Posted on 11/02/2006 10:36:17 AM PST by Alouette
A MUSLIM woman was prevented from getting on a bus in Greater Manchester because she would not remove her veil.
The 22-year-old Manchester University student from Oldham says other passengers laughed when the driver refused to let her on because he could not check her identity with her bus pass.
Now the driver's bosses at First Manchester are to meet with their trade association, the Confederation of Passenger Transport (CPT), to seek advice on how to deal with the problem if other passengers with photo passes refuse to lift their veils.
Advertisement your story continues below They say they have received no complaint from the woman and have been unable to track down the driver concerned.
The student, who didn't want to be named, tried to board the 59 bus to Oldham.
She said: "The driver asked to see my pass, but it has my photo on and he couldn't see my face.
"I told him I would not remove my veil and he said I couldn't get on."
She is now offering to help the company draw up guidance to drivers.
Situation
She said: "It is understandable because the driver has his duty, although he said it in quite a rude manner. It wasn't nice and other passengers were laughing.
"Bus drivers should be told how to deal with this situation. The veil is my choice and my religious duty. I am willing to go in and help the company so everyone knows what to do."
A First Manchester spokesman said: "We have investigated this incident thoroughly but found no complaint on our system.
"A women has now identified herself as the person in this situation. However, an official complaint was not registered. Under regulations passengers are required to confirm their identity if using a photo bus pass.
"If passengers aren't able to do this they will still be able to travel by paying for their trip."
A CPT spokesman said: "We have not heard of this happening before and as our meeting with First has not been held yet, we can't really talk about it."
One bus driver at Oldham bus station, who didn't want to be named, said: "What are we supposed to do? What is the point of a pass if you can't see someone's face?
"It hasn't happened to me yet but nobody has told me what I should do if it does."
Was the bus driver right not to allow the woman to travel without revealing her identity? Have your say.
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View comments (45 comments. Last comment 02/11/2006 at 16:03)
MUSLIM VEIL
Was bus driver right to refuse bus pass of woman who refused to remove veil?
Yes 92% No 8%
Warning! This is a high-volume ping list.
Don't issue passes to people with veils. Problem solved.
The veil REMOVES their identity.
Identity cannot be checked- congratulations- you don't officially exist in Infidel Land.
Troglydyte moron.
Walk- or get a camel.
With choices come consequences.
So...did she remove her veil to get her picture taken for the ID?? If so, why can't she remove it for verification when getting on the bus?
We use photo ids in this country, if you don't like it go home.
Walk a mile for a Camel.
Those who choose to exercise their freedom to cover their faces should plan on spending cash for busrides.
Muslim women who don't want to remove their veils to use public transportation can get barcodes tattooed on their wrists.
The Amish don't expect us to buy the hay for their horses.
When I used to take the train and subway, I used to try to avoid cars that had an obvious muslim riding them. Nothing ever happened, of course, but there's a lot of ways to die and pretty low on my list is to have some camel molester raising their hands and screaming "allahu akbar" and initiating their sacred trip to hell being the last thing I see on earth.
Owl_Eagle
If what I just wrote made you sad or angry,
it was probably just a joke.
That's a good question.
Does her pass have a picture of a woman in a veil on it?
And if she didn't complain, how did this event find its way into the news?
Smells like a setup.
A veil is a mask and civilized people don't travel around masked, ergo, no one gets on the bus while masked.
"The veil is my choice and my religious duty"
I guess that's not the most harmful of your "religious duties".
Then live with it!
News like this just makes me happy.
Good. Now expel them from the country.
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