Cairo, July 24: It never crossed Khadijah Ouararhni-Grech’s mind that covering her face would make her fell prey to racism in Australia.
“As I was stepping on to the bus, the driver said: ‘You can’t get on the bus wearing your mask’,” Khadijah told Australia’s The Daily Telegraph on Friday, July 24.
The Aussie Muslim woman politely told the driver that her niqab (face-veil) was not a “mask”, but a religious dress.
“It is law,” the driver replied.
“I told him it wasn’t the law and he said ‘You have to show me your face’,” Khadijah said.
“I said to him, ‘There’s no difference between me and that lady sitting there who chooses to not wear what I’m wearing.'”
After a heated argument that distressed passengers, the driver eventually let the veiled Muslim woman on the bus.
“There were others present, there was a lady with a baby who was also disgusted about the discrimination that was brought upon me,” said Khadijah.
The Muslim woman filed a racism complaint with the privately-operated HillsBus company.
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“At HillsBus we take complaints seriously and we value our record of customer service,” a HillsBus spokesperson said.
“We received the complaint on Tuesday and an internal inquiry is now under way.
“Until the matter is investigated it would obviously not be appropriate to offer further public commentary.”
“Attitude Change”
Khadijah, a mother of two, does not want punishment for the driver, but wants the bus company to improve driver’s education and attitudes towards Muslims.
“I’d just like to change his attitude,” she said.
“I just want him to be educated on the subject.”
The Muslim woman also offered help in introducing programs to drivers about the Muslim code of dress.
“I’d be more than happy to go to the company with my sheikh and educate these people about what this exactly is and our beliefs and the reason why.”
Islam sees hijab as an obligatory code of dress, not a religious symbol displaying one’s affiliations.
As for niqab, the majority of Muslim scholars believe that a woman is not obliged to cover her face or hands.
They believe that it is up to every woman to decide whether to take on the face-cover or not.
Muslims, who have been in Australia for more than 200 years, make up 1.5 percent of its 20-million population.
Islam is the country’s second largest religion after Christianity.
In post 9/11 Australia, Muslims have been haunted with suspicion and have had their patriotism questioned.
A 2007 poll taken by the Issues Deliberation Australia (IDA) think-tank found that Australians basically see Islam as a threat to the Australian way of life.
In 2008, a governmental report revealed that Muslims are facing deep-seated Islamophobia and race-based treatment like never before.
–Agencies