French parliament to vote on bill banning hijab at sports events: All you need to know
The bill, however, is opposed by President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist government and its allies who command a majority in the National Assembly, which has the final vote
Representational image. ANI
At a time when a major row over hijab has escalated in India, the lower house of the French parliament, is set to vote on a bill that would ban the wearing of hijab in sporting competitions.
The bill was passed on to France’s National Assembly after the Senate declined to vote on the legislation on Wednesday.
The bill, which is devoted to “democratising sport”, includes a clause, which was attached as an amendment by the conservative-dominated upper house, that prohibits the wearing “of conspicuous religious symbols” in events and competitions organised by sports federations.
As per a Reuters report, the bill is opposed by President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist government and its allies who command a majority in the National Assembly, which has the final vote.
What is the law and where France stands when it comes to religious identities, let’s take a look:
The amendment prohibiting hijab
The amendment in the bill is proposed by the right-wing group Les Republicains and opposed by the French government.
Macron’s centrist government was swift to denounce the amendment. With the majority the party and its allies hold in the lower house, it is likely the amendment would be removed from the broader bill.
With the Summer Olympics 2024 already in sight, critics have argued how the legislation would affect the games where participants will include conservative Muslim countries.
As per Reuters, right-wing Senator Stéphane Piednoir said the Olympic Charter provided for political and religious neutrality.
“We cannot compromise secularism and France cannot undercut the Olympic movement,” Piednoir told the upper house.
The Olympics charter states that “no kind of demonstration or political, religious or racial propaganda is permitted in any Olympic sites, venues or other areas.”
The French football federation already has in place a ban that disallows the wearing of “conspicuous religious symbols”, even though FIFA lifted its own hijab ban in 2014.
France’s history with hijab and burqa
It is not the first time that a French legislation has made global headlines.
In 2004, hijab was among the array of religious symbols banned from being worn in French public schools. The “veil law” also prohibited the wearing of the Jewish kippah, and large Christian crosses to school.
In 2010, the country prohibited full-face veils like niqabs and burqas in public spaces, becoming the first European country to enforce a nation-wide ban
According to Indian Express, women who do not comply with the veil law are liable to pay fines to the tune of 150 euros. Men who force their wives to wear a burqa could be liable to serve a jail term of one year, and to pay fines worth 30,000 euros.
If a minor is coerced into wearing a burqa, the fine increases to 60,000 euros, and the jail term to two years. This law is applicable to tourists as well; in 2014, the European Court of Human Rights upheld the ban.
The latest vote comes a year after the French Parliament’s lower house approved an “anti-separatism” bill to strengthen oversight of mosques, schools and sports clubs in a bid to safeguard France from “radical Islamists” and to promote “respect for French values”.
According to Al Jazeera, critics argued that the bill could harm the rights of France’s 5.7 million-strong Muslim community.
With inputs from agencies
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