I

refer to an article “New Australian law to make Muslims lift veils”, (www.thejakartapost.com, on July 10).

Australia has done the right thing and its example should and must be followed by the rest of the civilized world in the quest against Wahhabism.

Moreover, the niqab is absolutely un-Islamic, so what’s the fuss in protesting the decisions taken by the Australians, Belgians and French? In the whole Koran there is not a single word forcing women to hide their hair, foreheads, chins, throats or, worse, their faces. Nothing. There is only a suggestion to cover the breast.

The rest is an interpretation done by those who call themselves “Muslims” and see the jilbabs, hijabs, niqabs and burqas as symbols of female submission and control as well as symbols of Wahhabi conquest and presence.

For 500 years, no Indonesian Muslim was covered and thousands and thousands of clerics who knew the Koran didn’t see a need to ‘jilbabize’ 50 percent of the population.

Edo E.
Jakarta