Days after the French government banned the wearing of Islamic dress abaya in schools, 67 girls were sent home on Monday for refusing to obey the rule.
Last month, the French government announced that it has banned the wearing of loose-fitting full-length Islamic robes called abaya in schools. The Islamic headscarf called hijab has already been banned in France for almost two decades.
French Education Minister Gabriel Attal said 298 girls went to school wearing abaya on Monday.
Attal said that while most of the girls stopped for wearing abaya agreed to change clothes, 67 did not and were sent home.
Advertisement
The decision, which falls under France's adherance to its secular principles, has been challenged in the court and has been criticised for violating personal liberties.
Historically, France has observed a separation of religion and state and this at times has led to tensions as French authorities have banned public wearing of clothing or other articles associated with faith, such as Islamic hijab and abaya. Additionally, wearing of a Christian cross or a Jewish skullcap is also banned.
"Since 2004, middle and high-school students in France have been barred from wearing 'ostentatious' symbols that have a clear religious meaning, like a Catholic cross, a Jewish skullcap or a Muslim head scarf. Since 2011, it has also been illegal to wear a face-covering veil in public in France. French people broadly agree with those rules," reported The New York Times.
Advertisement
While hijab, Christian crosses, and Jewish skullcaps have clear religious overtones, reports say abaya falls into a gray year as it does not have a clear religious connotation but is mostly about women wanting to follow Islamic prinicples of modesty opting for it.
"While it is popular in the Gulf and in some Arab countries, it does not have a clear religious significance. In France, it is mostly worn by Muslim women who want to follow the Quran’s teachings on modesty," reported NYT.
Along with women's abayas, men's equivalent qamis have also been banned and Action for the Rights of Muslims (ADM) has approached the State Council, France's highest court for complaints against state authorities, for an injunction against the ban, reported AFP
