Main point: Morocco has banned Burka, a garment that covers from head to toe with only a small compartment on the top for view and breath
Source: Women in the World
Writer: Staff
Morocco’s Interior Ministry has banned vendors and merchants from selling and manufacturing the burka because of security concerns, according to local media reports.
The government of King Mohammed VI, who rules the majority-Muslim country, has not officially confirmed the ban — perhaps to avoid a public spectacle like what occurred when the French government attempted to ban the burkini. According to Le360, a news site said to be close to the Interior Ministry, an unidentified ministry official confirmed the ban of the sale of the burka but would not confirm whether wearing the garment would also be outlawed.
Hammad Kabbadj, a conservative preacher and member of the Justice and Development party who was deemed too “extremist” to run in last fall’s legislative elections, has denounced the ban on Facebook as a means of hindering his party. Other Moroccans, among them journalist Ali Anouzla, appeared torn about whether the move represented an attack on women’s religious freedom or an embracing of women’s liberation.
“I am against the culture of banning in principle,” wrote Anouzla on Facebook. “But just to be clear … the burka isn’t part of Morocco’s culture.”
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