Faraz, I never argued against ban on Burqa; instead, I vociferously advocated this new legislation, banning woman from masking their identity.

Guyz, I am entitled to my own views, so don't crucify me here on forum. Brief summary of my answer:

Societally, I feel the burqa represents dehumanizing of women. As if they are not but sexual objects and evil temptresses trying to test the virtue of men. It also infantilizes and degrades men, as if men are nothing more than crazed and hyper-sexed beings. Burqa/niqab strips away a woman's identity. Almost reminiscent of the names given to women in Handmaid's Tale (Offred, Ofglen) where her existence is based upon her valuation to a man.

Basically, the burqa reduces a woman to nothingness and it reduces men to nothing more than wanton animals. Pragmatically though, I support its ban because I think no one should be able to hide their identity in public. Masks are illegal in public places most of the time, why should an exception be made just for a special class of citizens?

There is a dire need to run an unrelenting campaign against Niqab/Burqa in Muslim countries and create awareness that Burqa symbolizes oppression and not a personal choice. Burqa should no longer be defined as symbol of piety or sanctity.

Burqa also polarizes women in a society; women wearing Burqa boasts of their self-righteousness whereas women without Burqa is not defined well in terms of morality in conservative Muslim societies. This is hallmark of France because in Islam their is no concept of Burqa or face covering.