on." Later Malik confronted the issue in an article for The Times newspaper. He wrote: "Yes, foreign policy causes anger among many British Muslims but this does not in itself cause terrorism. Unquestionably, the lethal ingredient is a twisted, perverted interpretation of Islam whereby you can legitimately kill yourself and other innocent people, and you will go to Heaven." He concluded that: "For British Muslims the fight against extremism is not just for the very soul of Islam but for the freedoms we enjoy as Britons." Malik found controversy in February 2007 when he wrote, again in The Times, that the Muslim Council of Britain should "stop whingeing and show leadership." Referring to their decision not to play a part in Holocaust Memorial Day, Malik wrote: "Its flawed moral leadership places the MCB alongside the likes of the BNP leader, Nick Griffin, as nonattendees." Muslim veil row In October 2006 Malik garnered national attention when he spoke out in support of the decision to suspend, and later sack, a Muslim teaching assistant from Dewsbury for refusing to remove her veil in the classroom. Aishah Azmi, 24, was asked to remove her niqab veil after pupils found it hard to understand her during English language lessons. The school said she could wear the veil outside the classroom. Malik said: "In schools the top priority has got to be the education of our children... I believe the education authority has bent over backwards to be accommodating and has been extremely reasonable and sensible in the decision it has come to.” "There is no religious obligation whatsoever for Muslim women to cover themselves up in front of primary school children." In June 2009 Malik spoke out against comments made by Nicolas Sarkozy after the French President declared the burqa was "not welcome" in France. Sarkozy said: "The burqa is not a sign of religion, it is a sign of subservience." Malik responded publicly by saying: "It is not the job of government to dictate what people should or should not wear in our society – that is a matter of personal choice." "There are no laws stating what clothes or attire are acceptable and so whether one chooses to wear a veil or burqa, a miniskirt or goth outfit is entirely at the individual's discretion." Fight for parliamentary cleaners' rights Malik placed an early day motion (EDM 434, 2005), which attracted 178 MPs