{"id":6004,"date":"2015-09-16T18:24:38","date_gmt":"2015-09-16T17:24:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/english.thesunrisetoday.com\/?p=6004"},"modified":"2015-09-16T18:24:38","modified_gmt":"2015-09-16T17:24:38","slug":"canadian-govt-loses-appeal-to-ban-niqab","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/english.thesunrisetoday.com\/index.php\/canadian-govt-loses-appeal-to-ban-niqab\/","title":{"rendered":"Canadian govt loses appeal to ban niqab"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Niqab\"<\/a>The Canadian government on Tuesday lost its appeal to ban the niqab, meaning the faces of Muslim women can be covered when they’re sworn in as new Canadian citizens.
\nThe three justices of the Federal Court of Appeal, rather than delay a decision to a later date, ruled from the bench so that the plaintiff could take her citizenship oath and vote in the Oct. 19 federal election, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation reported.
\nCanada enacted the niqab ban in 2011 and Prime Minister Stephen Harper said that covering the face while taking the oath of citizenship is \u201cnot how we do things here\u201d.
\nHe reiterated his argument for the ban earlier this year.
\n\u201cIt is offensive that someone would hide their identity at the very moment when they are committing to join the Canadian family,\u201d Harper said, as reported by Vice News.
\nBut while Zunera Ishaq, a devout Muslim who moved to Ontario from Pakistan in 2008 to join her husband, agreed to remove the niqab for the written part of her citizenship test, she refused to remove it in public at the official citizenship swearing in ceremony.
\nShe argued it violated her religious beliefs.
\nA lawsuit was filed and the law was struck down, but the government appealed.
\nJudge Keith Boswell said the government ban goes against the Citizenship Act that guarantees religious freedom.
\nHe said it is contrary to the act \u201cif the policy requires candidates to violate or renounce a basic tenant of their religion.\u201d
\nDuring the half-day hearing, the government reversed its course and said it never meant to make it mandatory for women to remove the face covering at citizenship ceremonies, which left the court and Ishaq\u2019s lawyers \u201cscratching their heads,\u201d CTV News reported.
\nOutside court, Ishaq said she did not understand why the appeal moved forward if the government did not make the ban on the niqab mandatory.
\n\u201cIf it\u2019s not mandatory, I would simply say, why they are fighting for it?\u201d CTV reported. \u201cJust let me go.\u201d
\nMaryls Edwardh, one of Ishaq\u2019s lawyers, said her client would soon attend a citizenship ceremony.<\/p>\n

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