Post by jagtar singh on Apr 28, 2004 8:11:00 GMT
Sikhs make mockery of French ban on the veil
By John Lichfield in Paris
23 April 2004
Attempts by the French government to ban the wearing
of headscarves by Muslim schoolgirls in state schools
threaten to dissolve into confusion and farce.
A draft explanation of the law, circulated to schools,
specifically bans headscarves and other "religious
signs" but exempts Sikh turbans and other
"traditional" forms of dress.
Teachers' unions assailed the circular yesterday as
"hypocritical" and unworkable. What was to stop Muslim
girls claiming that their headscarves were traditional
in their communities or families, the teachers asked?
"This document is unworkable in its present form. It
calls for the respect of certain principles and then
offers all kinds of ways of undermining them," said
Patrick Gonthier, secretary-general of the Unsa
education union.
The ministerial advice states, among other things,
that religious bandanas are banned in schools but
"non-religious" bandanas are permitted. How can anyone
tell the difference, teachers said yesterday? "They
are asking for trouble," one headmaster in the Oise
département said.
"Everyone is going to come to school wearing a
bandana." The Education Minister, François Fillon,
admitted that the advice to schools was "not perfect"
and might be changed after consultation. It is
becoming clear, however, that the law passed in March
- intended to restate the principle that state schools
were strictly "secular" or non-religious - is likely
to create an even greater muddle than before.
There were always doubts whether new legislation was
needed, despite a series of acrimonious, local
disputes between school boards and pupils on whether
Muslim headscarves should be allowed in state schools.
The government said that the new law was required to
make it clear that religious forms of dress in the
classroom contradicted the principle of "secularity" -
or religious neutrality - on which the French republic
was founded.
After complaints from Sikhs and other minorities, the
ministry of education issued a nine-page circular this
week to clarify the new, clarificatory law.
Negotiations will now take place to clarify the
clarification.
Teachers unions and opposition politicians said the
inevitable consequence would be a flurry of deliberate
challenges to the law - both sincere and
mischief-making - when the new rules take effect in
September.
The problem has arisen because the education ministry
has bent over backwards to answer the complaints of
ethnic minorities, especially France's small Sikh
community, which found itself caught up in the row
without being consulted. Since the Sikh turban is
claimed to be customary rather than directly
religious, it escapes the ban under the definition.
The circular said that the ban covered "all symbols
and forms of dress which manifest an ostensible
religious allegiance and which are worn to make the
wearer instantly identifiable". It went on to list the
Muslim headscarf, Jewish kippa and out-size crucifixes
as examples of such banned symbols.
But it went on to say that the law does not extend to
to "traditional forms of dress", or clothes that
demonstrate attachment to a culture or a "vestimentary
custom". That exemption applies even when the forms of
dress are worn, in other circumstances, for religious
reasons.
School boards and teachers unions said yesterday that
the last sentence made a mockery of the new law.
By John Lichfield in Paris
23 April 2004
Attempts by the French government to ban the wearing
of headscarves by Muslim schoolgirls in state schools
threaten to dissolve into confusion and farce.
A draft explanation of the law, circulated to schools,
specifically bans headscarves and other "religious
signs" but exempts Sikh turbans and other
"traditional" forms of dress.
Teachers' unions assailed the circular yesterday as
"hypocritical" and unworkable. What was to stop Muslim
girls claiming that their headscarves were traditional
in their communities or families, the teachers asked?
"This document is unworkable in its present form. It
calls for the respect of certain principles and then
offers all kinds of ways of undermining them," said
Patrick Gonthier, secretary-general of the Unsa
education union.
The ministerial advice states, among other things,
that religious bandanas are banned in schools but
"non-religious" bandanas are permitted. How can anyone
tell the difference, teachers said yesterday? "They
are asking for trouble," one headmaster in the Oise
département said.
"Everyone is going to come to school wearing a
bandana." The Education Minister, François Fillon,
admitted that the advice to schools was "not perfect"
and might be changed after consultation. It is
becoming clear, however, that the law passed in March
- intended to restate the principle that state schools
were strictly "secular" or non-religious - is likely
to create an even greater muddle than before.
There were always doubts whether new legislation was
needed, despite a series of acrimonious, local
disputes between school boards and pupils on whether
Muslim headscarves should be allowed in state schools.
The government said that the new law was required to
make it clear that religious forms of dress in the
classroom contradicted the principle of "secularity" -
or religious neutrality - on which the French republic
was founded.
After complaints from Sikhs and other minorities, the
ministry of education issued a nine-page circular this
week to clarify the new, clarificatory law.
Negotiations will now take place to clarify the
clarification.
Teachers unions and opposition politicians said the
inevitable consequence would be a flurry of deliberate
challenges to the law - both sincere and
mischief-making - when the new rules take effect in
September.
The problem has arisen because the education ministry
has bent over backwards to answer the complaints of
ethnic minorities, especially France's small Sikh
community, which found itself caught up in the row
without being consulted. Since the Sikh turban is
claimed to be customary rather than directly
religious, it escapes the ban under the definition.
The circular said that the ban covered "all symbols
and forms of dress which manifest an ostensible
religious allegiance and which are worn to make the
wearer instantly identifiable". It went on to list the
Muslim headscarf, Jewish kippa and out-size crucifixes
as examples of such banned symbols.
But it went on to say that the law does not extend to
to "traditional forms of dress", or clothes that
demonstrate attachment to a culture or a "vestimentary
custom". That exemption applies even when the forms of
dress are worn, in other circumstances, for religious
reasons.
School boards and teachers unions said yesterday that
the last sentence made a mockery of the new law.