British politician calls for ban on wearing burkas in public

Home Office Minister Jeremy Browne has reportedly called for a national debate on whether young Muslim women can be prevented from having the burka (veil) imposed on them.

Browne said that he was instinctively uneasy about restricting religious freedoms but said there may be a case to act to protect girls who were too young to decide for themselves whether they wished to wear the veil or not.

According to Daily Star, the British Liberal Democrat said that they need to very cautious about imposing religious conformity on a society which has always valued freedom of expression.

Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg, agreed with Browne that it wasn't appropriate for students to wear a full veil in the classroom or for people to go through airport security with their faces covered, but was against a full ban.

Clegg said that it is a free country and people have right to wear what they wish adding that it would be very un-British to start telling people what piece of clothing to wear.

Meanwhile, chief executive of the Ramadhan Foundation, Mohammed Shafiq said that he was 'disgusted' by Browne's calls to consider banning Muslim girls and young women from wearing the veil in public places and demanded for religious freedom.

The debate comes amidst a row erupted over the decision by Birmingham Metropolitan College to drop a ban on the wearing of full-face veils amid public protests.

The report added that the college had banned niqabs and burkas from campuses for easy student identification eight years ago but had to withdraw the rule after a prospective student complained of being discriminated on religious grounds.