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 judge refused 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 passivehijab visualisation 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