WASHINGTON: A US government advisory panel has denounced France’s ban on schoolgirls wearing abayas, adding the restriction on dresses was meant to “intimidate” the Muslims in the country, Western media reported on Friday.
US Condemns France Abaya Ban as Targeting Muslim Community
The US Commission on International Religious Freedom called the abaya ban a “misguided attempt” in France. In a statement, the head of the panel Cooper said that France continues to exercise a specific explanation of secularism to target and threaten religious groups, especially Muslims in the country.
The head said, “While no government must use its power to impose a specific religion on its people, it is equally deplorable to limit the peaceful practice of persons’ religious beliefs to promote secularism.”
French Minister for Education Attal announced earlier that schools would no longer permit girls to wear abayas.
In 2004, France had banned school students from wearing “signs or outfits by which they ostensibly show a religious association.
The ban on the dress was condemned in France by Muslim leaders and by political leader Jean-Luc Melenchon, who called it a step to fan divisions in the society.
