned at this point that she remain happy and confident and they are proud of the support that she's received from friends and teammates. The response from her Muslim community in Ottawa is clearly shock and dismay, but everyone is happy to leave it in the hands of the Canadian Human Rights Commission who now holds the complaint firmly in hand.

The hijab is defined by its roll as a shelter, allowing modesty and morality for women of Muslim belief; unfortunately it hasn't sheltered Azzy and her teammates from the fact that the ignorance still effects our day to day life.