Second British minister plunges into Muslim veil row

LONDON: A second government minister waded into Britain's simmering spat on Muslim women wearing a veil, warning on Sunday that they risked provoking "fear and resentment".             

 

Communities Minister Phil Woolas urged Muslims to show understanding for the views of non-Muslims who found the veil "frightening and intimidating", in an article for the Sunday Mirror newspaper.       

 

Woolas -- whose responsibilities include community cohesion, race and faith -- backed former foreign secretary Jack Straw's decision to trigger the debate, which has raged since Thursday.    

 

"It can be hard to tell whether women wear the veil as an expression of their faith or because they are compelled to do so," Woolas said.      

 

"Most British-born Muslims who wear it, do so as an assertion of their identity and religion. This can create fear and resentment among non-Muslims and lead to discrimination.          

 

"Muslims then become even more determined to assert their identity, and so it becomes a vicious circle where the only beneficiaries are racists like the British National Party."    

 

The issue of integrating Britain's 1.65 million Muslims has been high on the political agenda since the deadly July 2005 London bombings, perpetrated by British Islamic extremists.        

 

Straw, now responsible for arranging government business, had said the veil made it harder for Muslims to integrate and that he preferred talking to constituents face to face, often asking Muslim women to remove their veils.            

 

Demonstrators have protested in Straw's constituency of Blackburn in northwest England: a working-class, industrial town with a large Muslim minority.       

 

Woolas called for a calm and measured debate.              

 

"Muslim women have every right to wear a veil covering their face. But they must realise that people who don't understand their culture can find it frightening and intimidating," he wrote.       

 

"We expect non-Muslims to be understanding of Asians and their culture. But that has to work both ways -- Muslims must also be understanding of other people."   

 

Meanwhile, the Church of England has accused the government of favouring Muslims in an attempt to make minority faith communities feel more integrated, in a confidential document leaked to The Sunday Telegraph newspaper.         

 

The report, written by the inter-faith advisor to Rowan Williams, the leader of the world's Anglicans, claimed Christians had been sidelined, while the tactic of giving Muslims preferential treatment had produced no "noticeable positive impact on community cohesion".     

 

The report said: "Indeed one might argue that disaffection and separation is now greater than ever, with Muslim communities withdrawing further into a sense of victimhood".