Paris- It seems that the focus of some families in France was not limited this year to buying school supplies and choosing the most appropriate price only, as the decision of the Minister of Education Gabriel Atal – banning the wearing of the abaya – placed more burdens on them days before returning to school.
In a letter addressed to the students’ parents, on Thursday, the minister wrote, “The principle of secularism presupposes the neutrality of the state towards all students, regardless of their beliefs,” noting that “the abayas and shirts should not be worn in schools.”
For her part, Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne said during a visit to a primary school in Saint-Germain-sur-Ile, “Things are going well on Monday morning,” adding, “We will continue to be vigilant throughout the day so that students understand the meaning of this rule.”
However, the decision sparked opposition from Islamic associations that filed a complaint against the government of President Emmanuel Macron, after the decision to ban the abaya in schools, claiming that it violated basic freedoms.
Female students in France were subject to monitoring their clothes when they returned to school (Getty Images)
Beginning to taste bitter
And at eight o’clock yesterday morning, Monday, the students flocked to the “Emile Matisse” secondary school in the “Chiltegame” area on the outskirts of Strasbourg, where a female employee stood in their reception.
One of the students said, “I decided to wear a loose and long dress as an alternative to the abaya, to avoid any comments from the teachers, and to be able to enter the classroom on the first day of school.”
She added, in her interview with Al-Jazeera Net, “I watched some videos on Tik Tok to get an idea of what is happening, and my friends and I decided to wear this type of modest clothing despite our rejection of the Ministry’s decision. We know that if we do not comply with this, we will be denied entry” to the classes.
Another continued by saying, “We take off the hijab at the school door every day, which is very difficult for us and our families. Today, we find ourselves forced to give up the cloak as well. It is an unfair decision that targets Arabs and Muslims directly. I hope that associations and actors will help us to keep a part of our rights.”
As for the school gate employee, she explained to Al-Jazeera Net that she monitors the students’ clothes “to make sure that they do not wear this uniform in implementation of the Ministry of Education’s decision,” refusing to comment.
Since the ministry’s announcement, some high school girls have started posting videos on TikTok calling for “circumventing the ban” and offering tips and ideas for loose-fitting alternatives to the abaya.
And local media reported that some students who chose to wear loose, dark clothes at the “Martinez Duchier” school in Lyon were invited to the principal’s office for a discussion, indicating that “some of them managed to join their ranks and others failed to do so.”
The school is secular
Meanwhile, the French President stressed, during a meeting with journalist Hugo Travers yesterday, that “the school is secular, from kindergarten to the baccalaureate, and there is no place for religious symbols.”
Macron described this step, which took effect yesterday in about 500 educational institutions, as a “deep issue” and opened the way for consultations about the possibility of imposing the wearing of a uniform, “which could consist of jeans, a T-shirt and a jacket to exclude any specific dress.”
A number of French politicians – especially the far right – supported this controversial decision, as MP Julien Odoul wrote on platform X, “Finally, after years of cowardice, the government has accepted the National Front’s proposal to ban the cloak.”
“There is still a lot to be done to expel Islamism from our schools, banning headscarves on students accompanying students and implementing uniform clothes,” he added.
On the other hand, the ban on the abaya, which comes as a continuation of the 2004 law banning the wearing of clothes or signs that “outwardly show religious affiliation,” sparked controversy with left-wing parties, and the “France of Fathers” movement promised to challenge the decision before the State Council.
Schoolgirls resort to loose dresses instead of abayas to avoid problems (Getty Images)
legal case
In the wake of the controversy over the decision, the French Council of State is examining, today, Tuesday, the request submitted by the Association for Muslim Rights “ADM” (ADM) before the court urgently to consider the issue of banning the abaya in schools.
This association was established in 2015 to defend victims of discrimination by supporting them legally and practically, in cooperation with the United Nations, the Human Rights Council in Geneva, and the Group of Islamic Organizations of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.
The founder and director of the association, Siham Zain, confirmed – in her judicial request – that “the ministry’s decision ignores the constitution and the law, which is considered general and does not impose a definition of the apparent religious nature of wearing these clothes.”
The association also considered that this decision “violates the rights of the child and targets Arabs, Africans and Muslims, which creates the danger of ethnic and religious profiling in school and perpetuates inequality and excludes and discriminates against minorities.”
The director of the association told Al-Jazeera Net that preventing female students in public institutions from wearing this dress means preventing them from expressing their attachment to a specific culture or geographical area, criticizing the government and the media’s insistence on writing “the abaya” in French letters (Abaya) instead of using its translation, which means “dress.” “.
The text of the request – of which Al Jazeera Net obtained a copy – stressed that “the minister seriously violates the rights of non-discrimination on the basis of color or origin by banning the wearing of Arab or African dress and asking school staff to specify the reason for students wearing these clothes.”
In turn, the French Council of Islamic Worship (CFCM) affirmed that the cloak is a cultural symbol, not a religious one. “We are running after a ghost wearing clothes,” Tarek Oubrou, the imam of the Bordeaux mosque, told France Info on Thursday.
It is noteworthy that Article 2 of Education Law No. 141 stipulates that “the state guarantees the right of children and adolescents to public educational institutions, and the possibility of receiving an education appropriate to their abilities with equal respect for all beliefs.”
Another article states that “public higher education is secular and independent of any political, economic, religious or ideological influence, and respects diversity of opinions.”
#Abaya #Controversy #France.. #Freedoms #Secularism
2023-09-05 19:30:08