After the French Senate approved an amendment in the draft legislation that calls for banning the wearing of hijab by Muslim women in all the sporting competitions, the draft bill will now be taken up by the National Assembly. These developments come at a time when a controversy on hijab has erupted in Karnataka where the dress code barring Muslim girls from wearing hijab in the government-run pre-university educational institutions has been challenged in the High Court.
The clause to ban overt display of religious symbols is part of a bill which is aimed at “democratizing sports” by increasing transparency and efficiency in governing sports federations and organisations in France. The clause to prohibit “conspicuous religious symbols” was introduced by the upper house, i.e., the Senate. The clause was introduced by the right-wing group Les Republicains and opposed by the French government. This amendment was approved last month with 160 votes in favour and 143 against it. “Today, there is legal uncertainty about the wearing of religious symbols, and it is necessary for the state to clearly define the rules… If the wearing of the veil is not explicitly forbidden, we could see the emergence of community sports clubs promoting certain religious signs,” the amendment read.
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This clause has been opposed by the French President Emmanuel Macron whose party and allies dominate the lower house, i.e., the National Assembly. The vote in the National Assembly will determine the fate of the clause and, hence, the bill.
Religion and related symbols are a subject of fierce, polarizing debate in France is a staunch secular Republic. In February 2021, the French National Assembly approved had another bill to combat “Islamic separatism” which the government said would empower the secular principles of the country. This legislation, known as “anti-separtism” bill, was approved 347-151 votes in its favour.
These recent legislative moves have been termed as anti-Muslim and a gross transgression of human rights. France has the largest population of Muslims (10 percent of its population) in any European country and the religion divide has been a schism especially since the November 2015 Paris attacks.
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France is set to host summer Olympics in 2024 and there have been questions on participation by Muslim women from Islamic countries should the amendment be implemented. “We cannot compromise secularism and France cannot undercut the Olympic movement,” Senator Stéphane Piednoir said to the Senate citing the Olympic Charter which calls for political and religious neutrality. “(The bill empowers) all women to participate in sports competitions without any differentiation, without any sign of discrimination, without any symbol linked to the veil which we know is a political tool,” he further said.
