.

NEWS AND VIEWS THAT IMPACT LIMITED CONSTITUTIONAL GOVERNMENT

"There is danger from all men. The only maxim of a free government ought to be to trust no man living with
power to endanger the public liberty." - - - - John Adams

Friday, April 19, 2013

Egyptian ID Cards List Your Religion


In another time and in another place
the all-powerful State forced people to declare their religion.


"In Egypt, you can be asked to state your religion in all kinds of situations — for example to sign a sales agreement, or even to register for university!”
  • Egyptian Christians are targeted by the State by being forced to declare their religion on State issued ID Cards and other documents.


In Egypt, identity cards feature a citizen’s name, picture, profession… and religion! A group of young Egyptian activists feels that this last bit of information is irrelevant, and have launched a Facebook campaign against what they see as government intrusiveness.
.
The campaign, called “Haga tkhosseni (“None of your business”), was launched by a group of young people that includes Muslims as well as Coptic Christians. They want the government to eliminate the “religion” box on Egyptian identity cards reports France 24 News.
.
The campaign encourages Egyptian citizens to stick a piece of paper that says “human being” or “none of your business” (or some other rejection of this categorization) over the spot where their card reads “Muslim” or “Christian”.
.
This campaign was launched several days after sectarian violence broke out between Copts and Muslims near Cairo, causing six deaths. It was inspired by a similar campaign that took place last year.
.
Egypt’s Copts make up about 10% of the country’s population of 85 million people.


"I need to see your papers."




No comments: