The French education minister’s proposal to prohibit students from wearing abayas - full-length robes worn by some Muslim women - has been welcomed on the right as a move to protect France's secularist traditions, but it has divided the left over whether the garment is a cultural or religious symbol, or just a fashion statement that the state should not be involved in policing.
The proposal to ban students wearing abayas “is dangerous. It is cruel. It will turn once again into discrimination towards young women and in particular, of Muslim faith,” said lawmaker Manuel Bompard, coordinator of the hard-left France Unbowed party on French public television Tuesday, announcing that the party would submit the ban to the Council of State, arguing it is unconstitutional.
