Najat El Hachmi portrays the left and the 'Islamist far right' on the veil

The prominent feminist of Muslim origin, Najat El Hachmi, has sparked a heated debate with an article published in the newspaper Ara, where she addresses the issue of the veil. Her intervention comes amid the controversy caused by Najia Lotfi's participation in the Café de Ideas. In her intervention, she defended the use of the veil and stated that women in Afghanistan exercise their freedom by wearing it. El Hachmi was quick to respond, pointing out the lies and contradictions in Lotfi's statements.

In her article, El Hachmi denounces Lotfi's participation, a member of the Justice and Development Party (PJD). According to El Hachmi, Lotfi is not only a Muslim believer, but also a political activist who seeks to establish an Islamic state based on Sharia law. El Hachmi points out that PJD, of which Lotfi was a deputy, is an Islamist party that opposes women's rights:

This is politics, says El Hachmi

One of the most forceful aspects of El Hachmi's article is the criticism of Lotfi's stance on the veil. The Islamist stated that women in Afghanistan wear the burqa of their own free will, which caused outrage in many sectors. El Hachmi refuted this statement, recalling the experiences of women who have escaped the Taliban regime. The Catalan-Moroccan feminist strongly rejects the idea that Afghan women wear the veil as a free choice, highlighting the atrocities they face under totalitarian regimes.

Furthermore, El Hachmi criticizes Lotfi's role in PJD, a party that, according to her, has fought against reforms seeking equal rights for women in Morocco. She highlights that PJD has opposed modifications to the Family Code that would allow progress on essential issues such as equality in inheritance and the abolition of child marriage. According to El Hachmi, PJD and other Islamist movements not only attack women's rights, but also represent a danger to democratic values.

El Hachmi doesn't hesitate to label Lotfi as part of an "Islamist far right" that presents itself as a victim of ideological persecution while working to establish a theocratic regime. The feminist denounces the hypocrisy of those who, like Lotfi, defend oppression in the name of religion and choose to ignore human rights violations in Islamic countries.