Of course, it is the (general) perception that matters. Your point of view is your perception on the matter, and me, mine.
Europe insists on "assimilation"?
First of all, sharia law and forced headcover/hijab inherently clashes with European values of freedom and human rights, from their perspective. You cannot tolerate anything and everything when they contradict with your basic values. The Islamic conditioning and relating piety with headcover as I explained before would not be tolerable to European society in general.
If Europe insisted on assimilation "fervently", how can extremist Muslim scholars go around the UK calling for imposing Sharia law for Muslims and Non muslims alike? How can they establish exclusive "sharia zones" where sharia law is imposed even on non muslims? How are they not arrested yet?
"Assimilation" is always relative. When I say Europe is far more welcoming to foreign cultures, I am comparing it to rival countries, not the absolute meaning of "assimilate". Islamic countries are not even prepared to assimilate a rival sect, let alone a different religion. Try being a Shia scholar and preach Shia beliefs in public in Saudi Arabia and see how quickly you are arrested for being an "infidel Shia" who is "misguiding" people. We also know the treatment of minorities in Pakistan - Very few (if any) non muslim who holds upper positions in the government. Leave Europe. How many churches and synagogues are there in Saudi Arabia compared to the no. of mosques in the little country of Israel? Yet you blame Europe for your perceived lack of assimilation of foreign cultures/religion?
When legislating, of course, the general values of the state will be taken into account. For Turkey, this is the ideal of freedom and secularism. For Pakistan, this may be Islamism being an "islamic republic". Secularism and Islamism, theoretically, clash very little but this is a different debate.
And who gives the 'State' the right to speculate on what is or isn't going through the mind of the said person ? Ans: The voters. The state is there to speculate what is right and what is wrong and it is the representative of the majority. For example, theft is a "wrong action". However, for thieves, it may be perceived as a necessary or right action. The values of theft may go against the basic values of "equity" of a state and be made illegal. Similarly:
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Throughout this debate, not once have I blamed "Islam" for this headscarf issue because I know very well Islam neither mandates nor advises any such thing as headscarf, hijab or veil.
The debate is about the "islamic culture", or Islam as it is generally practiced or perceived as "should be practiced" by majority of Muslims. More accurately, you can say we are debating whether "Arab cultural imperialism in the garb of Islam" should be assimilated/allowed by other cultures or not, especially by a secular society like Turkey and Europe.
I am at a short of time and will reply to the rest of your post as I get the opportunity.
