SHAFAQNA- French government’s decision to ban wearing of abaya robes in schools drew criticism on Monday (28 August 2023).
“Our schools are continually put under test, and over the past months, breaches to laicite have increased considerably, in particular with (pupils) wearing religious attire like abayas and kameez,” Education Minister Gabriel Attal told a news conference to explain Sunday’s ban.
Many on the left criticised the move, including Clementine Autain, an MP for the hard-left France Insoumise, who criticised what she called the “clothes police” and a move “characteristic of an obsessional rejection of Muslims”.
And some academics agreed the move could be counterproductive, all the more as it touched on clothing they said was worn for fashion or identity rather than religion.
“It’s going to hurt Muslims in general. They will, once again, feel stigmatised,” said sociologist Agnes De Feo, who has been researching French women wearing niqab for the past decade.
“It’s really a shame because people will judge these young girls, while it (the abaya) is a teenage expression without consequences.”
In 2004, France banned headscarves in schools and passed a ban on full face veils in public in 2010, angering some in its more than five million-strong Muslim community, and triggering the creation of private Muslim schools, De Feo said.
Source:Reuters