During a recent visit to Cairo on April 25, I rang a boat restaurant on the Nile to make a dinner reservation for the following day . As the venue comprises several outlets, I asked for the Italian restaurant and was promptly connected. After giving my name and reserving a table I was asked if I had been to the restaurant before and whether I knew that children and veiled women (mohagabat ) were strictly not allowed . When I questioned the wisdom of banning a woman patron who chooses to cover her hair I was told that the outlet served alcoholic beverages. Again I could not see the correlation between the two as I have always seen restaurants and hotels in Egypt hosting both drinkers and mohagabat and all happily coexist . When I expressed that viewpoint , I was curtly told that those have been the rules of the place for the last seven years . I strongly believe that this attitude serves nothing except creating a divisive sectarian system. Personally, I am not for or against the Hijab but I feel that it is a matter of personal choice . However, I would have been equally outraged if a restaurant asked about the religion of the group or if the place allowed veiled women only. We could never progress should we carry on setting absurd rules that restricts our choices and freedom. I cancelled my reservation as I refuse to go to a place where political correctness is not even a notion to be considered. Now, had this incident happened in the UK where I have lived for decades the license of the premises would have been instantly withdrawn due to the discriminatory policies . Incidentally, my lady friends whom I was planning to dine with at the restaurant that evening are not veiled and are of mixed faiths ( Copts and Muslims ). What we need is more tolerance if we want to develop and break out of the religious stubbornness that is pulling Egypt down. Essam Baghdady
