The Strasbourg court judgment banning the covering of faces in public (“Sociality and the burqa question,” Aug. 6) is flawed. Religion is a sensitive issue, and people have the right to go about their lives the way they want, unless their action harms someone else or themselves. Physical appearance should not be the basis of a person’s sociality. Social behaviour is a relative term.
Krati Khandelwal,
New Delhi
Anyone dealing with the public or holding a public office should do what is required of the job. If a woman is asked to reveal her identity for public purposes, she needs to do so. In her personal life, the choice of wearing a burqa should be left to the woman.
Mohit Agrawal,
Varanasi
Can sociality be regulated or codified? The European Court of Human Rights has done just that by upholding France’s assertion that an unveiled face in public is one of the “minimum requirements of life in society.” Amiability, likeability, honesty and pleasantness may influence sociality, but can we insist on them? Sociality stems from and is shaped by society, its fears, attitudes, likes, prejudices, and so on. By upholding the ban on wearing a burqa in public, the court has curbed the rights of these women to be sociable in the manner they choose to be. This will, in fact, limit their sociality.
Ashutosh Tripathi,
Ghaziabad
