Rania El-Alloul went to a courtroom in Montreal to get her car back after it was seized by the automobile insurance board, but the judgerefused to hear the case because Rania wore a hijab. By no stretch of secular imagination, can such blatant anti-Muslim bigotry be excused.

For transparency’s sake, let me confess my position as a staunch supporter of the separation of religion from state affairs, as well as a feminist who does not agree with the reasons for hijab. However, I am outraged by this incident in Montreal, not in spite of wearing these titles with pride, butbecause I do so.

I recognise both a woman’s legal right to wear what she wills, and a private citizens’ right to religious self-expression, as long as no hazard is posed to others.

So far, science has not established a link between passive hijabvisualisation and retinal cancer among on-lookers, which is why I’m less keen on forcing the garment’s disappearance.

Also read: Qatar takes stand in hijab row as swimmer nabs Singapore’s first gold

Rania had to visit the courthouse after the police stopped her son for driving with a suspended license, and had the car seized by the SAAQ, Quebec’s automobile insurance board. The board normally keeps the vehicle for a month, but as Rania’s livelihood depended on her vehicle, she needed to appear before a judge to make a formal request for early release.

What happened next made Rania feel that she was “not Canadian anymore”.

The judge ordered the Muslim woman to remove her hijab, deeming it “inappropriate” attire for the courtroom. Stressing the need to not have religious symbols in the room, and adding that she’d ask the same from people wearing large hats and sunglasses, she told Rania to come back later with a lawyer; something that Rania clearly couldn’t afford.

Also read: Chinese city bans large beards, wearing hijab