Religion in French Schools

[Pah]

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UN takes up turban issue with French govt
Item 7742 • Posted: Fri, Jul. 02 2004 • Weblogged by ReligionNewsBlog.com

The Tribune (India), July 1, 2004
http://www.tribuneindia.com
By Varinder Walia


In a significant development, the United Nations has taken up the issue of banning turban by the Government of France, imposed on schoolchildren by enacting the school scarf ban law.

The issue was reported to the United Nation by the Sikh Nation Organisation (SNO), led by Dr Manjit Singh Randhawa.

In a communication to the SNO, Maria Francisca lzecharrin, Chief Support Services branch of the UN, said a copy of the representation made by the Sikh organisation had been sent to the French authorities. The communication reads that the “summary of the case will be confidentially submitted to the working group on communications and the commission on human rights’.

Dr Randhawa while giving details of the case said the UN admitted the petition of the SNO under UN 1503 procedure, filed on March 17, 2004 against the French Government, for violating human rights of schoolchildren by enacting the scarf ban law through which “signs and dress, which conspicuously show religious affiliations are forbidden, in public schools of France. Under the 1503 procedure the commission has the mandate to examine a constant pattern of growth, violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms in any country of the world. The procedures examines pattern of violations. Pressure is exerted on the state to change laws, policies and practise that infringe international human rights, according to supplementary information, supplied by UN Secretariat to the Sikh Nation Organisation.

The complaint filed under 1503 procedure are screened by the UN Secretary General and the chairperson of the working group on communications.[/quote]

Background
"Sikh school boys must exchange their turbans for hair nets when a new law banning religious apparel in public schools takes effect in September, France's education minister said Monday, shocking representatives of the Sikh community. [...] The law forbids conspicuous religious symbols and attire in the classroom, such as the Jewish skull cap and large Christian crosses, but it is chiefly aimed at the Muslim head scarf."

French law means Sikhs cannot wear turbans

Euro rights court backs Muslim scarves ban

Muslim scarves oft-misunderstood signs of faith

Muslim headscarves upset secular Europe

Muslim scarf at heart of disputes around U.S.


Wikipedia entry on Hijab

ReligionNewsBlog.com
Euro rights court backs Muslim scarves ban
Item 7695 • Posted: Tue, Jun. 29 2004 • Weblogged by ReligionNewsBlog.com
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Reuters (USA), June 29, 2004
http://www.swissinfo.org
By Gilbert Reilhac


STRASBOURG, France (Reuters) - Banning Muslim headscarves in state schools does not violate the freedom of religion and is a valid way to counter Islamic fundamentalism, the European Court of Human Rights says.

In what could be a precedent-setting decision, the Strasbourg-based court rejected appeals by a Turkish student who was barred from attending Istanbul University medical school because her headscarf violated the official dress code.

The court decision, which takes precedence over national court rulings, could help the French government face court cases it expects to be filed in September against a headscarf ban it plans to impose in state high schools.

"Measures taken in universities to prevent certain fundamentalist religious movements from pressuring students who do not practise the religion in question or those belonging to another religion can be justified," the court ruling said.

Bans issued in the name of the separation of church and state could therefore be considered "necessary in a democratic society", said the court, which is part of the Strasbourg-based Council of Europe whose members include Turkey.

Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), which has Islamist roots, had considered trying to end the headscarf ban but backed off after meeting stiff opposition from the fiercely secular military.

The decision could also effect cases in Germany where Muslim teachers are appealing against laws in several federal states barring them from covering their heads.

In the case before the court, former medical student Leyla Sahin was barred from taking an examination and then refused admission to a class because of her headscarf.

The court also considered a similar case filed by former nursing college student Zeynep Tekin, but discarded it because the plaintiff had recently withdrawn it. A court spokesman could not say when the case was withdrawn.

In their unanimous judgement, the seven judges said headscarf bans were appropriate when issued to protect the secular nature of the state, especially against extremist demands.

"The court has not overlooked the fact that there are extremist political movements in Turkey that are trying to impose on the whole of society their religious symbols and their idea of a society based on religious rules," they wrote.

"The principle of secularism was surely one of the founding principles of the Turkish state," they added. "Safeguarding this principle can be considered necessary for the protection of the democratic system in Turkey."

Personally, even though I have strong liberal tendancies, I feel these legal actions are going beyond what is freedom and an exercise of the state's rights. The state interest in premoting order should be protected by the much harder effort of education and negotiation.

So what is it?

Does the state really think the whole governemntal system is in jeapody and they are fighting for their lives
-or-
Are they being lazy or immature in fostering democracy.
-or-
What else?