The French Council of the Muslim Faith has asked for urgent talks with the interior minister, Bernard Cazeneuve, because of “growing fear of stigmatisation of Muslims in France”.
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The ticket issued to her, seen by AFP, stated that she was not wearing “an outfit respecting good morals and secularism”. As she does, a policeman appears to write out a fine. Another said, “Opposing an enforced dress code for women by enforcing another dress code for women doesn’t really make sense to me, France”.
It comes after mass-outrage at the images shared on social media of armed French police asking her to remove the garment on the beach. Andrew Stroehlein, European Media Director of Human Rights Watch, wrote on Twitter.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said he does not and would not support such a ban in Canada.
“I am so ashamed”, French feminist Caroline De Haas tweeted.
The CFCM said the images were worrying.
“In the hard and critical situation that France is facing in the wake of the tragic attacks which affected the country profoundly, the CFCM calls for wisdom and responsibility of everyone. Today, we need more acts of peace and tolerance”. He said the bans, by contrast, had stirred “disruption to public order”, driven by the sight of police issuing fines to Muslim women on some Riviera beaches.
Ipsos pollsters’ analyst Jérôme Fourquet said that these figures mirrored a survey conducted in April past year, in which 63% of people surveyed said they were opposed to the wearing of the headscarf or the veil. “I had no intention of swimming”.
Five cities, including Cannes and Nice, have now banned women from wearing burkinis, full body bathing suits worn by some Muslim women.
The vague wording of the prohibitions has caused confusion.
Several people besides Rowling have pointed out the hypocrisy of calling a full-body covering provocative while leveling the same criticism at women who wear little clothing.
Photographs have surfaced of armed French police officers making a woman on a beach remove some of her clothing as part of a controversial ban on the burkini.
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“A Burkini is convenient because I don’t have to wear a headscarf but, as it should be, I’ll only wear one if I feel like it, other times I’ll wear a scarf and long pants”.
