Great article from Saira Khan, I entirely agree with Saira’s views on this. Burkhas and niqabs are cultural clothing, from intolerant societies in the Middle East, they have nothing whatsoever to do with Islam! As Saira correctly stated:
“I have read the Koran. Nowhere in the Koran does it state that a woman’s face and body must be covered in a layer of heavy black cloth. Instead, Muslim women should dress modestly, covering their arms and legs.
Many of my adult British Muslim friends cover their heads with a headscarf – and I have no problem with that.The burkha is an entirely different matter. It is an imported Saudi Arabian tradition, and the growing number of women veiling their faces in Britain is a sign of creeping radicalisation, which is not just regressive, it is oppressive and downright dangerous.
The burkha is an extreme practice. It is never right for a woman to hide behind a veil and shut herself off from people in the community. But it is particularly wrong in Britain, where it is alien to the mainstream culture for someone to walk around wearing a mask.” – Saira Khan
While I don’t particularly like the idea of any law, which bans people from wearing particular forms of clothing, I believe we may be left with no choice in this particular case. We are living in the United Kingdom, burkhas and niqabs have never been a part of our culture here, they are nothing to do with the religion of Islam, they inhibit normal human communication, are used to oppress women and the wearing of them is for the most part, only promoted by sectarian extremists! To be quite honest, I’m surprised we as a society have allowed the practice to spread and not done something about it before…
Sadly, for simply writing this article and airing her views on the matter, extremists have set up a HATE GROUP against Saira Khan, on Facebook! Doesn’t this very act, say it all about what the burkha and niqab are really about?
Paul Salahuddin Armstrong 
But only the face veil, not the whole burkha
Is a ‘burqa’ that doesn’t veil the face, still a burqa?