It enshrines secularism in education but also guarantees the freedom of religion and freedom to exercise it. Throughout August, the question of whether or not to ban women from wearing “burkinis” to the beach was front-page news and was debated even within the ranks of government.
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W: But, it’s necessary to state here that you don’t want Muslims. The burkini bans by some French coastal towns drew global condemnation after images circulated online of police appearing to require a Muslim woman to disrobe.
He said: “It does nothing to increase security, it does nothing to improve public order”.
The controversial ban of the burkini – a full-body bathing suit replete with head covering designed for more conservative Muslim women – began to spread amongst cities in France in the wake of the Nice attack in July, which left more than 80 dead.
The two Muslim women were told to leave La Cenacle in Tremblay-en-France because the restaurant chef argued, “All Muslims are terrorists”.
Cazeneuve warned in an interview with France’s Roman Catholic newspaper La Croix that if the political class can not unite all French “the dynamics of division may prove risky”.
It would be “unconstitutional” for France to pass a law banning the burkini and such a move could cause irreparable harm, French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve warned in an interview published online late Sunday.
The talks are expected also to discuss how to better establish a foundation for Islam in France, which will support cultural, educational, and social projects to cope with mounting radicalism and an alarming number of French youth wanting to join militants in Syria. The French constitution prohibits religious displays in public institutions.
Hakim El Karoui, a secular Muslim who participated in Monday’s talks, said that the choice of Chevenement was “clumsiness at the very least”. “Firstly, we must end the arguments over the burkini, which make no sense”.
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The issue has become politically charged at the start of party primaries ahead of next year’s presidential election in France, with several leaders on the right and far-right calling for a law prohibiting the full-body swimming costume worn by some Muslim women. Some 20 mosques or prayer rooms considered imbued with radicalism have been closed in recent months.
