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Politics : World Affairs Discussion
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To: ChinuSFO who wrote (3351)1/17/2004 5:02:34 AM
From: GUSTAVE JAEGER  Read Replies (1) of 3959
 
Alabama Muslims denied right to Islamic attire

15-01-2004

(WASHINGTON, D.C., CAIR) - CAIR is urging American Muslims and other people of conscience to contact state officials in Alabama and request that they allow Islamic headscarves in driver's license photographs.

A number of Muslim women in that state have reported to CAIR that they were prevented from obtaining or renewing licenses because they refused to take off their hijab.

In a letter to Colonel W. M. Coppage, Director of the Alabama Department of Public Safety (DPS), CAIR requested an investigation of the women's complaints and a review of department policies banning head coverings in driver's license photographs.

The letter noted that CAIR helped resolve similar complaints against the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services (BCIS) of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The new BCIS guidelines say that religious head coverings will be allowed "provided the subject of the photograph otherwise remains clearly identifiable."

A recent survey by CAIR's Civil Rights Department indicated that most other states allow a religious exemption to prohibitions against head coverings in driver's license photographs.

"Alabama's existing policy actually hinders proper identification by law enforcement authorities in the field because the Muslim women drivers would appear one way in the license photograph and look quite different in person," said CAIR Civil Rights Coordinator Rizwan Qureshi. "Islamic headscarves are not equivalent to baseball caps or head bands that will not necessarily be worn when a driver is stopped by police."
[...]

muslimnews.co.uk
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