CAIRO – A social experiment that aims to promote tolerance and raise awareness about the Islamic headscarf in Australia's Victoria has been criticized by some as endorsing "separateness".
"I think it’s really sad that there seems to be such a lot of fear about Islam,” Centre for Multicultural Youth regional services co-ordinator Heather Stewart told Herald Sun on Thursday, April 9.
“I saw it as an opportunity for non-Muslim women to understand a little bit about another culture.”
The experiment, in which 15 non-Muslim women donned hijab, was a part of a documentary being filmed for Greater Dandenong Council’s “Youth Channel” program.
The council's program aims to provide "awareness, insight and education” through its activities.
Co-organized by two Minaret College schoolgirls, the event asked women to don hijab for three hours during the National Youth Week.
According to one of the event organizers, Fatima, 16, the feedback of the experiment was "overwhelmingly positive".
The event was also praised by the stet officials who considered the experience "enlightening and was surprised by the backlash".
On his part, a spokesman for Minaret College said the hijab experiment was "unusual”.
“What we believe is embracing diversity and sharing it with others,” he said.
Islam sees hijab as an obligatory code of dress, not a religious symbol displaying one's affiliations.
Muslims, who have been in Australia for more than 200 years, make up 1.7 percent of its 20-million population.
Islam is the country's second largest religion after Christianity.
Wrongheaded
Despite positive feedback, the event has drawn criticism from Institute of Public Affairs executive director John Roskam who considered the move "wrongheaded".
“What the council should be encouraging is allowing people from any walk of life and any religion to integrate,” he said.
“This doesn’t encourage integration, this encourages separateness. This is not what multicultural Australia is all about.”
Defending the multi-faith experiment, Islamic Friendship Association president Keysar Trad highlighted the importance of hijab in Islam.
“It is part of our religion for women to cover their hair ... it’s a statement of religious observance; it’s saying, ‘I am a devout Muslim woman’,” he said.
In post 9/11-era, Australian Muslims have been haunted with suspicion and have had their patriotism questioned.
The anti-Muslim sentiments further increased following last week’s anti-terror raids, deemed the biggest in Australian history, in which 15 people were arrested from north-western Sydney.
The raids were followed by a huge number of anti-Muslim attacks, including a mosque being defaced in Queensland and direct threats issued against the Grand Mufti of Australia.
A recent national survey has found that a quarter of Australian population has a negative attitude towards Muslims, amid increasing racial attacks against the religious minority.
The survey found that people over 65 and educated to year 11 are the most likely to be highly intolerant towards Muslims, unlike young people, between 18 and 44, who have the least negative opinion.
Younger residents of Victoria are among the groups that have positive attitude towards Muslims, according to the survey.
source:onislam.net
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