A file photo of French girls protesting the hijab ban.

Hadi Yahmid, IOL Correspondent

PARIS, February 21 (IslamOnline.net) – A French law banning hijab and religious insignia in state schools, which came into effect last September, has triggered a domino effect, with several ministries seeking to expand its application beyond public schools.

The Health Ministry was the latest to jump on the bandwagon, issuing a written directive on February 2 committing all hospitals to take a “neutral” position in dealing with their patients when it comes to religion.

The directive, a copy of which was obtained by IslamOnline.net, provides for concealing any religious symbol in hospitals to protect the secular nature of the staff.

The ministry’s move is a grim reminder of the sacking of a hijab-grabed nurse in 2002 for refusing to take off the headscarf.

Le Figaro Magazine revealed on its Saturday’s edition that the Higher Learning and Labor ministries mull drafting similar laws banning hijab and religious symbols in state-run institutions and universities.

The magazine said that the minister of labor has already entered into talks with relevant French syndicates to ban hijab in public companies and corporations, especially those in direct touch with the lay people.

It added that the minister admitted the difficulties of amending the existing labor laws, but said work contracts can include an item obliging female employees to take off their hijab inside the workplace.

The weekly further disclosed that some universities have banned students from wearing religious symbols inside campuses.

A binding draft for all universities is being written to ban religious dress codes, according the magazine.

In January, a police station in Paris did not allow a group of veiled women to attend a party thrown for them for being granted French citizenship.

Islam sees hijab as an obligatory code of dress, not a religious symbol displaying one’s affiliations.

“Not Surprising”

Vincent Gissiene, a French expert specialized in Islam, said the anti-hijab drive in the country is “not surprising”.

“It doesn’t surprise me in view of the current media and political campaigns, which became a fertile ground for Islamophobia,” he told IOL.

Officials at several Islamic organizations in France declined to comment on the expansion of hijab ban to other state-run institutions, saying it was premature to jump to conclusions.

A poll conducted by the French TNS organization revealed on Saturday, February 19, that 69 percent of the 1,0000 polled want a ban on religious symbols in all state-run bodies.

Sixty-six percent of the respondents said the law should be applied in hospitals, while 53 percent wanted it enforce in universities.

Hijab was indeed the thorniest issue that set off seismic waves in the country.

After the Secularism Law had entered into force in September, some 40 hijab-donned students were kicked out of state schools.

In October, Cennet Doganay, 15, took off her hijab as she was entering the Louis Pasteur Lycee high school in Strasbourg, eastern France, only to reveal a bald head.

The French measure triggered shock waves across the world, especially in Arab and Muslim countries, and was blasted by the US-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) as “discriminatory”.