The veil is haunting Europe again. After republican France and some German states banished it from state schools, it is the turn of multicultural Britain to breathe uneasy over a piece of headgear. Jack Straw and Tony Blair’s argument that the veil divides the British society, feeds the growing public perception that Islam does not gel with a European way of life, something that the far right parties have been saying for over a decade now. It is entirely possible that Labour Party might just be trying to gain some foothold among the increasingly assertive parties like the British National Party. Beyond electoral politicking thoughthere are deeper issues of perception, which are at the bottom of the whole debate over the veil. So while white Britain understands the veil as a symbol of oppression, there are conservative voices within the British Muslim society, whichargue that the veil is a religious commandment ordained by God. Contradictory as it may sound, but there is a fundamental unity in both these arguments since both claim a monopoly over representing Muslim women’s body.