Scarf ban opponents fear worst

2004-02-10 07:37

Paris - France has forged ahead with a plan to ban Muslim head scarves in public schools.

French leaders view the ban as a vital antidote to rising Muslim fundamentalism, and growing risks to France's secular underpinnings.

The bill bans "conspicuous" religious symbols from public classrooms, starting in the new school year in September. The ban would include Jewish skullcaps and large Christian crosses but is aimed at the Islamic head scarf.

Sanctions for refusing to remove conspicuous religious signs would range from a warning to temporary suspension to expulsion from school.

"It is time for the republic to set clear, practical and operational limits," Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin said at the opening of a parliamentary debate on the bill a week ago.

A parliamentary vote on Tuesday was expected to pass comfortably, despite concern that the measure could backfire and strengthen Islamic radicalism.

Thorny

French leaders have portrayed the bill as a project to promote national concord over a thorny issue.

The country has grappled with the head scarf problem since two girls in Creil, outside Paris, defied school officials in 1989 and refused to remove them. Since then, schools have expelled scores of girls.

But opponents of the legislation fear the worst.

"The majority of Muslims want to practice their religion in peace and in total respect of the laws," said Lhaj-Thami Breze, president of the Union of Islamic Organisations of France, France's biggest fundamentalist grouping.

"When you persecute, when you make fun of, when you refuse, when you don't respect beliefs, what is the consequence?" he said. "The consequence is radicalisation."

Centrist leader Francois Bayrou said the law would be a "magnificent present" for Muslim fundamentalists, while sociologist Farhad Khosrokhavar said it will be "the beginning of the problem".

French citizens, whatever their origins, are expected to melt into the mainstream, place France above their community and respect the secular nature of public life by keeping religion a private matter. Secularism is meant to guarantee equality for all.

President Jacques Chirac's governing party, the Union for a Popular Movement, has not ordered its lawmakers to vote for the bill on Tuesday, but has little risk of losing. The party holds 364 seats in the 577-seat National Assembly.

In search of a wide victory margin, the UMP agreed last Thursday to a last-minute amendment by the Socialists, allowing for an evaluation of the law's language a year after it takes effect - and replacing "conspicuous" symbols with "visible" symbols, if need be.

The Socialists think the law would be easier to apply if it pertains to "visible" religious symbols.

- AP