Discrimination Legislation and Diversity Training Issues
The Burqa is a garment worn by Muslim women to cover their faces. The face covering has come under heavy criticism internationally because of security concerns. In nations where there are terrorist attacks, the attackers are known to have worn these Burqas in order to conceal their identity. This has led to their banning in several nations in their government buildings, schools and other public places. There are Islamic nations that have also banned their adornment in universities and public schools and government buildings. These include Tunisia and Turkey. However, in Pakistan, there are no national laws that regulate the adornment of the Burqa. The society freely adorns them even in public places. Women in Pakistan adorn the Burqa as a symbol of modesty (Brodsky, 2004).
The issue regarding whether Magda was wronged by the bank is a very controversial issue. The Pakistan nation and constitution recognizes the religion of Islam together with its doctrines. In respect to this, Magda has the constitutional right to join Islam and follow in all its precepts and requirements. On the other hand, the nation is capitalistic in nature and thus private entrepreneurs are not dictated on how to conduct their businesses. With regard to this, the nation also respects the company’s right to admission. This means that the company has the right to bar certain individuals from accessing their services.
For the case of Magda, it is impossible to state that she was discriminated because of her religious affiliation. This is mainly because the bank officials made it clear that the policy to have their clients show their faces for any services rendered were purely for security reasons. Without this policy, the bank risks losing a lot of money through fraudulent means. Malicious persons are bound to present themselves claiming to be entitled to large sums of money. The bank then will be bound to up these people because it cannot be able to verify their identity. In the past, there have been instances where the bank robberies have been carried out by men adorning the Burqa. This has been evidenced in both the Arab world and Europe. It is in this light that many banks have adopted the policy of restricting their services when the faces of their clients are concerned. The covering of the faces renders the security cameras useless because it is nearly impossible to determine a genuine client from a potential robber.
However, depending on the approach, it could be argued that indeed her rights were violated and that she was discriminated because of her religious affiliation. The civil rights act in Pakistan highlights that no person should be discriminated against because of his or her religious affiliation and beliefs. The term religion in this context represents all aspects of the said religion including its religious observances, religious practices as well as beliefs. In this case, it could be argued that the bank failed to serve Magda because it failed to recognize her religious observances and practices. In this regard, the bank could be said to have violated her civil rights by discriminating her based on her religion (Feteris & Kloosterhuis, 2010).
In conclusion, we find that both the bank and Magda had solid cases because they all had a reasonable cause for their actions. For Magda’s case, she could argue that her civil rights were violated because the bank failed to serve her because of the religion she identified with. The civil rights act interprets religion by integrating it with its religious observances and practices. However, we find that the bank acted in accordance with the stipulated and law and hence could not find any flaw in its actions. The reason behind this was that the bank was not targeting Muslim women or Magda in particular, but was merely protecting its interests. Past incidences had made the bank prone to robberies, as it was merely impossible to monitor persons who had their faces covered. This compounded with the fact that the bank, being a private institution, reserved the right of admission hence was not obliged to serve Magda at all in the first place.
References
Brodsky, A. E. (2004). With All Our Strength: The Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan and Pakistan. New York, NY: Routledge.
Feteris, E. T., & Kloosterhuis, H. (2010). Argumentation and the application of legal rules. Amsterdam: Rosenberg.
Use the order calculator below and get started! Contact our live support team for any assistance or inquiry.
[order_calculator]