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Recently, the French government announced that the practice of wearing abaya would be banned in state-run schools as it violated the principle of Laïcité, which is the French idea of secularism.
The education minister described the abaya as a religious gesture, aimed at testing the resistance of the republic towards the secular sanctuary that school must be.
The move was met with criticism by many.
Some said that this amounts to a policing of teenagers’ clothing (public schools in France do not have a uniform).
Some said that it was an attack on freedom and women’s bodies.
Others said that this was yet another instance of Laïcité being used as a tool of oppression rather than assimilation.
French Principle of Secularism
Coined in the 19th century, Laïcité is a complicated and politically charged term.
It is understood as a formal separation of the State and Church.
It involves the complete removal of religious values from the public sphere and their replacement with secular values such as liberty, equality, and fraternity.
The underlying goal of Laïcité is to implant tolerance and assimilate people.
As per the principle, religion is to be confined to the private sphere.
It is important to note here that the state plays an important role in ensuring that affairs are run according to the principle of Laïcité.
Laïcité, a product of the struggle of anti-clerical Republicans against the power of the Catholic Church, was an abstract idea following the French Revolution in 1789.
It took a concrete shape in the form of The Law of 1905 in the Third Republic when state-run secular schools were established.
The Law of 1905 guarantees freedom of conscience and freedom of worship except when it clashes with public order.
It states that the Republic would neither pay for nor subsidise any form of worship.
Today, while there are publicly funded Catholic schools in France, most children attend public schools which are secular spaces and free of cost.
Laïcité was not seen as problematic for the most part of the 20th century because France was largely homogenous.
In the 1950s and 1960s, however, there was large-scale decolonisation in North Africa, which led to an influx of immigrants from predominantly Muslim countries such as Tunisia, Morocco, and Algeria.
The change in demographics caused episodic tensions.
Over the next few decades, global developments, such as the 9/11 attack and the invasion of Afghanistan by the U.S., and domestic ones, such as the rise of the National Front, which was avowedly anti-immigration; othe incidents all contributed to this and arguably led to anti-Muslim sentiment.
Following the recommendation of the Stasi Commission, which was set up to reflect upon the application of the Laïcité principle.
France passed a law in 2004 prohibiting the wearing of “ostentatious” symbols that have a clear religious meaning, such as a Catholic dress, a Jewish kippah, or a Muslim headscarf, in public spaces.
In 2011, France banned the wearing of face-covering veils in public places.
Every such controversial decision of the French state in the name of Laïcité has led to new interpretations of the principle.
The question now is whether Laïcité actually helps people integrate into society or whether it is being used as a tool to oppress communities.
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