The conservative mayor in Villeneuve-Loubet, Lionnel Luca, has said he wanted to foresee any disruption to the public order in a region badly hurt by the deadly Bastille Day truck attack in nearby Nice last month.
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The U.S. has expressed concerns about measures taken in France regarding Muslim attire, in particular its ban on full-face veils in public spaces.
A 34-year-old French mom, who identified herself as Siam, told the news service that she was fined for donning leggings, tunic and headscarf on a beach in Cannes.
Some fear that burkini bans in several French towns are worsening religious tensions.
Two human rights groups, arguing the bans are discriminatory, appealed to the Council of State.
“I had no intention of swimming”, she said. She was not even wearing a burkini, the Daily Mail reported.
The French premier, Manuel Valls came under fire after his statement regarding the burkini.
He expressed concern over the “risk of fracturing French society”.
One of the world’s most secular countries, France strongly separates religion and public life, and overt religious symbols or clothing are considered incompatible with French values.
Islamic dress has always been a subject of debate in France, which was the first European country to ban the Islamic face veil in public in 2010, six years after outlawing the headscarf and other conspicuous religious symbols in state schools.
According to Islamic law, a woman that reached puberty has to cover every part of her body except for her hands and face.
Paris: Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy has labelled the full-body burkini swimsuits worn by some Muslim women a “provocation” that supports radicalised Islam, amid a heated debate over a ban on the swimwear in France. The NGO is challenging a lower court’s decision in Nice, which upheld the ban in the town of Villeneuve-Loubet.
The so-called burkini was never meant to be a political statement but the recent controversy over its use in France has apparently given a massive boost to online sales for the swimsuit.
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Another video circulated showed a woman being forced from the water by a policeman, although she was wearing a hijab and not a burkini.
