September 4, 2012

Italy’s former Minister of the Interior Roberto Maroni has strongly opposed a decree banning the Islamic female dress code, known as hijab.

“If the Virgin Mary appears wearing a veil on all her pictures, how can you ask me to sign on a hijab ban law?” Maroni, who currently heads the federalist Northern League political party, has been quoted as saying.

Italian parliamentarians have suggested that wearing the Islamic headscarf in public places bears a criminal responsibility.

In 2004, local politicians in the country’s north evoked old public order laws against the wearing of masks.

The push meant to justify efforts to stop Muslim women from wearing the burka, a cover-all headdress, some of them choose to wear.

source https://www.meforum.org/islamist-watch/italy-ex-interior-minister-opposes-hijab-ban

AI Overview

That famous statement was made by Roberto Maroni, the former Italian Minister of the Interior, when he rejected a proposed local decree or ban targeting the Islamic headscarf. خبرگزاری بین المللی قرآن

The Statement and Context

• The Quote: “If the Virgin Mary appears wearing a veil on all her pictures, how can you ask me to sign on a hijab ban law?” — as noted by Middle East Forum.
• The Background: The remark was made in response to regional political pushes from some Italian parliamentarians and local northern politicians who wanted to invoke public order laws to restrict or penalize the Islamic headscarf and face coverings in public places. خبرگزاری بین المللی قرآن
• The Stance: Maroni—who led the Northern League party at the time—refused to support or sign off on measures to ban the traditional headscarf, pointing out the cultural hypocrisy of banning a head-covering when traditional and religious imagery of the Virgin Mary universally depicts her with a head-veil. Middle East Forum +1

If you’d like, I can share more details about:

• Other European debates regarding public veil restrictions
• The specific timeline of local Italian legal arguments over religious dress