Two democracies and two approaches

Liberté, égalité, fraternité, or liberty, equality and fraternity is the famous French slogan representing the fair treatment of all of its citizens equally, with freedom, dignity and human rights. What more could a citizen wish for from its government? What else could be needed to make its people feel proud of their country’s constitution?

France is a great and beautiful country, albeit a secular one, with a proud history, and has every right to protect its citizens, defend its people against any attack or against those seeking to breach the peace. Such a great country is also expected to act in an appropriate manner and not descend to the same level of behaviour as of those who may wish to harm it.

The many brutal attacks that have taken place in France, against both its people and its infrastructure, have been condemned by all sane and sensible persons. Indeed, Muslims all over the world expressed their outrage at these attacks, carried out as they were, so we are told, by so called Muslims of the so called Islamic State. Any attacks on the innocent civilians of any country and of any faith or non-faith are, without doubt, unsanctioned and unlawful by Islamic Law and teachings.

We, therefore, find ourselves aghast at the news that the French police were seen to be enforcing a ‘burkini ban’ on a woman, apparently a Muslim, on a beach in Nice, where a recent attack took place. No one, apparently, sees any connection between the Islamist's open announcement of threats to France, in retaliation for the French involvement in the war against them and this ‘burkini ban’.

Muslim women, like their non-Muslim counterparts, would like to enjoy a day out on a beach with their families, while respecting the prescribed codes of dress for them presented in the Islamic framework for personal dignity. Is there a French law which says that all women have to conform to a particular code of dress if they wish to visit a beach? If there is, by stripping any woman, Muslim or not, of her rights and, indeed, her clothing and by not allowing her to enjoy a day out as she wishes, surely such a law must be seen as unconstitutional? Hopefully, we will hear that France’s highest court agrees when it delivers its decision regarding this ban.

Nice’s deputy mayor, defending the banning of burkinis, said that it was a ‘necessity’ following the deadly jihadist attack last month, but no one understands why it became a ‘necessity’ and what, if any, was the connection between the two. One can only assume that, if no Muslim woman wears a burkini, there will be less chance of any further attacks!!! The French Council of the Muslim Faith (CFCM) has rightly expressed its concern at the direction the public debate is taking.

We all understand the urgent need to find a solution to the political extremism that radical militant Islamists present and that we must all cooperate if we are to minimise and eliminate the dangers that the innocent citizens of any country face. However, using such attacks as a pretext to suppress the human rights of innocent Muslims, in particular Muslim women, is counter-productive and will carry no advantage in any campaign against Islamist terrorism. If a Muslim woman chooses to don her Islamic spiritual dress, to safeguard her dignity and not for the display of any extremism, then it is the responsibility of the country of which she is a citizen to defend her right to do so. The French motto seems to be failing the Muslim citizens of France and  ‘égalité’ appears to only apply when it used as a tool to forcefully integrate them into the wider secular culture of the state.

Happily, in other democracies, there exists a completely opposite view and recently came news that most of us found refreshing in the honouring of human rights. The Royal Canadian Mounted police, known as the Mounties, is to allow women in uniform to wear the ‘hijab’. Government spokesman, Scott Bardsley, said the move reflects the diversity in Canada’s communities and that it intends to recruit more female Muslim officers. 

A decade ago, the Metropolitan Police in London approved the hijab as part of its uniform. It was never thought this would encourage Islamic extremism or adversely affect integration of the communities. Recently, Police Scotland has also formally made the hijab part of the force's uniform. Police Scotland said it is working to make the force ‘representative of the communities we serve’.

Muslims feel that despite all the dangers of extremism and the history of past attacks in UK, the Muslim community here has been given space in which to live in dignity, with their human rights intact. We are able to thrive and flourish as citizens of this country and not become stigmatised or stripped of our clothes by ‘enforcement police’ or rather ‘state police for the enforcement of a certain “morality”.  It is realised that such actions do not create confidence in people or foster partnerships with other communities.

However, two very different mindsets and approaches exist in the two great European countries which formerly colonised and ruled the world. One maintained the indigenous people’s cultural heritage in its colonies, while the other forcibly eradicated them and replaced them with its own, all in the name of Liberté, égalité, fraternité! 

Most Muslim citizens of France, who now number more than 5 million and have come, mostly, from the countries colonised by France, are law abiding citizens. They should be seen as an asset to their country and the majority unquestionably are. Very few women here and few women there, who wear the burkini or the hijab, pose any danger to the overall civil and cultural codes of French dress. 

Enforcing the intended French ban, on an official level, will create a bad image, lower the reputation of France in the eyes of the rest of the world and demean its motto of Liberté, égalité, fraternité.

We need to fight all acts of terrorism together and protect our populations from any harm, but we can only do that when a real sense of fraternity, the often stated constitutional aim of that great country, finally exists. The wearing of the hijab is often felt as a personal and spiritual need, offering its wearers protection and we need to respect its use as a human right.  The hijab is not going to harm anyone, but being able to wear it will make some people feel more pride in their citizenship and create harmony and real sense of equality and liberty, and of course fraternity!