On the 30th of March, the French Senate voted in favor of legislation that, if passed, would ban Muslims from wearing a hijab in public. The hijab is a headscarf worn by many Muslim women and has been the subject of debates all over the world.
A comic strip by a Muslim artist in France attempting to educate people on the bill
The latest amendment to the “separatism bill” might also prohibit hijab-wearing mothers from going on school trips with their children and ban full-coverage swimsuits i.e. burkinis, in public pools. Many critics have denounced the bill as a violent attack on the Muslims living in France, and worldwide, as this might cause an increase in Islamophobia all around the world.
Thus the bill is immensely unpopular among the Muslim community while many critics are using social media and hashtags like #handsoffmyhijab to show discontent. However, such a crucial bill has not received enough attention worldwide. In contrast, Islamic countries are often criticized for making the hijab compulsory, therefore logically, France should also be criticized for prohibiting Muslim girls from wearing one.
Banning the hijab is an infringement of human rights and liberty that goes directly against France’s national motto of “liberté, égalité, fraternité” i.e. freedom, equality, and fraternity.
France’s anti-Islam law would make life very difficult for the Muslims living there. The bill has always been controversial and is seen as an attempt to validate the already existing Islamophobic and anti-Muslim feelings in France.
What is astonishing is that young girls are allowed to consent to sexual relations at the age of fifteen, but Muslim girls can’t choose whether they want to wear a hijab or not.
In 2004 France also banned Muslim girls from wearing the hijab in schools, this was also deemed very controversial.
Hijab is a choice. Just as you may choose to wear any other item of clothing. But France has taken that choice away from women. France’s version of secularism infringes on the freedom to practice one’s religion freely, especially Islam. France thinks it’s ‘liberating Muslim women, but it’s actually pushing them out of public life even more so than before.
Hijabi wearing the French flag
French hijabis are being pushed out of public life like education and politics making it almost impossible for them to participate in the country. France keeps making laws for them without taking their feelings and opinions into consideration. How is that democracy? Muslim women deserve to make that choice for themselves. Moreover, the passing of this bill would legitimize islamophobic sentiments. Hate is contagious and therefore it is extremely important to stop it before any major damage is done.
