Olympics-Hijab compromise fails to quell France's discrimination debate
France's secular laws extend to its Olympic athletes
Sprinter dons cap instead of hijab
Critics say female Muslim athletes face discrimination
By Layli Foroudi
PARIS, Aug 2 (Reuters) -Days before the Paris Olympics began, French sprinter Sounkamba Sylla was stuck in a row with her government over the right to wear a hijab at the opening ceremony.
But after a last-gasp compromise was found - in the shape of a navy blue baseball cap hastily bought from a high street store - the 26-year-old sailed down the River Seine beaming with fellow athletes from the national team.
With French competitors bound by secularist laws that stop them donning the Islamic headscarf, rights advocates saw Sylla's case as perpetuating discrimination against Muslims, though some saw it as authorities at least tempering their stance.
"The French team is supposed to represent France and there are Muslims in France," said Timothee Gauthierot, a basketball coach campaigning against the hijab ban. "They find a compromise to hide her headscarf - but why hide it?"
Sylla posted pictures of herself looking happy in the cap at last week's ceremony, which highlighted themes of tolerance and inclusion, but she has not commented publicly.
She was due to compete later on Friday in the mixed 4x400 metre relay heats. The French Olympic Committee has said she would run in a cap.
French lawyer Slim Ben Achour, who has represented women banned from wearing the hijab outside of the public sector jobs, said the arrangement for Sylla was a step forward but still impinged on a fundamental right of religious freedom.
French institutions habitually reject garments viewed as substitutes for the hijab.
"These discussions show that (the hijab ban) is not a sacrosanct principle that has to absolutely be respected," he told Reuters. "(Sylla's case) is an opening and it is because the world is in Paris. France cannot send a message that will be interpreted as racist behaviour."
French laws forbid state workers and school pupils from wearing religious symbols and clothing in public institutions.
This was extended to France's Olympic athletes on grounds they were on a "public service mission", the government said.
VARYING RULES
Rights groups say that fits a pattern of discrimination against Muslim athletes at all levels. "If France wants to show they're inclusive, then the very easy human rights-compliant way forward is to end these types of bans," said Anna Blus, gender justice researcher at Amnesty International.
French sports authorities and Sylla settled on the cap after discussions also involving Games sponsor and luxury goods firm LVMH's Berluti brand, which designed the French athletes' opening ceremony outfits.
The Ministry of Sport declined to comment and Berluti representatives were not immediately available for comment on how the compromise was brokered.
Beyond the Olympics, French sports federations set their own rules: football, basketball and judo ban headcovers for competitions while rugby, handball and athletics allow it.
For Souad Noubli, who dropped out of her sports teaching degree because she would not be able to wear a headscarf in the profession, asking Sylla to wear a cap was unfair.
"Let's stop saying it's a favour for her. Her choice and her rights were not respected," said the 42-year-old youth animator from Nanterre, for whom the principle of secularism should protect the practice of all religions.
The Olympics have shone a spotlight on the multiple controversies over the place of religion and religious symbols in public in France, home to Europe's largest Muslim minority.
Tunisian steeplechase runner Marwa Bouzayani, who competes in a sports hijab, said that she did not understand the restriction and that women athletes should be able to choose what they wear.
"Why should she wear a cap? What's the difference? Does her government think the hijab is backward?" the 27-year-old told Reuters during a training session.
"(A cap) can bother you, it's not comfortable, the wind can catch it, it's not the same as just running in the hijab."
Asked about what she thought of the cap compromise, Masomah Ali Zada, head of the refugee team and a cyclist, who was granted asylum in France after fleeing Afghanistan and wears a hijab, said it was a difficult question.
"I'm really happy to be in the refugees' Olympic team and they respect me as I am," she told Reuters.
Reporting by Layli Foroudi; additional reporting by Mimosa Spencer, Julien Pretot, Elizabeth Pineau; editing by Richard Lough and Andrew Cawthorne
متعلقہ اثاثے
تازہ ترين خبريں
دستبرداری: XM Group کے ادارے ہماری آن لائن تجارت کی سہولت تک صرف عملدرآمد کی خدمت اور رسائی مہیا کرتے ہیں، کسی شخص کو ویب سائٹ پر یا اس کے ذریعے دستیاب کانٹینٹ کو دیکھنے اور/یا استعمال کرنے کی اجازت دیتا ہے، اس پر تبدیل یا توسیع کا ارادہ نہیں ہے ، اور نہ ہی یہ تبدیل ہوتا ہے یا اس پر وسعت کریں۔ اس طرح کی رسائی اور استعمال ہمیشہ مشروط ہوتا ہے: (i) شرائط و ضوابط؛ (ii) خطرہ انتباہات؛ اور (iii) مکمل دستبرداری۔ لہذا اس طرح کے مواد کو عام معلومات سے زیادہ کے طور پر فراہم کیا جاتا ہے۔ خاص طور پر، براہ کرم آگاہ رہیں کہ ہماری آن لائن تجارت کی سہولت کے مندرجات نہ تو کوئی درخواست ہے، اور نہ ہی فنانشل مارکیٹ میں کوئی لین دین داخل کرنے کی پیش کش ہے۔ کسی بھی فنانشل مارکیٹ میں تجارت میں آپ کے سرمائے کے لئے ایک خاص سطح کا خطرہ ہوتا ہے۔
ہماری آن لائن تجارتی سہولت پر شائع ہونے والے تمام مٹیریل کا مقصد صرف تعلیمی/معلوماتی مقاصد کے لئے ہے، اور اس میں شامل نہیں ہے — اور نہ ہی اسے فنانشل، سرمایہ کاری ٹیکس یا تجارتی مشورے اور سفارشات؛ یا ہماری تجارتی قیمتوں کا ریکارڈ؛ یا کسی بھی فنانشل انسٹرومنٹ میں لین دین کی پیشکش؛ یا اسکے لئے مانگ؛ یا غیر متنازعہ مالی تشہیرات پر مشتمل سمجھا جانا چاہئے۔
کوئی تھرڈ پارٹی کانٹینٹ، نیز XM کے ذریعہ تیار کردہ کانٹینٹ، جیسے: راۓ، خبریں، تحقیق، تجزیہ، قیمتیں اور دیگر معلومات یا اس ویب سائٹ پر مشتمل تھرڈ پارٹی کے سائٹس کے لنکس کو "جیسے ہے" کی بنیاد پر فراہم کیا جاتا ہے، عام مارکیٹ کی تفسیر کے طور پر، اور سرمایہ کاری کے مشورے کو تشکیل نہ دیں۔ اس حد تک کہ کسی بھی کانٹینٹ کو سرمایہ کاری کی تحقیقات کے طور پر سمجھا جاتا ہے، آپ کو نوٹ کرنا اور قبول کرنا ہوگا کہ یہ کانٹینٹ سرمایہ کاری کی تحقیق کی آزادی کو فروغ دینے کے لئے ڈیزائن کردہ قانونی تقاضوں کے مطابق نہیں ہے اور تیار نہیں کیا گیا ہے، اسی طرح، اس پر غور کیا جائے گا بطور متعلقہ قوانین اور ضوابط کے تحت مارکیٹنگ مواصلات۔ براہ کرم یقینی بنائیں کہ آپ غیر آزاد سرمایہ کاری سے متعلق ہماری اطلاع کو پڑھ اور سمجھ چکے ہیں۔ مذکورہ بالا معلومات کے بارے میں تحقیق اور رسک وارننگ ، جس تک رسائی یہاں حاصل کی جا سکتی ہے۔
