I READ with interest what Basira Ajmal had to say regarding the comments made by Boris Johnson and her view on women wearing the burka (letters, August 14).

She mentions the ban on the burka, but forgot to mention they are banned in France, in Belgium since 2011, Holland have a ban in schools, hospital and public transport.

The Koran enjoins all Muslims, whether male or female, to dress modestly and refrain from revealing "any parts of their bodies" except that which is necessary". Beyond this general instruction, the holy book offers no specific guidance on female clothing, its pages contain no mention of the burka or, for that matter, of the other varieties of dress that are now associated with Islam, including the hijab or veil.

It came to prominence when the Taliban captured Kabal and took power in 1996 and made it compulsory for all women to wear the burka, they did not have a choice as women do in the country. Elsewhere in the Muslim world the garment remained largely unknown until relatively recently. The burka is a reflection of culture rather than an accepted interpretation of Islam and it remains an alien imposition in large areas of the Muslim world.

I would have thought your time and energy could be better spent attacking "the governments and individuals who force women to wear the Burka" those are your words. Neither the present government nor Boris Johnson come into that category regarding the burka.

I think Taj Hargey sums it up a lot better than I can, and from a Muslim angle.

Taj Hargey, imam at Oxford Islamic Congregation, said Mr Johnson "should not apologise for telling the truth" adding that his comments did not go far enough.

In a letter sent to the Times, Dr Hargey said there was "no Koranic legitimacy" for the burka, adding it was a "nefarious component of a trendy gateway theology for religious extremism and militant Islam".

He added: "The retrogressive Islamic clergy has succeeded in persuading ill-informed Muslims through suspect secondary sources that God wants women to cover their faces, when in reality it is a toxic patriarchy controlling women.

"Is it any wonder that many younger women have internalised this poisonous chauvinism by asserting that it is their human right to hide their faces?

"Johnson did not go far enough.

"If Britain is to become a fully integrated society then it is incumbent that cultural practices, personal preferences and communal customs that aggravate social division should be firmly resisted."

What he is saying is that most women wearing the Burka is not of their own choice, in an age were women at rightly striving for equality throughout our society, it is a damming statement.

Once again we have some in the Muslim community outraged about several words being used and taken out of context to the whole interview, it seems to me Boris Johnson was saying he does not want a ban on the burka and any grown women is free to wear one if she so wishes. Your last sentence was the most important and something that you and the Muslim communities should work towards: "Stop forcing and telling women what to wear."

I am not defending or encouraging the use of the words "bank robber/letterbox but feel the underlying message that you appear to be making about "forcing and telling women what to wear" is far more important than Boris Johnson's, at worst, ill-advised comments.

John Robertson

Southampton