French schools sent dozens of girls back to their homes because of their refusal to abide by the ban on the cloak on the first day of the school year, a minister announced, on Tuesday.
Education Minister Gabriel Atal told BFM that about 300 girls defied the ban on the abaya in schools, and attended Monday morning in this dress.
He added that most of them agreed to change this dress, but 67 refused, and they were returned to their homes.
Last month, the government announced banning the wearing of the abaya in schools, on the grounds that it violates the principles of secularism in education, after the veil was also banned in these institutions as it constitutes a sign of religious affiliation.
The move was welcomed by the French right, but the left said it harmed civil liberties.
Atal said that a message was sent to the families of the girls who were prevented from entering the school saying that “secularism is not a restriction, it is freedom.”
The minister explained that if they came to school again in this dress, a “new dialogue” would take place.
Late, Monday, French President Emmanuel Macron defended this measure, stressing that it aims to defend secularism and the principles of the republic. He also mentioned the terrorist attacks that the country witnessed, especially the killing of Professor Samuel Paty, who was beheaded by an extremist near his school.
In an interview with YouTuber Ugo Decrypt on his channel, Macron said, “We also live in our society with a minority, with people who change the direction of a religion and come to challenge the Republic and secularism.”
“Sometimes the worst happened. We cannot act as if there had been no terrorist attack and there was no Samuel Paty,” Macron added.
On October 16, 2020, Professor of History and Geography Samuel Paty (47 years old) was stabbed to death in front of his school in the Parisian region, by the Chechen Abdullah Anzorov, who beheaded the teacher before the police shot him. This professor was killed days after he showed his students, during a class on freedom of expression, caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad. Anzorov said in an audio recording that he committed his act “in revenge for the Prophet.”
An association representing Muslims has applied to the Council of State, France’s highest court for complaints against state authorities, to issue an injunction against the ban on the abaya and chemise, the equivalent dress for men.
The memorandum “Action for Muslim Rights” will be considered later on Tuesday.
According to the law of March 15, 2004, which prohibits the wearing of signs or clothes that show religious affiliation, students in violation are allowed to enter the school, not the classroom, provided that a dialogue takes place between the family and the Ministry of Education. This includes Christian crosses, Jewish skullcaps and Islamic headscarves.
However, unlike the veil, the abaya was not clearly defined within this law.
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2023-09-05 14:09:49