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Article: Taking on the veil: West looks to assimilation; From Britain to Australia, unease grows over the separateness of many of the West's Muslim communities.(WORLD)
- Article from:
- The Christian Science Monitor
- Article date:
- October 20, 2006
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2006 The Christian Science Publishing Society. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Byline: Mark Rice-Oxley Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor
LONDON -- Until recently, Rahmanara Chowdhury turned few heads on the street. Shrouded under a full-face Islamic veil, or niqab, she went about her business untroubled. "Occasionally, you get called 'ninja,' but I got used to that," she says.
But in recent weeks, she has noticed a change. "In public, I'm a lot more self-conscious, even intimidated," the native British Muslim adds. Some of her fellow niqabis, a growing sisterhood in Britain, have been threatened or abused. "All the feedback," she says, "seems to be really negative."
That shift has sprung from a broad debate ...