Raffarin Adamant On Anti-Hijab Law
By Hadi Yahmed
IslamOnLine Correspondent
PARIS, October 18
(IslamOnline.net) – French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin
reiterated on Friday, October 17, his support for passing a law banning
hijab in French schools, as his Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy
asserted that French Muslims must respect the country’s secularism.
Speaking to the members of the French Muslim Council, Raffarin said
“all kinds” of hijab should be banned in state schools.
“France has proved that it has all powers to impose this decision and
this what happened recently,” he said, referring to the expulsion of
two Muslim sisters, Lila and Alma Levy, from their school after they
refused to take off their hijab.
The two sisters were expelled from Henri Wallon lycee in the Paris
northern suburb of Aubervilliers, after the school claimed they were
wearing clothes “of an ostentatious character.”
“I am confident that a new law on hijab would be the best solution to
such a controversial issue,” the premier argued, hinting at a report on
secularism and religion to be submitted to President Jaques Chirac by
the end of this year.
Chirac set up the secularity commission in July to rule on whether new
legislation was needed to handle a growing debate over religion in
schools, particularly Muslim schoolgirls wearing hijab.
Raffarin made no bones about Islamophobia phenomena, which had its toll
on Muslims in France “just like anti-Semitic incidents.”
He asserted that Islam poses no threat to the French society, adding
that there was a dividing line between “Islam (as a religion) and some
Islamic groups.”
“France holds Islam in great esteem,” said the premier.
Last month, Raffarin underlined that there would be no room for
religious symbols such as hijab in French educational institutions.
Respect Secularism
For his part, Sarkozy asserted that French Muslims must respect the
principles of secularism in France.
“No to hijab in schools when it has an ostentatious character…And to
hijab inside state-run offices,” Sarkozy told the French magazine Le
Nouvelle Observateur Friday.
But he voiced anew his opposition to the hijab-banning law, warning it
would provoke a backlash among Muslims, who would view it as an “insult
and punishment.”
“Are we expected to pass a new law when it comes to harassment?”
Sarkozy wondered. “Hence, we are required to pass a myriad of laws.”
The minister stressed that his opposition to the new law did not mean
he totally rejected it.
Sarkozy noted he would support such legislation if dialogue with
Muslims ended in nothing and hijab became “an organized movement” and
not personal.
He said French-born Muslim girls wear hijab because either it makes
them feel secure in some districts, or as a sign of confirming their
Muslim identity.
Speaking to the French Muslim Council on October 13, Sarkozy suggested
a bandana as a possible alternative to hijab.
The issue of hijab was become the center of heated debates between a
sizeable and increasingly assertive Muslim minority in several European
countries and the long tradition of secular education in the continent.
So far, most countries do not have any specific legislation on whether
or not hijab can be worn in schools or other public establishments.
Major exceptions are Turkey, whose founder Ataturk banned hijab as part
of a sweeping plan of modernization.
Comment:
As the muslims all over the world start returning to Islam there are those who feel threatened especially when muslims reject the western secular values and have to resort to banning. It would have been better for the french Pm to have a debate with the muslims about the applicability of secularism or Islam in terms of solving the problems in french society. And to this debate of secularism or Islam to solve the problems of humanity let it begin here on GS.