The Muslim Consumer Association (PPIM) has urged Muslims to boycott hotels prohibiting frontline staff from wearing a headscarf.

PPIM leader Nadzim Johan said the government must also avoid using the services of hotels with such policies.

"Consumers must be smart," Nadzim said, according to an article posted on the Ikatan Muslimin Malaysia (Isma) website.

The issue was first highlighted by the Union Network International-Malaysia Labour Centre (UNI-MLC) after receiving complaints from female hotel employees.

UNI-MLC also claimed that students in hospitality and tourism courses have been instructed to remove their headscarves before going for internships or risk not being hired.

Following this, the Malaysian Associations of Hotels explained that some international hotels enforce a uniform policy for frontline staff.

Nadzim argued that international hotels must not curb the rights of Muslims who form the majority in Malaysia.

"Such a policy violates the Federal Constitution. If it is implemented in China or France, it is not a problem, because the majority are not Muslims," he said.

In a related development, the Association of Muslim Youths (Abim) urged the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry and the Human Resource Ministry to clarify their position on the matter.

Abim argued that the headscarf ban was a matter of the basic human right to practice a religion and a question of discrimination against women.

"The headscarf ban is an old issue which must be resolved, not just in the hotel industry but in all industries," Abim said in a statement today.