President Sarkozy: Fashion Adviser Or Statesman?

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The French National Assembly and the Senate do not see eye to eye, in fact the last time they met in one place was 150 years ago. Therefore, for them to meet now has to be serious, and you could say as serious as going to war with, for example Britain. President Nicolas Sarkozy ended the 150 years of no eye to eye drought on Monday 22 June at the Palace of Versailles. Mr Sarkozy said in the historic speech that he wants to ban the Muslim women’s burqa (head-to-toe Islamic garment for women) because it was not a symbol of religion but rather a sign of subservience for women.

But why would the French Present take such a measure? Why attack this Muslim women dress? What is more, why tell Muslim women what to wear? Surely there are more other important issues to be discussed in such rare gathering, for instance the crisis in Iran or the tunnel that is being dug between the two authoritarians North Korea and Burma. But no! President Sarkozy would rather deal with women’s fashion; I would hate to be a French person right now as I hate to feel as small as the dust that is lying here where I am typing this paper.

Let’s just return to the question of why attack the burqa.

Before Mr Sarkozy delivered the historic speech to more than 900 MPs – members of the National Assembly and the Senate – he came back from Afghanistan.

When Mr Sarkozy found out that he was going to travel to Afghanistan – the most dangerous country in the world according to President Barack Obama – his wife (Carla Bruni-Sarkozy) reported to close friends that her husband began having a strange and frighting dream at night over and over and even on the plane en route to Kabul. He would wake up screaming and the First Lady would then hold the President in her lab and make the bad dream go away.

Mr Sarkozy’s dream: The President just touched down in Kabul. He was greeted by President Hamid Karzai and his associates. As they walked down on a dusty red carpet, a river of people waited to greet the French President. Among the people was a woman whose flesh was covered (burqa); she approached Mr Sarkozy to shake his hand. As she shaked his hand, he politely asked her to show her face. To everyone’s surprise and bewilderment, the veil and burqa were lifted and in came out a face with bushy beard and eyebrows and 20Kg of C4, and then he detonated; the only thing left of the French President was the soles of his boots.

Listen! I will come clean! The above dream narrative is purely guess words on my part. It is what the journalism community call pre- or post-potential journalism – reporting something that has/has not happened and may/may not be released; in the financial reporting world, reporters have been making a living from it for years.

But one thing is certain that before Mr Sarkozy’s departure to Afghanistan, he received complaints from 65 French MPs – ranging from the Communists to his UMP – about the burqa and demanded for a parliamentary commission to look at whether Muslim women in burqa in public undermine the secular tradition in France and women's rights. Apparently at first he filed it in the “no no draw.” But when he returned from Kabul, Mr Sarkozy pulled it out and gathered everyone together and began his onslaught on the burqa.

France, which is the home to the largest Muslim community in Europe: 5 million, has already banded the headscarf in schools and universities in 2004. But the burqa is only worn by five percent and we know from past: if Mr Sarkozy bans the burqa, then many more women will start wearing the burqa in defiance.

Mr Sarkozy should just stick to being a Statesman and leave the fashion business as well as religion advice to the individuals given that he is lousy at it. “The burqa is not a religious sign,” said Mr Sarkozy. And added: “It is a sign of subservience, a sign of debasement.” But, is he an expert in Muslim religion? What is more, does he know what the burqa means to Muslim women better than them?

Let’s just for one second look over to their neighbours: Britain. The British has done very well in letting people wear clothing that reflects their religious devotions. British people are used to seeing fellow Brits wearing headscarves or even burqas. The more Britain becomes a religiously diverse nation, the more such clothing is appearing in public and the more they are becoming used to it.

We live in a world that is more and more becoming religious pluralism: it is a way for the world to cultivate acceptance of diverse faiths. Government should just leave such issue alone. The burqa is not harming anyone; it has been around for centuries and will be around for many more.