Painters told to cover woman’s hijab with hair in mural ‘celebrating local diversity’

A Swedish shopping centre has apologised after ordering a woman’s hijab to be painted over in a mural commissioned to "reflect local diversity”.

The Burlövs shopping centre, near Malmö, commissioned the painting from two local youth groups, UNITY Burlov and Ungdomsgruppen Burlov, which included portraits of a variety of people including a male pensioner, the young woman in a hijab, a female student and a small child.

In a meeting after the picture was painted, the youth group were told by the shopping centre to paint over the veil, worn by some Muslim women as a symbol of modesty and privacy, as the Burlövs was a “secular” shopping centre, Swedish news site The Local reports.

The mural was repainted with the head scarf hidden by spraying hair over the top.

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Writing on Facebook, Pia Jönsson, whose husband Magnus Heberlein, works for a local anti-racism group said: “The idea was that the painting would reflect the municipality's diversity.

"The young people are angry and sad. They have grown up in this municipality, and are proud of its diversity and want to show it off as something beautiful. But they have been trampled on.”

Mr Heberlein told SVT News Skåne it was “very upsetting to censor young people’s work in this way”.

“We want to promote solidarity and cohesion, and these young people want to emphasize that everyone has a place and will be accommodated here,” Mr Heberlein added.

The shopping centre has apologised and the hijab has been repainted back onto the mural.

Grosvenor Fund Management, the owner of the centre, said in an online statement: “We apologise that a mural of a woman in a hijab was considered a religious symbol and was therefore altered.

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“That the picture was changed was unfortunate. For us it is important to welcome all customers regardless of their religion, ethnicity or sex.”

Ms Jönsson called the decision to repaint the garment “a victory for democracy”.

Muslim garments have been in the spotlight in Europe after the Swiss region of Ticino banned women wearing a burka or niqab in public, with offenders facing a fine of up to £6,500.

The region's parliament approved the law on 21 November banning full-face veils worn by women in the wake of heightened terrorist alerts across Europe.