MUCH ADO ABOUT BURKINI
WHAT IS IT?
Burkini is a swimwear created by Aheda Zanetti, an Australian woman of Lebanese origin, for Muslim women working as lifeguards on Australian beaches
This week, images of police in a Nice beach instructing a burkini-clad beachgoer to remove her tunic stirred a heated debate
WHY THE BAN?
Fear of Islamic extremism in France in the wake of a series of terror attacks
Some mayors argued wearing burkinis could make other beachgoers angry or afraid
Others said excessively large women’s swimwear pose a risk to public hygiene
Prime Minister Manuel Valls said burkinis represent the enslavement of women
France sees burkini as violating its century-old commitment to promote secularism in public life
THE POLITICS
The anti-burkini crusade is seen as part of a far right, anti-Muslim agenda that may win votes in France’s 2017 presidential election
Many mayors at the forefront of the ban are members of former president Nicolas Sarkozy’s conservative party
Sarkozy, who will contest the poll, has linked burkinis to radicalised Islam, which may help him win favour with those who oppose the so-called “Islamisation” of France
Some left-leaning ministers say burkinis oppress women.