France's Minister Fadela Amara Calls Burqas the "Gangarene of Radical Islam"

Fadela Amara, France’s Muslim woman minister for urban regeneration, has outlined clearly the reasons for her endorsement of a total ban on burqas in France.

In an interview with The Financial Times, Amara says that besides sexual oppression and poverty, Muslim women suffer a “third form of oppression — extreme religiosity, the presence of fundamentalist groups who continue to propagate their discourse.”

Amara describes France as a beacon for an enlightened Islam, thriving in a modern world. It’s now necessary to fight the “gangrene, the cancer of radical Islam which completely distorts the message of Islam”, she said.

“The vast majority of Muslims are against the burka. It is obvious why. Those who have struggled for women’s rights back home in their own countries – I’m thinking particularly of Algeria – we know what it represents and what the obscurantist political project is that lies behind it, to confiscate the most fundamental liberties.”

Speaking candidly, Ms Amara said she does not regard the burka as a religious symbol or a piece of clothing.

Applying her reasoning on a global basis, Fadela Amara says that the burqa is sn instrument of subordination used by Islamic fundamentalists.

Ms Amara added: “The burka represents not a piece of fabric but the political manipulation of a religion that enslaves women and disputes the principle of equality between men and women – one of the founding principles of our republic.”