MOSCOW, October 20 (RIA Novosti) – After heated debates, Australia opted to abandon a controversial plan which would require women, mostly Muslim, who wear full-face veils such as burqas or niqabs to sit separately inside the Parliament House.
The plan was put forward by Speaker Bronwyn Bishop and Senate President Stephen Parry earlier in October and stated that anyone with a covered face was supposed to sit separately in a glassed enclosure usually reserved for school children touring the Parliament.
The ruling was largely criticized by human rights activists and race discrimination groups as being targeted at the Muslim community.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott asked that it be reconsidered.
"No-one should be treated like a second-class citizen, not least in the Parliament," the local media quoted race discrimination commissioner Tim Soutphommasane as saying. "I have yet to see any expert opinion or analysis to date which indicates that the burqa or the niqab represents an additional or special security threat."
Reports however suggest that visitors with covered faces will now have to show their face briefly to security.
According to the local media, Stephen Parry, president of the Senate, said that the initial ruling came amid rumors that about 10 people, including men, were planning to stage a protest in the public gallery.
He added that the restrictions were intended to be temporary “to ensure the identity of those people in the public gallery. I think that was a prudent decision for that particular day.”
