FRENCH STUDENT KICKED OUT FOR LONG SKIRT

Paris, 11 Rajab 1436/30 April 2015 (MINA) – A decision by a French school to bar Muslim from classes for wearing long skirt has sparked outrage among the Muslim community, after the head teacher insisted the outfit was too openly religious.

The skirt was “nothing special, it’s very simple, there’s nothing conspicuous. There is no religious sign whatsoever,” the student, identified as Sarah said, On Islam quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting.

Sarah has been banned from class twice this month by the head teacher who claimed that the long skirt conspicuously showed religious affiliation.

“The girl was not excluded, she was asked to come back with a neutral outfit and it seems her father did not want the student to come back to school,” local education official Patrice Dutot said.

According to the official, Sarah used to take off her hijab before entering the school premises in the north-eastern town of Charleville-Mezieres.

The school decision has sparked anger among French, with the hashtag #JePorteMaJupeCommeJeVeux, translated into English as “I wear my skirt as I please” that has been trending since its launch.

“If it’s worn by a ‘white’ person, it’s hippy chic, if it’s a Muslim, it becomes conspicuous,” one user tweeted.

On the other hand, the regional education office backed the school decision, saying that the outfit could have been part of a concerted “provocation.”

“When it comes to concerted protest actions by students, which follow other more visible incidents linked for instance to wearing the veil, the secular framework for education must be firmly reminded and guaranteed,” regional education office said in a statement.

Sarah’s case is not the first in France.

Last year, around 130 students were barred from classes for their religious outfits, according to the CCIF Islamophobia watch.

“Wearing a long skirt is nothing ostentatious. This is more due to mass hysteria,” said Abdallah Zekri, President of the National Observatory against Islamophobia, the Local reported.

France is home to a Muslim community of nearly six million, the largest in Europe.

French Muslims have been complaining of restrictions on performing their religious practices.

In 2004, France banned Muslims from wearing hijab, an obligatory code of dress, in public places. Several European countries followed the French example.

France also outlawed the wearing of face-veil in public in 2011. (T/P006/R03)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)