LOL...." There were also protests in Jordan, Bahrain and in Bethlehem. More than 2,000 women staged protest in Beirut, while thousands of Palestinian women marched in Gaza City, Rafah. "Where is democracy," they chanted. ".....
French Minister Flays Global Protests Against Muslim Headscarf Ban
indolink.com
Paris, Jan. 18 (NNN): French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy on Saturday criticised worldwide outcry against the government’s plan to ban Muslim headscarves in schools as several thousand people marched in Paris itself during the day shouting ‘Veil is my choice’, as part of protest demonstrations around the world against the move.
Sarkozy said the protests at the government proposals would only promote tension, misunderstandings and anger.
"It is only through dialogue, the path of compromise and mutual respect that each person can find his place in the republic," said Sarkozy in response to the marches.
Around 5,000 mainly Muslim marchers took part in a demonstration in Paris, which was fewer than expected.
There were also rallies elsewhere in France and Europe, the Middle East and Jammu and Kashmir.
President Jacques Chirac announced a ban on overtly religious symbols in schools last month after an official report into state secularism.
Apart from the Islamic headscarf, the ban - scheduled to be enacted before the next academic year in France - would also affect the Jewish skullcap, big crucifixes and Sikh turbans.
The government proposed the new law as a measure to safeguard France's secular tradition.
Many of France's five million Muslims see it as an attack on their religious and human rights. "When I came here, they told me France was the land of human rights. I found out it's the opposite," said 30-year-old Algerian-born Kawtar Fawzy at the Paris protest.
Mainstream Muslim groups had distanced themselves from the action, advocating instead continued dialogue with the government.
The demonstrations in Paris and other French cities were organised by a small group, the Party of French Muslims (PMF), which is regarded by many in France as a radical Islamist organisation.
An estimated 2,400 opponents of the ban rallied in London, where there was also a small counter-demonstration.
Outside the capital cities, including Brussels where about 1,000 protesters appeared, the largest demonstrations were held in the French regions.
There were small rallies, too, in the Middle East.
An estimated 3,500 marched in Lille, 1,800 in Marseille, 1,500 in Mulhouse and hundreds in other French cities, police and organisers said.
Women in headscarves and bearded men wearing robes, joined the Paris rally, which drew at least 3,000 people. From London to Baghdad, protesters around the world took to the streets to express solidarity with Muslims in France. Thousands attended protests in other major cities of France.
In London, 2,400 people demonstrated across from the French Embassy in the upscale Knightsbridge area, police said. They waved placards and chanted: "If this is democracy, we say: ‘No, merci!"
In Iraq, an Islamic group distributed an open letter to French President Jacques Chirac in mosques calling for the government to reverse its position. A demonstration was staged by male and female students on Sunday at Baghdad’s Al Mustansiriya University.
There were also protests in Jordan, Bahrain and in Bethlehem. More than 2,000 women staged protest in Beirut, while thousands of Palestinian women marched in Gaza City, Rafah. "Where is democracy," they chanted.
Women, veiled in black scarves, marched through the main roads of Srinagar in Jammu and Kashmir, to express their solidarity with Muslims in France. Protests were also expected in US and Canada where it would be the biggest coordinated demonstration against the planned French law. |
