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France: Minors banned to wear Hijab.

France has just passed a law to ban hijab for minors (person who are aged less than 18 years old). France had already banned the wearing of hijabs in public schools since 2004. We can see that someone is obsessed by the hijab. It is to be noted that France proudly say that they are a secular state. This law to restrict minors from wearing hijabs has just been passed. 

With respect to the bill; French Senator, Christian Bilhac said:

"To what extent can a secular state tolerate that children display religious signs in full view of everyone? It is not up to parents to impose dogma on children. It is essential that there are protective spaces for them and a pathway to emancipation."

The bill has been justified by mainly 2 points which are:

1. Hijab signifies inferiority of women to men.                                     2. Parents should not impose religious practices on their children. 

We all know bandana (fashion style where the hair is covered with a piece of cloth) which is worn by youngsters and even fashion models. Bandana does not in any way signifies that a gender is inferior to another. 

 It is the duty of the parents to provide guidance and education (religious, academic and civic) to their children as per the family law in France. It is the duty of a married couple. 

The bill and its justifications deny rationality to Islam and the arguments are so feeble to be able to legislate such a restriction. The draconian polices of France with respect to a specific community as a secular state is not reflecting its secularism.

Maybe, France should take a leaf out of the Mauritian Constitution as the Mauritian Best Loser System is not so bad to give a voice to minorities. It is a way to give the minorities a voice in the decision making on the national level. 

France should stop legislating draconian legislation for a specific community and should start upholding its secular values. 

Yovesh Gunnoo

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