>> The Times

BURKA, TURBAN AND CROSS: IN MULTIFAITH BRITAIN, WHO DARES TO SET THE DRESS RULES?

The Times - April 3, 2009 by Joan Bakewell So the firefighters have new uniforms: it has taken three years of testing and much consultation to deliver what look to you and me just like the old ones, but now in a sandy-gold colour with bands of yellow and green. Not a combination that wins any fashion prizes but, presumably, to do with visibility night and day, especially in burning buildings. And “uniform” is exactly what it says: a means of presenting a body of individuals looking as much like each other as possible. Many institutions - schools, airlines, hospitals - seek to do this to define themselves and their workforce in the eyes of the world, boost company cohesion and encourage brand recognition. At the same time, in Afghanistan, a new law proposes the tightening of controls on women: major restrictions on what is left of their freedoms, and hideous powers allowed to men to brutalise and abuse them. Coming with such laws is an insistence on the burka, the long, flowing blue garment with a network lattice covering the eyes - a dress that renders every woman identical. Their only conspicuous difference is in height, a fact that could easily have given away the tall and portly BBC world affairs editor John Simpson when he used a burka as a disguise to report from Afghanistan. In that country, tribal rituals, religious controls and state regulations converge into one strident and rigid attempt at universal control - a way of life that we steadfastly repudiate. And it is our very tolerance of diversity that is throwing up some odd contradictions. Naively, I had assumed that the rules today were much as they have always been: that it was up to an institution to make rules governing the clothing of its staff or pupils, and that conspicuous breaking of such rules could be challenged. Then I recalled how, even in my severe grammar school, the trick was to defy such uniformity by wearing our obligatory hats at any of a rich variety of angles. We made our point: we resented being dragooned. It is human nature to try to set ourselves out from the crowd, and in this country, when it comes to asserting our religious beliefs, that impulse has the force of piety. So Britain's institutions are adjusting their regulations more and more to allow for displays of religious allegiance. I hadn't realised what a difficult territory this is. This year Nadia Eweida, a check-in worker at British Airways, will go to the Court of Appeal to seek redress for having been suspended for three months in 2006 for wearing a cross around her neck at work. The rule she breached was that no BA staff should wear jewellery. Turbans and hijabs are allowed, but a cross is not. In 2006 the BBC was reported to have been in talks with Fiona Bruce about her wearing of a cross to read the news. The agreed compromise was that she should not wear one that was large and shiny, as this would be distracting for viewers. (In the Sixties, when I lobbied the BBC hierarchy to let women read the news, I was told that it could never happen as their clothing would distract viewers!) The BBC's decision is not a compromise but a concession to Bruce's religious beliefs. Quite right, in terms of religious tolerance. But it also says that, in reporting religious turmoil and conflict, the BBC's news presenter is visibly declaring her loyalty. Concessions to religion now regularly extend to working hours and practice. The Human Resources Guide on the internet enumerates all the complexities of religious days allowed off: Eid al-Adha and Ashura (Muslims); Diwali (Hindus and Sikhs); Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur (Jews). Clothing rules are perpetually up for discussion, though the line seems to have been drawn at Muslim women who want to wear the full veil. Wherever employees interact directly with a broader public, it seems employers can argue that this is a religious concession too far. Considerations of food have entered every canteen, with rules on halal and kosher meat; prayer rooms are provided. Employers are slowly embracing the needs of a diverse workforce. Distinctions such as these are applied increasingly to behaviour. In January Ron Heather, a bus driver in Southampton, declared that, as a Christian, he could not drive a bus carrying an atheist advertisement. The company, First Bus, said that it had no view on any legal advertisements appearing on its buses but was trying to accommodate Heather's request in its timetable schedules. If the atheist ads proliferate, he concedes that he may have to give up his job. This is surely the right response of someone whose fervour is so dedicated, though many Christians would agree that their faith is not vested in defying an atheist slogan or wearing small silver crosses. Faith is elsewhere. It lies in deeds. And that is where it is meeting its latest challenge. This week, Davender Kumar Ghai, a 70-year-old Hindu, went to the High Court to ask it to overturn a ruling by Newcastle City Council that he could not have an open-air funeral pyre. His faith requires such purification to allow the soul to be freed from the body. In another case, Christian social and care workers have been reprimanded for “preaching” to patients. Caroline Petrie, a community nurse, asked an elderly woman if she would like a prayer said for her. North Somerset Primary Care Trust suspended Petrie, pending investigation. She is now reinstated. All such events are being handled as they arise by well-meaning but bewildered institutions. Where will it end? Certainly not with the fire brigade, whose new uniform allows for all religious differences, including long sleeves and long skirts. There is even firefighting dress for pregnant staff. We are now embarked on a path of conceding to religious foibles. But the line must be drawn soon and clearly. Schools should outlaw jewellery and allow special clothing only for widely agreed religious requirement - the turban, the hijab - otherwise all authority will pass to the wilder shores of belief. Scientology and Wicca could be next, and we have still to hear from the Druids.

Segnala questa pagina