A Muslim teaching assistant has vowed to pursue her right to wear a veil during lessons after an employment tribunal found that she had been victimised by the school which suspended her but dismissed claims that she was subjected to religious discrimination and harassment.
The tribunal awarded Aishah Azmi £1,100 for "injury to feelings" and also condemned the interference of politicians, including Tony Blair and the community cohesion minister, Phil Woolas, who have made public comments in support of Mrs Azmi's employer.
Mrs Azmi, 24, who was suspended after she refused to remove her veil at Headfield Church of England Junior School in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, said she would now seek to pursue her case in the European Court of Justice. She flatly rejected the school's offer of renewed employment if she agreed to remove the veil. "Muslim women who wear the veil are not aliens, and politicians need to recognise that what they say can have a very dangerous impact," she said. "Integration requires people like me to be in the workplace so that people can see that we are not to be feared or mistrusted." She added that the case had made her "fearful of the consequences for Muslim women in this country who want to work".
At a press conference in Leeds, at which she responded to the tribunal's findings, Mrs Azmi, wearing a black niqab, and her solicitor, Nick Whittingham, provided a fuller picture of the details of her dispute with Kirklees Council.
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/leg...cle1904973.ece
It trully is the end of Western Culture........where are we to go and live without wacky Middle East norms? First cabs wont carry passengers with alcohol in Chicago and then this.....what the F
Soulxtc, Western Culture is alive & doing well as far as I can see. Are you fearful of other cultures, that you can't trust your own culture against others?
All culture has their goods & bads, however how we use our knowledge would be a matter of all our survival. Now, that's kind of hard to predict!!!
Well, I don't think letting them follow their cultural norms is necessarily a bad thing. And I don't think you (as a society) can force culture on anybody else. If they really believe in wearing the veil, well, I don't think that just saying, hey, its not Western is going to stop them.
I'd rather stab myself with a fork than wear a veil covering my entire body, but hey, if it floats your boat.
The only thing I can see that Mrs Azmi is doing wrong is perhaps her choice of employer.
I could be wrong but it sounds vaguely like a religious school. If so I think they should have the right to determine which brand of brainwashing the kids should recieve.Headfield Church of England Junior School
I guess my point is that we cant go to a lot of the middle eastern countries that they are from and expect them to tolerate our way of doing things, the same should be true of their immigration to our countries in that they should be expected to adapt to our coulture otherwise what they heck are they coming here for in the first place?Originally Posted by DigitalJunkie
The US is a nation of immigrants but every race and culture that has ever came here has adapted to our norms and values. Its a courtesy thing.
soulxtc, the problem is they are conditioned from early age to do or think the way they do, much like being brainwashed. In a way, we all being brainwashed so we can live in a society together by our own rules & laws created.
If I ask you that U.S.A. has more freedom than most other nations, you would think so. Right? So, while they can accept your ways, but does that means they should be forced to do it? If you want to force them, then you are not offering "freedom" as you claimed. Don't you think, "freedom" maybe one of the many reasons why they are here?
i think it was only just in the part of the employers to sack Mrs Aazmi, we have had enough of these religious fanatics and dogma's in india, us, uk.. etc, education should be completely secular as it is the basic building block of a person. all nations should implement laws like france did which made it mandatory for students not to wear any religious symbols, at first it may enrage some sects but ultimately in due course of time it is only through these measures that future regious hard liners can be subdued
Eh, good point. Cant expect them to change right off the bat. Assimilation does take time. Maybe I just wish theyd take better advantage of that freedom I guess. Having a teacher teach a lesson wearing a veil though has to be pretty freaky for the kids.
Change does takes time.
I think that if people are motived enough about their religion if they want to do that, then they should be able to, but not forced to. Does that make sense? I mean, I'm not religious enough to want to wear a rosary or something around all the time. But some people are. And I'm okay with that, as long as no one is trying to force me to wear one if I don't want to. Does that make sense?
Yeah totally but its pretty freaky to try to talk to somebody whose face you cant see and is completely covered in cloth.
I think Dig Junkie's right, it'll just take time to assimilate hopefully.
How the hell should she know she has been victimized?? A veil is covering her eyes. At least get a witness that doesn't have something blocking their eye sight.
bullshit all of a sudden they making stupid ass laws
There is no law that's been made............
If it's a religious school whose money comes from... not the government... then they can do pretty much whatever they want as far as this veil thing goes.
Now stop being so freaking nice, and buy a stun gun. - Krell
It would be interesting to know if teachers in Muslim schools in that country are required to wear the veil.
It would also be interesting to know if she wore the veil when she applied for the job.
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