#NoHijabDay

No Hijab Day is an International event and the initiative of Yasmine Mohammed

yasminemohammed.com/podcast

LWS - LET WOMEN SPEAK still happens at Reformers Tree in Hyde Park on the last Sunday of every month. But now Kellie Jay and the women walk over to Speakers’ Corner afterwards. These days, Speakers’ Corner is dominated by men ranting about religion, and KJK and the LWS attendees reclaim the public square literally with Kellie Jay holding forth with or without a microphone amidst the men. I see it as a symbolic walk too, marking a move from a reformist campaigning approach to a more confrontational, radical one. This more confrontational approach has been a recent pattern with LWS setting up outside Police Stations, Scotland Yard, the BMA - British Medical Association and with more such directly confronting LWS events planned in the near future.

Recently at Speakers Corner, KJK passed two women wearing the burqa and spontaneously said to them - “Free yourselves, Ladies, free your faces,” This was caught on camera and the footage posted on X, Tik Tok and other social platforms. It received huge attention - a million+ likes and allegedly 24 million views. This certainly triggered the recent National conversation in UK on the burqa and whether it should be banned or not as in other countries near to us and far away.

You’ve got to ask why when Reform MP Sarah Pochin asking Keir Starmer at PM’s Question Time if he will ban the Burqa in the UK, listing several countries that have done so long since was deemed controversial at all. Starmer’s answer to her clear brief and pointed question no answer at all. “I’m not going to follow her down that line.”

A Road Map

We even have a road map of how to go about it if we did ban the burqa. The chance to draw on the wealth of knowledge on how to institute a ban, and the chance to draw on existing data concerning potential complications arising.

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Remember the trouble Boris Johnson got into regarding comments on the burqa? After doing a few cartoons, I googled around to see what other cartoons/animations existed on the subject. Loads. And I remember the prize-winning animation film Persepolis.

“Persepolis is a 2007 adult animated biographical drama film written and directed by Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud, based on Satrapi's autobiographical graphic novel of the same name.The story follows a young girl as she comes of age against the backdrop of the Iranian Revolution. The title references the historical city of Persepolis.”

Speakers’ Corner

The cartoon below was a collaboration with my friend on X who prefers not to be named. She generated the cartoon on ai with her specific instructions and I’m responsible for the speech bubbles and words

There was a recent spat on X about whether there is a patriarchy or not by leading ladies fighting transideology.

Let Women Speak

After the clip of KJK saying free your faces was posted online it recieved a lot of notice from women in countries where women are compelled to wear the burqa. She received a lot of letters addressed to her personally from Saudi women who asked her to post their messages on their behalf so that they could speak out but remain anonymous for their own safety. She did, and I’ve used some clips from the messages posted in a couple of the speech bubbles. KJK has also devoted a section of her Standing For Women/LWS page to the letters she is receiving.

I Scream

This time, Ai came up with the exact image that I’d requested. I’m getting better at giving precise instructions and also finding ways around the built-in censorship and biases on AI platforms.

Not a big turnout for the Tower Bridge No Hijab Day led by KJK at the request of Yasmine Mohammed. But goes to show you don’t need a big crowd to make it happen. Making news! KJK got a spot on Free Speech Nation = big audience.

Submission

I read this book in English translation shortly after it came out. It made my half-hour bus journey to work fly by. The book was very controversial at the time, so I used to hide the cover with my bag so as not to be noticed or disturbed. It was a very engaging read. Recommended