Headscarf ban debate resurfaces in French Universities

Paris - Amid reports of discrimination and serious incidents against veiled Muslim students, the debate over wearing Headscarf at public universities came into the spotlight again in France, news agencies reported.

The debate came out, following several comments by politicians supporting a more restricting hijab ban in universities, and when a professor at the Paris XIII university said earlier this month that he did not support “religious symbols in public places”, referring to a young woman wearing a headscarf in his class.

Last week, former French president Nicolas Sarkozy’s political party, the UMP (Union for a Popular Movement), came out in support of even more restrictive measures on religious symbols in French public spaces, including an outright ban on veils in universities. This would be in addition to the ban already in place at public primary and secondary schools.

Some experts say that this is just a way for Sarkozy to appear more appealing to an electorate that may be increasingly wary of minority communities.

 “This is political pandering to the electorate that might vote for the (far-right) National Front,” John Bowen, a professor of anthropology at Washington University in St. Louis, who specializes in the study of Islam, told France 24 on Monday.