Lift Veil for Right to Vote, SC tells burqa-clad women

Lift Veil for Right to Vote, SC tells burqa-clad women


NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has said that burqa-clad women cannot be issued voter identity cards, rejecting the argument that religion prohibit them from lifting their veils. As stated by IBN7.


A bench comprising Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan and Justice Deepak Verma gave the order on Friday while hearing a petition by Madurai resident Ajmal Khan, who had pleaded that printing photos of Muslim women in the voters list violates Islam and their fundamental right to practise and profess their religion.


The order comes at a time when a controversy triggered by the ban on full-length burqas has roiled France, attracting protests from clerics.


The Supreme Court was not convinced, and asked him what Muslim women would do if they contested elections.


“What if you want to contest an election?” asked the court. “If you have such strong religious sentiments, and do not want to be seen by members of public, then do not go to vote. You cannot go with burqa to vote. It will create complications in identification of voters.


“If someone comes to vote in a burqa and the photograph was also taken with a veil covering the face, how would anyone identify the voter?'' the court said.


Khan filed a plea in the apex court after the Madras High Court ruling dismissed his plea questioning Election Commission of India’s move to have photographs of voters in electoral rolls.


“The religious custom and preachings of Holy Quran lay down that Muslim women should wear purdah and ‘burqa’ and show their faces only to their husbands and close relatives,” Khan said in his plea.