Chirac’s proposed law discriminatory, hypocritical

Twenty schoolgirls in Lille, France have been expelled from
school. According to French President Jacques Chirac, they are a
threat to national cohesion, France’s founding principles of
secularism and their behavior “is a sort of aggression that
is difficult for us to accept.”

You might think they formed a club at school dedicated to
starting a revolution in the countryside where they would stage a
military coup to overthrow the French government and replace it
with a fanatical, religious regime.

But no, these girls are not terrorists or anarchists, and they
have formed no such club. What’s their crime? Wearing a small
piece of cloth to cover their hair. If I lived in Lille, I, too,
would be among them.

As a Muslim woman, I have chosen to wear the hijab, or Islamic
headscarf. Chirac has proposed a law to the French parliament that
would force people like me to choose between following our
religions or getting an education.

The law would ban the wearing of “ostentatious”
religious symbols at any state school. These symbols include
“large” Christian crosses, the Jewish skullcap and the
headscarf worn by Muslim women.

He claims that such conspicuous signs of religious affiliation
will challenge the “laws and principles of the
republic” and bring real harm to the highly esteemed
principles of secularism.

When I wear the hijab, I am not making a political statement
denouncing my government. I am not imposing my opinions or ideals
on others. To imply that wearing a few feet of extra cloth around
my hair is an act of aggression toward my classmates and teachers
““ well you can decide for yourself what punishment that crime
merits.

I wear the hijab as an expression of modesty. My father and
brothers are not forcing me to dress the way I dress. The hijab is
not a symbol of oppression faced by Muslim women nor is it a means
of supporting extremist or fanatical regimes.

As a computer science student attending college 2,000 miles away
from home and as the president of the Muslim Student Association, I
would hardly say the hijab is holding me back.

To ban Muslim girls from getting an education because they
choose to observe a religious practice is blatant discrimination
and an infringement on human rights. As a country that prides
itself on its freedom of consciousness, freedom of education and
freedom of religion, and as a signatory to the European Convention
on Human Rights, the parliament of France ““ along with its
citizens ““ should reject Chirac’s proposal and reaffirm
France’s commitment to religious freedom and secularism.

Chirac claims secularism “expresses our wish to live
together in respect, dialogue and tolerance. Secularism guarantees
the freedom of conscience. It protects the freedom to believe or
not to believe.”

Telling a woman she cannot cover herself if she wishes to do so
does not give her respect. Hiding all displays of religious
affiliation does not promote dialogue and discriminating against 5
million members of France’s population does not create
tolerance.

Secularism is based on the idea that there should be a
separation between church and state, so that no government can
impose its religious beliefs on its citizens. These ideas, the same
ones our country was built upon, can and have created a
multicultural society where people are free to practice their
religions without fear of discrimination or injustice.

But a government that can decide the manner in which people
practice their faith, saying they can practice religion within
their homes but not in public unless they are very discrete, is
true form of oppression.

It is hypocritical to claim people are free to practice their
religions (or not practice any religion, for that matter) while
limiting them to only wearing a small, unobvious cross around their
necks. It is an injustice to Jewish people to tell them they cannot
wear skullcaps because no one should know they are Jewish, and it
is a sign of sheer ignorance and racism to tell me I am oppressed
because I wish to follow my religion’s requirement that I
dress modestly.

Regardless of whether you wear a skullcap, are in the habit of
wearing a cross, or agree or disagree with the way Muslim women
dress, it is our responsibility as people who hold dearly the right
of religious freedom ““ a principle upon which this country
was founded ““ to hold the French government accountable to
honor the basic human rights and freedoms all people should be
accorded regardless of religion, race, color or ethnicity.

Call, e-mail, or write to the French consulate. Join me at a
protest this Saturday at the corner of Wilshire Boulevard and
Veteran Avenue.Or at the very least, get to know that Muslim girl
in your class who dresses a little differently than you do but who
is trying to get an education.

If you were in France, you might never be afforded that
opportunity.

Jukaku is the president of the Muslim Student
Association.