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Taking on the veil: West looks to assimilation - -

By Mark Rice - Oxley

from the October 20, 2006 edition

WHAT IT MEANS: British officials have said a full face covering is alienating. Many Western nations are struggling to balance mainstream values with cultural expression.
DAVE THOMPSON/AP

Taking on the veil: West looks to assimilation

From Britain to Australia, unease grows over the separateness of many of the West's Muslim communities.

By Mark Rice-Oxley | Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor

LONDON � Until recently, Rahmanara Chowdhury turned few heads on the street. Shrouded under a full-face Islamic veil, or niqab, she went about her business untroubled. "Occasionally, you get called 'ninja,' but I got used to that," she says.

But in recent weeks, she has noticed a change. "In public, I'm a lot more self-conscious, even intimidated," the native British Muslim adds. Some of her fellow niqabis, a growing sisterhood in Britain, have been threatened or abused. "All the feedback," she says, "seems to be really negative."

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Friday, 10/20/06

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Taking on the veil: West looks to assimilation

From Britain to Australia, unease grows over the separateness of many of the West&apos;s Muslim communities.

From Britain to Australia, unease grows over the separateness of many of the West's Muslim communities.