ROBERT SIEGEL, host:
Relations between many Muslims and the government in Britain have deteriorated since the transit attacks in London last year. The British government has been pushing Muslims to make a greater effort to integrate with the rest of the community, and now relations have been further inflamed over the issue of the full face veils that are worn by many Muslim woman.
NPR's Rob Gifford reports from London.
ROB GIFFORD: The issue of Muslim women wearing veils in Britain was thrust into the spotlight earlier this month when former Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said women who wear veils covering their whole face make community relations difficult. Straw's comments have certainly made government relations with the Muslim community more difficult.
And now another case has arisen, with a 24-year-old Muslim teaching assistant suspended from her job at a school in the northern town of Dewsbury last week. The woman, Isha Asmi, admits she did not wear a veil when she was interviewed for the job, during which time a male teacher was present. But she says she didn't think it would be an issue if she wore the veil when she taught since the majority of the children at the school are Muslim.
Ms. ISHA ASMI (Teaching Assistant): The management instruction was that you have to take it off while in school, so it is to that I answered, I cannot take it off in front of a male colleague. I had no problem with the children. I said you know, I prefer to if you (unintelligible) female teacher but if that's not possible, I can't take it off to a male colleague.
GIFFORD: Asked in a newspaper interview yesterday about Asmi's subsequent suspension, the Minister for Local Government and Community Cohesion, Phil Woolas, was quoted as saying she should be sacked. She's put herself in a position where she can't do her job. In a subsequent radio interview he stepped back from calling for her dismissal but gave a strong defense of the school.
Mr. PHIL WOOLAS (Minister for Local Government and Community Cohesion): The head teacher says that she's not able to do her job. The general point is clear that if the education can't be provided for children who need it and have a right to it, many of whom are Muslim and other ethnic minority children, it's those children that I'm concerned about, and I want them to get the best chance in life, as do their parents and they have that right. If the head teacher says that that's the action she needs to be taking then so be it.
GIFFORD: The debate about what outwards signs of religion are appropriate in the work place has been intensified by another newspaper report that an employee of British Airways was sent home for refusing to cover up a crucifix necklace. Meanwhile the Guardian newspaper reported today that the government is urging university professors to tell the authorities about any Muslim students they suspect have links to militants. Many Muslims, such as Mahmoud Shafique(ph) of the Ramadan Foundation, feel they're being unfairly targeted.
Mr. MAHMOUND SHAFIQUE (Ramadan Foundation): If people choose to wear the veil, they should be free to do just that. And I think what's important here is for politicians to take a step back from this constant attack on Muslims and our community where we practice our faith. Politicians are now feeding Islamophobic attacks.
GIFFORD: The government denies such accusations. But some observers say that in its efforts to create more integration by breaking down barriers between Muslims and non-Muslims, the government may actually be forcing the two communities further apart.
Rob Gifford, NPR News, London.
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