{"id":3986,"date":"2006-11-26T14:54:37","date_gmt":"2006-11-26T19:54:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sepiamutiny.com?p=3986"},"modified":"2006-11-26T13:48:51","modified_gmt":"2006-11-26T18:48:51","slug":"aishah_youre_fi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/sepiamutiny.com\/blog\/2006\/11\/26\/aishah_youre_fi\/","title":{"rendered":"Aishah, You’re Fired."},"content":{"rendered":"

The debate over multi-culturalism is back in the news ‘cross the pond, in the land of the pickled<\/a>:\n\"Niqab.jpg\"<\/a><\/p>\n\n

An Indian origin Muslim teaching assistant in west Yorkshire, suspended earlier for refusing to remove her veil during school hours, has now been dismissed from the job<\/strong>.[link<\/a>]<\/blockquote>\n\n
Aishah Azmi, 24, lost a discrimination and harassment case at an employment tribunal last month, and saw support collapse among parents at Headfield Church of England junior school in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, over what was seen as an uncompromising stand.[link<\/a>]<\/blockquote>\n\n

That “lost the support of parents”-angle is extra interesting, considering<\/p>\n\n

\nThe school where Azmi was teaching had 530 students, aged seven to 11, and 92 percent were Muslim, mainly from India and Pakistan.[link<\/a>]<\/blockquote>\n\n

A bit of backstory:<\/p>\n\n

Mrs Azmi, who was awarded \u00c2\u00a31,000 by the tribunal in Leeds because of mishandled disciplinary processes, was dismissed yesterday after a hearing at the school. She started work a year ago but was suspended in the spring when she refused a male teacher’s request that she remove the veil when helping children in her role as a bilingual support assistant<\/strong>.[link<\/a>]\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n

This latest controversy comes on the heels of a column written by Former Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, which provoked international debate about veiling and identity:<\/p>\n\n

Straw wrote in a newspaper column last month that he asks women who visit his district office wearing veils that cover almost their entire face to remove the garment when they meet with him…<\/blockquote>\n\n
\nHe said the piece he published in the Lancashire Evening Telegraph newspaper had been thoughtful and respectful, and that he had never challenged women’s right to wear a veil.<\/blockquote>\n\n
\nHe emphasized that he only requested \u00c2\u2014 and never demanded \u00c2\u2014 that women remove the veils in his office and said he did not support banning the coverings.<\/blockquote>\n\n
\nHe said those living in Britain should have a stronger sense of shared identity based on the country’s democratic values.[link<\/a>]<\/blockquote>\n\n

Azmi was asked to consider modifying her stance:<\/p>\n\n

\nMrs Azmi, who made her stand after taking advice from an imam in Dewsbury, was urged to compromise last month by the local Labour MP Shahid Malik.[link<\/a>]<\/blockquote>\n\n

Was this really about religious intolerance? Malik doesn’t think so:<\/p>\n\n

\n“I’m disappointed that a compromise could not be reached. But while I would absolutely defend her right to wear the veil in society, it’s very clear that her wearing it in the classroom setting inhibits her ability to support children.<\/strong> This is not about religion.”[link<\/a>]<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The debate over multi-culturalism is back in the news ‘cross the pond, in the land of the pickled: An Indian origin Muslim teaching assistant in west Yorkshire, suspended earlier for refusing to remove her veil during school hours, has now … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[10,2,14],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/sepiamutiny.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3986"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/sepiamutiny.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/sepiamutiny.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sepiamutiny.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sepiamutiny.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3986"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/sepiamutiny.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3986\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/sepiamutiny.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3986"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sepiamutiny.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3986"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sepiamutiny.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3986"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}