A dispute over whether Muslim women should wear face veils in Britain heated up on Sunday after a government minister called for the sacking of a teaching assistant who refused to remove hers in school.
In an interview with the Sunday Mirror, Phil Woolas, the Race and Faith Relations Minister, said Aishah Azmi had raised a dilemma in which she risked either breaching sex discrimination rules or denying children an education.
"She should be sacked. She has put herself in a position where she can't do her job," Woolas was quoted as telling the weekly. Leading Muslim figures denounced his comments as an inappropriate intervention in the school's affairs. A non-Muslim opposition politician opposed the intervention, but backed Woolas' stand in principle.
Stressing that Azmi's suspension had nothing to do with religion, Headfield Church of England junior school in Dewsbury is reported to have deemed face-to-face contact was essential in her role as a bilingual support worker.
Kirklees Council, the school's local administrative body, confirmed that Azmi's case had gone to an employment tribunal and that she would remain suspended until it had reached a verdict. Azmi, 24, told BBC radio on Saturday she had only insisted on wearing it in the company of male colleagues but had accepted to remove it while in class with her pupils.
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