The UN Report on human development might celebrate cultural diversity but there is increasing intolerance of cultural symbols across Europe. Activists have launched a campaign to protect the right of Muslim women in Europe to wear Islamic headscarves. The issue of the hijab, the traditional headscarf worn round the head and shoulders, has triggered off controversy across the continent and brought to the fore sharp divisions over integrating Muslims. The debate is of interest here because India, which has a population of close to 75 million Muslim women, is a lot more accepting of pluralism and diversity.

In what might seem paradoxical, western countries despite their emphasis on freedom can curb the individual’s freedom to wear a dress that is either a mark of religious identity or a cultural symbol. About 250 delegates from 14 countries congregated at London’s City Hall some time back under the banner of a pro-hijab group to campaign for the freedom to wear the hijab. The ban is rightly seen as a violation of human rights and evokes a ghetto mentality against religious as well as individual freedom. The French move to ban the headscarf has been dubbed the "most reactionary move since World War II. A move towards religious intolerance." Several German states too are to ban teachers wearing headscarfs.

Last month, the European Court of Human Rights rejected the appeal of a Turkish student who was barred from attending Istanbul University medical school in 1998 because her headscarf violated the official dress code. Abeer Pharaon, the coordinator of the pro-hijab movement, is of the view that a worrying trend is developing across Europe. The governments of some of these countries have claimed that they are protecting Muslim women from being forced to wear the hijab. What is lost is that instead of a marker of oppression, it is more a symbol of choice. Ironically, modern societies are less homogenous, because they do not have the confidence to allow diversity.

The perception of the western world of Islam as a retrogressive religion that oppresses women and forces them to adhere to a dress that is repressive is as flawed as the perception that it is religion that sanctions curbing of freedom of movement and social interaction of Muslim women. In an issue of German News, Syeda Saiyidain Hameed, the Indian representative to the conference of women from 20 Islamic countries in Berlin on May, 2004, mentions the sheer diversity even within the Islamic world. The aim of the path-breaking meet was to talk about women in the Islamic world so as to initiate a dialogue among and within Muslim women. The need is to understand the issue of Islam and women beyond outward stereotypical symbols. "Just looking at the participants in the lobby of the hotel was enough to underscore for me the fact that there is nothing like monolithic Islam" There were women in headscarves of all kinds. Tightly wound cotton material jostled with silks and chiffons were draped over the head in many styles. There were women in saris, with heads uncovered; there were women in pants and skirts, sarongs and dresses. There was nothing like a dress code among the women from Saudi Arabia, Syria, Morocco, Pakistan, Indonesia and Malaysia. If only this diversity would be allowed to thrive. — A.N.