Sudbury's Sajidha Bagha calls on niqab critics to change attitude
Religious covering has become a divisive and hot-button election issue
A Sudbury woman is adding her voice to the hot-button discussion on niqabs in this federal election — and says we should be treating this as a learning opportunity.
Sajidha Bagha is a Muslim woman from Kenya who now lives in Sudbury. Though she now wears a hijab, at one time she wore a niqab.
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"It empowered me," she said of what it felt like to wear the full-coverage religious veil. "I felt that I was in control of what I wear, and who gets to see me, and it made me feel protected."
Women who wear the garment in Canada may feel less protected and more exposed now than ever. The issue has become a high-profile political football in the lead-up to the election, with the Conservatives talking about banning the niqab for public servants — and the opposition crying foul, arguing that women should be able to wear what they want, including at a citzenship ceremony.
Bagha said she was surprised that the niqab was on the radar at all.
"It is surprising," she said. "Initially, I was not very happy about it because we have so many other greater issues, but I'm glad that we are talking about it ... It will dispel some of the myths around it."
Bagha remains hopeful that all of this exposure might offer Canadians an opportunity to ask questions and learn more about the practice.
"Instead of us condemning it, or trying to force them to remove it — when they themselves want to wear it — we should be discussing on how we can change our attitudes to the niqab and its wearer."
"We are Canada. We are a democracy," she said. "We give minorities their rights."
