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Q&A: Muslim headscarves
BBC NEWS - Wednesday, 17 December, 2003, 15:40 GMT
The French President Jacques Chirac has backed proposals banning the wearing of Islamic headscarves in schools. The BBC's religious affairs correspondent, Jane Little, examines the controversy that could affect millions of Muslims.
Q: Why has this row over the wearing of headscarves erupted
now?
The French have been debating this issue for two decades, but it has intensified in the past couple of years with dozens of girls expelled from school for refusing to remove their head covering.
Few things declare religious identity so emphatically. The visible Muslim presence has therefore added a pronounced religious dimension to rising French concerns about immigration and integration.
In addition, many French people regard the headscarf as a symbol of oppression of women, as well as the embodiment of a political worldview that rejects secularism and even, for some, embraces Islamic extremism.
And then there is a centre-right government under pressure from the far right National Front and facing elections next year. Polls on the issue suggest that between 60-70% of the population supports a ban on the headscarf in school, making it a potential vote winner.
Q: Why is there such sensitivity to overt religious symbols in a
Catholic country?
Secularism in France has a unique definition, more accurately expressed in the French term "laicite." The constitution aimed to end the domination of the Roman Catholic Church over the state. There ensued much conflict between the church and secular authorities and an atmosphere of anti-clericalism emerged.
The matter of public religious symbols has been ambiguous though. In 1989 a court ruled that the wearing of religious insignia in state schools was permissible as long as it was not done with the aim of "pressure, provocation, proselytism or propaganda." Much of the debate has focused on whether certain symbols fall into these categories.
Q: Will French Muslims be able to challenge the law in Court?
They will. There are clearly different interpretations of a French constitution that protects freedom of conscience, education and expression of religious belief. France is officially a pluralistic society and many Muslims argue that their rights to express their religious identity would be infringed by this law. Muslim women who wear the headscarf insist it is nothing to do with politics, but about dignity and obedience to God. Banning the wearing of it, they maintain, would require them to disobey their religion, or compromise their education.
If a challenge in the French courts failed, they could also take the case to the European Court of Human Rights. Article nine of the European Convention on Human Rights enshrines the freedom to manifest one's religion or beliefs, subject "only to such limitations as are prescribed by law and are necessary in a democratic society in the interests of public safety, for the protection of public order, health or morals, or for the protection of the rights and freedoms of others."
Q: Apart from the French Muslim community, are other religious groups
also angry about this law?
Yes, Christian and Jewish groups have also reacted angrily to proposals for a ban on "overt" religious symbols in schools. As well as having the biggest Muslim community in Europe, France also has the biggest Jewish one. While one Jewish group had no problem with the ban, the Grand Rabbi of France, Joseph Sitruk, opposes it and has appealed for tolerance.
Others of no particular affiliation have argued that unity comes not through uniformity but through diversity. Far from encouraging integration, they say, it will do the opposite, victimising Muslims in particular (most of whom are North African immigrants) and potentially pushing some towards political extremism.
It will also probably lead to more private, confessional schools. There are hundreds of private Catholic schools, but the first Muslim school, a junior high school in Aubervilliers, outside Paris, opened only two years ago.
Q: Can Muslim girls wear headscarves to schools in other parts of
Europe?
Yes, although the situation is very chequered. In Britain, Muslim girls are free to wear the headscarf. In Germany there is a heated debate over the issue and some states are considering banning headscarves in schools.
The most striking parallel with the current situation in France is Turkey. There the secular republic has banned headscarves in public institutions. That has led to many girls being excluded from the public system.
In France headscarves are already forbidden for people working in the public sector, but that rule - which is not a law - is occasionally broken. A Muslim employee of the city of Paris was recently suspended for refusing to take off her scarf or shake men's hands.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BBC NEWS – UK edition
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3328277.stm
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Q&A: Muslim headscarves
BBC NEWS - Wednesday, 17 December, 2003, 15:40 GMT
The French President Jacques Chirac has backed proposals banning the wearing of Islamic headscarves in schools. The BBC's religious affairs correspondent, Jane Little, examines the controversy that could affect millions of Muslims.
Q: Why has this row over the wearing of headscarves erupted
now?
The French have been debating this issue for two decades, but it has intensified in the past couple of years with dozens of girls expelled from school for refusing to remove their head covering.
Few things declare religious identity so emphatically. The visible Muslim presence has therefore added a pronounced religious dimension to rising French concerns about immigration and integration.
In addition, many French people regard the headscarf as a symbol of oppression of women, as well as the embodiment of a political worldview that rejects secularism and even, for some, embraces Islamic extremism.
And then there is a centre-right government under pressure from the far right National Front and facing elections next year. Polls on the issue suggest that between 60-70% of the population supports a ban on the headscarf in school, making it a potential vote winner.
Q: Why is there such sensitivity to overt religious symbols in a
Catholic country?
Secularism in France has a unique definition, more accurately expressed in the French term "laicite." The constitution aimed to end the domination of the Roman Catholic Church over the state. There ensued much conflict between the church and secular authorities and an atmosphere of anti-clericalism emerged.
The matter of public religious symbols has been ambiguous though. In 1989 a court ruled that the wearing of religious insignia in state schools was permissible as long as it was not done with the aim of "pressure, provocation, proselytism or propaganda." Much of the debate has focused on whether certain symbols fall into these categories.
Q: Will French Muslims be able to challenge the law in Court?
They will. There are clearly different interpretations of a French constitution that protects freedom of conscience, education and expression of religious belief. France is officially a pluralistic society and many Muslims argue that their rights to express their religious identity would be infringed by this law. Muslim women who wear the headscarf insist it is nothing to do with politics, but about dignity and obedience to God. Banning the wearing of it, they maintain, would require them to disobey their religion, or compromise their education.
If a challenge in the French courts failed, they could also take the case to the European Court of Human Rights. Article nine of the European Convention on Human Rights enshrines the freedom to manifest one's religion or beliefs, subject "only to such limitations as are prescribed by law and are necessary in a democratic society in the interests of public safety, for the protection of public order, health or morals, or for the protection of the rights and freedoms of others."
Q: Apart from the French Muslim community, are other religious groups
also angry about this law?
Yes, Christian and Jewish groups have also reacted angrily to proposals for a ban on "overt" religious symbols in schools. As well as having the biggest Muslim community in Europe, France also has the biggest Jewish one. While one Jewish group had no problem with the ban, the Grand Rabbi of France, Joseph Sitruk, opposes it and has appealed for tolerance.
Others of no particular affiliation have argued that unity comes not through uniformity but through diversity. Far from encouraging integration, they say, it will do the opposite, victimising Muslims in particular (most of whom are North African immigrants) and potentially pushing some towards political extremism.
It will also probably lead to more private, confessional schools. There are hundreds of private Catholic schools, but the first Muslim school, a junior high school in Aubervilliers, outside Paris, opened only two years ago.
Q: Can Muslim girls wear headscarves to schools in other parts of
Europe?
Yes, although the situation is very chequered. In Britain, Muslim girls are free to wear the headscarf. In Germany there is a heated debate over the issue and some states are considering banning headscarves in schools.
The most striking parallel with the current situation in France is Turkey. There the secular republic has banned headscarves in public institutions. That has led to many girls being excluded from the public system.
In France headscarves are already forbidden for people working in the public sector, but that rule - which is not a law - is occasionally broken. A Muslim employee of the city of Paris was recently suspended for refusing to take off her scarf or shake men's hands.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BBC NEWS – UK edition
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3328277.stm
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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