- Austria’s ‘burqa ban’ law has led a man dressed as a shark to be handed a large fine
- Austria is just one of several European countries with laws banning certain religious veils and face coverings
- The law’s enforcement, which has led to people wearing scarves being stopped, has been criticized
- Sebastian Kurz, a proponent of the ban, has won Austria’s election to become the next Chancellor
An Austrian man was recently fined approximately €150 for covering his face with a shark head as part of a costume, violating the country’s new “burqa ban” that makes illegal anything that totally covers the face. “I’m just doing my job” the man reportedly said to the police as they slapped him with the fine.
The shark man was reportedly hired by Austrian PR Agency Warda Network to promote both a chain of McShark electronic stores and to draw attention to the absurdity of Austria’s new law, “Prohibition on the Covering of the Face” also known as the ‘burqa ban’ law.
In a supposedly liberal democratic country, the policing of individual appearances has been officially legislated and is being enforced.
The publicity stunt highlights the unforeseen social consequences of drafting supposedly religious-neutral laws on paper that are, in spirit, designed to unveil religious populations.
Namely, it is now illegal to don certain seasonal costumes. It starts with the shark, but the law technically makes other full-face coverings illegal as well, such as dinosaur masks, popular plastic U.S. President masks, lifelike Santa Claus masks among others.
As if the situation couldn’t get any worse for those ambitious enough to fully hide their identity behind a costumed covering, Austria is just one country in a growing list of states that have similar laws on the books. Belgium, France, the Netherlands and Switzerland have all adopted nationwide bans on full-face coverings, similarly using neutral language to target religious minorities.
In a bid to hide the veil from public eyes, Austria and others seem to have inadvertently ruined, or at least made legally suspicious, the act of dressing up.
Though police spokesman Harald Sörös announced that “[t]his law does not apply to professionals who need to cover their faces due to their jobs,” he acknowledged that individuals with everyday winter scarves on have been stopped and questioned by police.
The shark who was infamously terrible at dancing but still tried its luck beside Katy Perry for her 2015 Superbowl Halftime show would be most certainly banned under this law.
An image tweeted by the Saudi embassy in Austria regarding the 'burqa ban' (Twitter)
The Austrian law also puts partial face coverings under extra legal scrutiny, meaning some extensive clown face paint and novelty red-nose add-ons are now considered potentially illegal.
Additionally, if you are the type to want to cover up during harsh winter times, you are now suspect to a legal shakedown by local Austrian law enforcement.
Religious minorities and costume aficionados may have to hold on for the long haul to see a repeal of the ‘burqa ban.’ Sebastion Kurz, 31, was a proponent of the ‘burqa ban’ law when he was Austria’s Foreign Minister and he just won a plurality of votes to become Austria’s new Chancellor.
Kurz made clear that such types of religious expression is not welcome in Austria. In an interview with Austria’s ORF broadcast services, the niqab and other full-body covers are "not a religious symbol but a symbol for a counter-society.”
Kurz seems hellbent on reifying the myth of the ‘West’ vs. the ‘East’ cultural narrative whereby Europe’s brand of secularism involves banning certain public expressions of faith.
So while the unintended effects of the ‘burqa ban’ are hilarious and reveal the surreal nature of such laws, the underlying consequences of keeping such laws on the books are serious and relate to the political freedoms of religious inhabitants, especially refugees that are streaming into Europe en masse to escape various civil wars engulfing the region.
Refugees may find physical safety in a country like Austria, but they may also find their civil rights infringed upon depending on how covered their respective faith advise them to be.
