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Islamic Human Rights Commission
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5th February 2002

URGENT MEDIA ALERT: BBC Website poll – Should Muslim Girls Be Allowed to Wear Headscarves to School?

The BBC website is currently running a poll on the above, following the case of the Singapore government banning hijab in state schools. Please urgently email the BBC website administrators and editors at newsonline.complaints@bbc.co.uk and politely demand that it should be removed and an appropriate apology issued.

Points to remember:

The case in Singapore is a clear violation of basic human rights and as such the BBC website is also undermining these rights by allowing people to voice their support not only of this case but about Muslim girls in general.

Not allowing Muslim girls to wear hijab, denies them the right to choose their own path to liberation and is therefore a violation of women’s rights. The BBC is therefore undermining women’s rights by allowing this poll to be run.

The poll and article on the Singapore case can be viewed at:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/asia-pacific/default.stm

A representative of IHRC will be speaking about the Singapore case on ‘Q&A’ on CNN 16.30 GMT today, together with Turkish MP Merve Kavakci, who was famously thrown out of Parliament for refusing to remove her hijab.[END]