Belgium's New Bill is Not Anti-Muslim

The United States of America just passed a milestone when it enacted several important bills into law in their land. Last year, its Congress passed a stimulus bill that helped heal the deep wounds of financial cutback brought about by the menace of some big bosses in Wall Street. Just last month, the same batch of legislator sweepingly approved an almost a century old bill – the health care reform act. For this month, they have a pending bill that needed to be passed as the president suggested. That is the bill that will finally regulate banking in their land. But this is just the "other side of the world."

Together with the US, several countries across the globe also shared similar changes and developments in their legislations. We have a roll of countries that passed their own developmental legislations that either shocked the world for its magnanimity, raged many for its biased portions, and steep up emotions for its applicability. But in Europe, a country seems to be making news after legislation about the banning of certain religious clothing has been passed.

Belgium flooded the news including those of major media outlets like CNN and Time for passing a law that prohibits a Muslim woman from wearing burqas. It was after when Belgian lawmakers passed a law by the Lower House that bans Muslim women from wearing any clothing that covers their faces. The law is said to still pass in the Senate before it can finally becomes a law of the land. Astonishingly, if the Senate would favor this legislation, Belgium will become the first country that bans burqas and other Islamic garb among others.

Belgium is a highly Catholic country with some 47% claims they are from a catholic church. But Muslims represent the second largest religion in the country with 4% of the total population. The rest is divided into atheists and other religions. Most Muslims in the country come from Morocco and Turkey.

Because of this legislation, human rights group said that this law will most likely affect the freedom of the Belgian people. Amnesty International was one of the human rights advocates that denounced the passage of the said law. But Dennis Ducarme from the liberal Reformist Movement was quick to defend the law.

"We think all people in public places must show their face," Ducarme stressed. "We must defend our values in the question of the freedom and the dignity of the woman."

According to Ducarme, burqas are not necessarily a requirement for Muslim women. He stressed that only those extremist Muslims from Pakistan and Afghanistan have those kinds of clothing rules. He even added that because Belgium's Muslims are composed of those not radically inclined, it is possible for Belgian Muslim women to show their face in public. The parliament also agreed by saying that the law is more of in response to security and morality and not just for discrimination.  For this reason, working women in Belgium will have time to choose their workwear uniforms less the burqas.