Every country has the right to fix dress codes for their schools. As do we in our country. You will also agree with me that if any school has white shirts and blue pants as their dress code you cannot say, "No, it's my freedom of choice to wear black shirts and white pants." What do you think schools are supposed to do?

My humble question to my sister Kaniz Fatema is that either you are Bangladeshi-born, or your parents were Bangladeshi-born, and are now living in the UK. The UK government did not force you or your parents to leave this country. That you did to have a better life in this material world. You people chose to live in a "Dar-ul Harb" country and can't blame them for their dress code. As far as I know, the UK government will have no objection if you want to wear religious dresses in your private life. You have already taken hijab and I think nobody ever asked you to take it off. It can be taken off only in school or any institution which has a unified dress code and that is nothing to do with religion.

If you do not like their decision, please come back to your own country and wear hijab or burkha -- whatever you like. We have plenty of these nowadays and nobody objects. By the way, hijab is not a true religious dress. You have to have cover your whole face as per the Holy Quran (Sura Al Ahjab: Verse 59).

Hijab

Usually I don't read English newspapers. But today (Dec 23) I bought a copy of The Daily Star and read a little bit from it. One feature drew my attention. It was a letter, "Sartorial freedom" written by Kaniz Fatima from the UK. I read the letter very thoroughly and with attention. It was written with a bold heart. I thank her for the letter.

If people like her come out and write the truth about hijab and other discrimination against Islam, most of the non-Muslim people may get the right views and opinions regarding these issues. Most of the Muslim girls in the UK or other non-Muslim countries don't care about hijab. They forget their religious mandate. I'm so proud to see such a well educated young lady in the UK who believes the religious truth and follows the rules. Mighty Allah bless her.

Azad, On e-mail

Dear Monsieur Chirac,

I am deeply concerned about your government's plan to ban all "conspicuous" religious signs in public places, a plan that seems to have a focused target -- headscarves in public schools in France. We are further shocked and dismayed by your statements on December 17 in which you have spoken in favour of such a ban.

Clearly such a ban would compel many Muslim girls to have to make the extremely difficult choice between their education and their religion. Since hijab is not merely a symbol, it's an act of worship in Islam, and Muslim women who practice it, do so solely for complying with the commandments of God, having been denied this right, many of them would decide to leave school rather than act against their faith. Such a bill would thus lead to a violation of Muslim women's right to education and the right to work, both guaranteed under many international human rights treaties, to which France is a signatory.

This kind of ban is contradictory to the very essence of pluralism, and even secularism, which France has steadfastly upheld for so long. Such a discriminatory move, patronised by the French government, will alienate not only Muslims in France and elsewhere, but also all those who believe in equal and full rights for women and minorities. France, a respected and leading member of the world community, seems to be in a grip of hysterical Islamophobia.

I urge you as a respected world leader to take a bold and visionary stand against the growing Islamophobia and anti-Muslim hatred in French society and prevent any legislation being enacted against minorities, especially the Muslim women. Human rights are not subject to the whims of public opinion. Even if a majority of the French public want ban on hijab, this cannot be accepted as this is against fundamental rights. This is not secularism either, by any definition.

Shah Abdul Hannan, Former Secretary, Government of Bangladesh, Chairman, The Centre for Human Rights