France moves a step closer to banning veil

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PARIS: France is moving towards a ban on wearing face-covering Islamic veils in public, with the government set to examine a draft bill next month amid heated debate over women’s rights and religious freedom.

President Nicolas Sarkozy spoke out in favour for a complete ban on Wednesday, and the relevant bill will be presented to the cabinet in May, government spokesman Luc Chatel said. Sarkozy believed that the full veil, commonly referred to as the burqa in France, “hurts the dignity of women and is not acceptable in French society”, he told reporters.

Chatel quoted Sarkozy as saying that everything should be done so that “no one feels stigmatised because of their faith and religious practices”. The proposal has attracted both fierce criticism and praise in the home of the largest Muslim community in the 27-member European Union. Almost 10% of France’s 62 million population is Muslim. Most French voters back a ban on burqa, polls have shown, but legal experts have warned that it could violate the constitution.

The idea of a ban was first floated last year by mayors who noticed more and more women in their neighbourhoods covering themselves with full veils. A parliamentary commission was set up to examine the proposal during six months of hearings. Since then, many feminists from France’s poor, multi-ethnic suburbs have spoken out in support of a ban, saying it could help women who did not want to wear the veil but were forced to do so.
 
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