French ban on Islamic headscarf clears first reading in parliament

0 Comments | AFP, February, 2004

PARIS (AFP) — France's lower house of parliament adopted a controversial bill that would ban Islamic headscarves and other religious symbols in schools despite opposition from its large Muslim population and criticism from abroad.

The text, put forward by President Jacques Chirac's ruling centre-right party and supported by the left-wing opposition Socialists, was adopted by a vote of 494 to 36.

It will now be sent to the parliament's upper house, the Senate, where Chirac's UMP party has a large majority, and is expected to become law well in time for the start of the next school year in September.

Drafted in response to a rise in religious radicalism among the country's estimated five million Muslims, the bill makes it illegal to wear clothes or symbols...