Muslims march against French headscarf ban

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Monday, January 19, 2004

Muslims march against French headscarf ban

Shouting "the veil is my choice," several thousand people marched in Paris on Saturday as part of protests around the world against the French Government's plan to ban Muslim headscarves in schools.

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Shouting "the veil is my choice," several thousand people marched in Paris on Saturday as part of protests around the world against the French Government's plan to ban Muslim headscarves in schools.

Women in head scarves and men, often bearded and wearing robes, joined the Paris rally, which drew at least 3,000 people. Thousands more attended protests in France's other major cities, while the Paris protest drew Muslims from around the country.

"We're here for our liberty," said Fatiha Hossol, from the southeastern city of Lyon. "It's our religious obligation to honour our God."

Algerian-born Kawtar Fawzy, 30, also traveled from Lyon.

"When I came here, they told me France was the land of human rights. I found out it's the opposite," she said, amid protesters waving French flags.

From London to Baghdad, protesters around the world took to the streets to express their solidarity with Muslims in France.

The government, worried about the rise of Islamic fundamentalism, intends to enact the law for the start of the 2004-05 school year in September. It says Muslim scarves and other obvious religious symbols, including Jewish skullcaps and large Christian crosses, must be kept out of schools to keep them secular and avoid religious strife.

But, many Islamic leaders say the law will stigmatize France's estimated 5 million Muslims, who make up 8 per cent of the population.

In London, 2,400 people portested across from the French Embassy in the upscale Knightsbridge area, police said. They waved placards and chanted: "If this is democracy, we say: `No, merci!'" "The (French) Government is isolating Muslims and setting a dangerous precedent," said Ihtisham Hibatullah," spokesman for the Muslim Association of Britain.

One protester, 19-year-old Sofia Ahmad, said she feared the ban might spread from France to other countries.

Britain's Foreign Office Minister Mike O'Brien said the British Government supported the right of all people to display religious symbols.

Dozens of women, veiled in black scarves, marched through the main city of Srinagar, the summer capital of Indian-controlled Kashmir, to express their solidarity with Muslims in France. In Iraq, an Islamic group distributed an open letter to French President Jacques Chirac in mosques calling for the government to reverse its position.

Source: Xinhua

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