In France, the Action for Muslim Rights (ADM) association has protested against the ban on wearing Muslim clothing at school, writes the French newspaper Sud Ouest on 1 September.
Three days before the start of the new school year, the new French Minister of Education, Gabriel Attal, made a statement about the appearance of schoolchildren. On August 27, 2023, he banned the wearing of traditional Muslim clothing in public schools, colleges, and high schools. On August 31, Attal again recalled that the French school was committed to republican values such as secularism.
This demand did not go unnoticed by the representatives of the country’s Muslim community. For its part, ADM asked the French Council of State on September 1 to lift the ban on girls wearing Muslim clothing (abayas) at school. In his opinion, this ban violates the rights of children who consider themselves Muslim and creates the risk of discrimination on ethnic grounds. From the plaintiffs’ point of view, the ban could create a negative attitude towards Muslims.
The association’s lawyers were certain that under the conditions of the ban on wearing Muslim clothing, teachers would not objectively treat girls of Arab and African descent, which could lead to the exclusion of these girls from the educational process. In addition, according to the lawyers, the ban will prevent them from expressing their belonging to a certain culture or geographical region. Based on all this, the plaintiffs claimed that they did not see this as undermining secularism.
“The ban was a gross and clearly illegal infringement of students’ right to privacy. This unreasonable interference with the practice of Muslim worship constituted a gross and clearly illegal infringement of religious freedom.”noted in the complaint.
French President Emmanuel Macron said on September 1 that the state must be firm in its decision to ban the abaya and camisoles in schools. According to him, the government will not allow it.
Source: Rossa Primavera
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