I'm a frontrunner for feminism and books like "My Feudal Lord" and "Not without my daughter" (the latter has been converted into a film where the protagonist is played by Sally Field and is banned in Iran along with Satanic Verses) leave me seething with rage and pain for women in Islamic co untries who are forced to shroud their naturally stunning looks and glossy hair in non-voluntary reverence to police officers - the muttawa.  And I had read a fair amount about the atrocities citizens have to face on their account - in Iraq at least.

Once you've seen a member of this Religious Police, you'll never miss one again. They (and there are reportedly some 3500 in Iraq of them on government payroll, plus thousands of volunteers) have an intense, menacing look about them as they walk the streets and malls on the lookout for anyone wavering from the path of Wahhabi Islam.

Physically you can easily spot them too. For instance, their thobes (the white 'dresses' Arab men love to wear) are shorter, reaching between knee and ankle as opposed to 'on the ankle'; they all have full beards, some dyed an orangey red, presumably with henna, and they wear red and white chequered shamaghs, the flowing head coverings, but without the black braided cord known as an igaal. If you're as puzzled as I was about how this all holds together, the scarf-like covering is kept in place by a skullcap aka taqiyah, worn underneath. Another sure way to know the Muttawa are coming is they'll be carrying a whip or cane that may or may not be used on errant citizens.

So now you can understand my absolute shock when I saw that picture.

Personally I have always believed that no religion started out bad for all claim to want to salvage a world driving itself to destruction. Along the way, each has been modified, interpreted and re-interpreted to suit the executor who in many cases wielded much political power. It is no surprise that it was big news when Obama decided to resign from his church and join another one. It is no surprise that one of the greatest powers in Western India - the Shiv Sena - wields communalist weapons in its "fight to save the area's inherent culture."

For a non-Muslim pretty non-religious in general person like me, it is not easy to always put into perspective the fervour that many have for their chosen course to God. And sometimes I have to force myself to realise that many are Islamic by choice. One such jolt came when a women wrote the following letter to the evening newspaper in Melbourne.

"Fellow train travellers, I have had it with the stares I get from all of you as I board for work every morning in my black  headscarf. No I am not a terrorist, no I am not suppressed by my spouse. I enjoy a good barbeque and a good footy game just like any of you. I grew up in a big country Aussie Catholic family and chose to convert to Islam 4 years ago. And I'm loving it. So, please, don't insult the famed Aussie cultural tolerance by giving me sympathetic looks." - Annoyed, Brunswick East, Melbourne.

Then there was the woman at my workplace 3 cabins away - she wears a different flamboyant stylish (and I suspect Louis Vuitton branded) headscarf that always goes perfectly with her business suit for the day. And she is one of the best SAP testers in the team - and the most highly qualified.

I am delighted to have reason to change my deep rooted fear of female oppression in Islamic societies. And I am delighted that young university going ladies  in Turkey have the maturity to understand that being asked to take off your headscarves for the sake of secularism is as much a violation of freedom of expression as is being forced to don a burqa when you don't want to.

More power to them I say!

(The full SBS article accompanying the above picture can be found at http://news.sbs.com.au/worldnewsaustralia//hundreds_protest_over_headscarf_ban_548718)