In a firm response to France’s recent decision to ban the abaya – a traditional, long, flowing garment worn by several Muslim women – the Pakistani government has expressed serious concerns, asserting that the move infringes on basic human rights and religious freedoms.
The abaya, often donned as a symbol of cultural identity and religious adherence, has become the centre of a growing debate on secularism and freedom of expression in France.
Foreign Office Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch vehemently criticized the French government’s decision, branding it as “Islamophobic”.
Baloch added that imposing such restrictions inherently violates Muslim females’ freedom, human rights, religious autonomy, and freedom of expression. Baloch emphasized that the ban not only marginalizes Muslim women but also impedes their right to actively and significantly participate in public life, effectively hindering them from showcasing their true identity.
She urged the French officials to reconsider their stance on the prohibition of the abaya, a garment deeply intertwined with the cultural and religious identity of many Muslim women.
The French Government’s Position
The French government announced the newly enacted policy on August 28, stating that the prohibition on wearing abayas within schools was a measure aligned with the nation’s stringent secular laws. This rule, affecting over 500 educational establishments, was instituted as students nationwide resumed their classes. The French authorities maintain that the abaya contravenes existing regulations concerning secularism in educational spheres, echoing similar reasons behind the earlier ban on Muslim headscarves, which were deemed to be a manifest representation of religious allegiance.
Political factions on the right welcomed this policy shift. However, it met stern opposition from the hard left, who contended that it constituted a blatant violation of civil liberties. During a school visit in northern France, French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne remarked that the rule’s implementation was progressing smoothly without any incidents. Borne highlighted that most young girls adhered to the new regulation, willingly choosing to remove their abayas. She mentioned that the government plans to engage in dialogues and employ educational methodologies to clarify the legal aspects governing the ban to those who resisted.
Nevertheless, this move has sparked controversy, with critics accusing President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist administration of drifting further right in an attempt to counter Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally, an accusation hinting at political manoeuvring rather than an emphasis on secularism. The initial phase of this policy impacts 513 identified schools, a small fraction of the approximately 45,000 educational institutions in France, welcoming back 12 million students as the new school term commenced under the freshly imposed ban.
