If we as Canadians want the freedom to refuse to associate with those who wear the niqab or, like some in France, want to ban it, we forget that while we have rights, so does Naima Ahmed (Beyond The Pale On The Veil - March 8).
It does not matter whether the niqab is a cultural or religious article, because Ms. Ahmed has freedom to practise her culture and her religion.
In India, 153 years ago, a similar cultural arrogance led the British Army to bring into service rifle cartridges greased with pork and beef fat. That act was symbolic of a social, religious and cultural arrogance that produced the Sepoy Mutiny. While those British attitudes are widely condemned, we as a society come close to reproducing them.