Hijab ’special’ given warm beat welcome in UK
A SPECIAL constable who is the first officer in Cambridgeshire to wear a Muslim hijab on duty is receiving a warm welcome on the beat.
Rukshana Begum, 23, who was featured in the News after deciding to wear the headscarf, said the reaction from the public has been “confidence-boosting”.
She said: “I have had so many members of the general public saying it’s really good to see someone doing this and representing their group. People are also saying good luck and I hope it goes well.
“When I went on duty without the hijab I got ordinary looks, but now people recognise me from the newspaper and have congratulated me. When they say ‘all the best’ and ‘good luck’ it boosts your confidence.”
The reaction Rukshana has so far received is the one she expected.
She said: “I never thought I would get any negative response. Even if I was to think hard, I could not think of why the general public would want to be negative.
As I expected, people have been really welcoming and have accepted it.
“Britain is a multi-racial and multi-religious society now.”
Rukshana said she has received strong support from her colleagues within the force and said she hoped her work would encourage other Muslims to join the force if they wanted to.
She said: “If someone was to say I could not be an officer because I wear a headscarf it would not make me stop wearing it, or coming on duty. If someone came up and said that, they would be making a fool of themselves.
“Since 9/11, the media has been full of negative stereotypes about Muslims. But people need to understand that Islam is practiced peacefully by millions of people, like me and my family, all over the world.”
Rukshana, who has just completed a degree in criminology at Anglia Ruskin University, first joined the force four years ago.
Her decision to wear the headscarf at work resulted in Cambridgeshire Constabulary devising a special hijab for her to wear and it has now been officially accommodated within the force’s uniform.
On Saturday Rukshana was at The Grafton in Cambridge as part of a recruitment drive to boost the number of special constables.
Rukshana Begum, 23, who was featured in the News after deciding to wear the headscarf, said the reaction from the public has been “confidence-boosting”.
She said: “I have had so many members of the general public saying it’s really good to see someone doing this and representing their group. People are also saying good luck and I hope it goes well.
“When I went on duty without the hijab I got ordinary looks, but now people recognise me from the newspaper and have congratulated me. When they say ‘all the best’ and ‘good luck’ it boosts your confidence.”
The reaction Rukshana has so far received is the one she expected.
She said: “I never thought I would get any negative response. Even if I was to think hard, I could not think of why the general public would want to be negative.
As I expected, people have been really welcoming and have accepted it.
“Britain is a multi-racial and multi-religious society now.”
Rukshana said she has received strong support from her colleagues within the force and said she hoped her work would encourage other Muslims to join the force if they wanted to.
She said: “If someone was to say I could not be an officer because I wear a headscarf it would not make me stop wearing it, or coming on duty. If someone came up and said that, they would be making a fool of themselves.
“Since 9/11, the media has been full of negative stereotypes about Muslims. But people need to understand that Islam is practiced peacefully by millions of people, like me and my family, all over the world.”
Rukshana, who has just completed a degree in criminology at Anglia Ruskin University, first joined the force four years ago.
Her decision to wear the headscarf at work resulted in Cambridgeshire Constabulary devising a special hijab for her to wear and it has now been officially accommodated within the force’s uniform.
On Saturday Rukshana was at The Grafton in Cambridge as part of a recruitment drive to boost the number of special constables.
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