Activists launched a campaign yesterday to protect the right of Muslim women in Europe to wear Islamic headscarves. The issue of the hijab has sparked controversy across the continent and underlined sharp divisions over integrating Muslims. Some 250 delegates from 14 countries congregated at London’s City Hall under the banner of a pro-hijab pressure group to campaign over what they see as human rights violations. Among their most vociferous supporters was leading Muslim theologian Yusuf Al Qaradawi who called on France to overturn a ban on headscarves in schools, due to begin in September. "The ban evokes a ghetto mentality," he told the conference. You are antagonising Muslims.
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The Egyptian-born cleric has been mired in controversy on a week-long speaking tour of Britain. At the conference, the French headscarf move was also condemned by London Mayor Ken Livingstone who said: "The French ban is the most reactionary proposal to be considered by any parliament in Europe since the Second World War. But the issue has not just been confined to France. Several German states are to ban teachers from wearing headscarves. Last month, the European Court of Human Rights rejected appeals by a Turkish student barred from attending Istanbul University medical school in 1998 because her headscarf violated the official dress code |