"They are doing much fuss about nothing and their stance is not justified as they take the matter to extremes," Breze said

By Hadi Yahmid, IOL Correspondent

PARIS, July 4 (IslamOnline.net) – The Union of French Islamic Organizations (UOIF) berated Sunday, July 4, the directors board of state-run schools for their uncompromising stance on hijab even ostentatious headscarves like bandanas.

"They surely went far in misinterpreting the hijab ban law as it rebuffs any signs of faiths even if they are ostentatious like bandanas," the UOIF said in a statement, a copy of which was obtained by IslamOnline.net.

"Unfortunately, some educational officials introduced their provocative understandings to the law," which was adopted last February with an overwhelming majority by the French parliament, added the statement.

Urging the Muslim pupils and their families to start thinking about how they will adapt to this controversial law, the UOIF, however, said it is willing to provide them moral support and legal assistance.

It said such personal opinions represent blatant violations of the law and hold in contempt the State Council, which called for flexible application of the law and allowed the ostentatious signs such as bandanas.

President Jacques Chirac set up an ad hoc committee to say whether hijab and religious insignia should be banned in state-run schools.

Committee Chief Bernard Stasi recommended issuing a law banning hijab and ostentatious religious symbols.

Stasi said Saturday, July 3, he realized that the government has made a couple of mistakes in dealing with the law, regretting marginalizing some rights of the sizable Muslim community in France.

He also felt sorry that the government rejected to make Eid Al-Adha (Eid of the Sacrifice) a holiday for the Muslim community.

Intransigence

Bandana

UOIF President Lhaj Thami Breze said the board’s position reflected the "intransigence" of the school directors.

"They are doing much fuss about nothing and their stance is not justified as they take the matter to extremes," Breze told IOL.

He said the March law allows Muslim students to wear ostentatious hijabs, like bandana.

"Their ill intentions are the main motive," Breze added.

Last week, the French Council of the Muslim Faith (CFRI) proposed that parents keep their children from going to their public school for a week to show solidarity with any fellow Muslim student dismissed by the school for wearing bandana.

French Education Minister Francois Fillon had proposed to the cabinet on April 21 allowing Muslim schools girls to wear bandana.

Appearing in a meeting at the CFRI, then Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy, now serving as Finance Minister, said the bandana could serve as a "middle ground" for the thorny issue of hijab.

The New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) dismissed the French legislation as "discriminatory".

Islam sees hijab as an obligatory code of dress, not a religious symbol displaying one’s affiliations – unlike the symbolic Christian crucifixes or Jewish Kappas.