Should women be allowed to wear a Niqāb, or face veil, to civic ceremonies?

Several Western countries including France, Spain and Canada have proposed laws which would ban Muslim women from wearing a Niqab in public spaces. A niqab is a cloth that covers the face and is worn by some Muslim women in public areas. In 2014 the Austrlian Parliament briefly debated banning women from wearing niqabs in public places. The proposal was defeated. The controversial plan to make Muslim women wearing burqas and the niqab sit in glassed enclosures at Parliament House, which has now been dumped, was put in place without any prior advice from security agencies. Proponents argue…   that the ban infringes on individual rights and prevents people from expressing their religious beliefs. Opponents argue that face-coverings prevent the clear identification of a person, which is both a security risk, and a social hindrance within a society which relies on facial recognition and expression in communication.