Sarkozycallsburkinisa‘provocation’thatsupportsradicalIslam
FRANCE - The former French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, has branded the full-body burkini swimsuits worn by some Muslim women a “provocation” that supports radicalized Islam.
After efforts by a series of French coastal towns to ban women from wearing burkinis set off a heated debate in the country, Sarkozy said in a TV interview on Wednesday night that “we don’t imprison women behind fabric.” His outburst earned a sharp rebuke from the woman who created the burkini, the Australian designer Aheda Zanetti. “I truly, truly believe that the French have misunderstood and that they don’t know what a burkini looks like and what it represents”, said Zanetti. “For someone to bring out a statement like that on a piece of clothing that is about joy ... he doesn’t know what he’s talking about. He needs to go to the beach and maybe ask, what is a burkini swimsuit?” “Burkini is just a word that describes a full cover swimsuit and it doesn’t symbolise anything to do with Muslims. It’s about encouraging our kids and children to learn how to swim.” On Thursday, the council of state, France’s highest administrative court, will examine a request by the French Human Rights League to scrap the burkini bans. Lawyers argue that the short-term decrees are illegal.
The political row in France has intensified after a woman in a headscarf was photographed on a beach in Nice removing a long-sleeved top while surrounded by armed police. The series of pictures, taken by a local French news photographer, showed a woman dressed in leggings, a long-sleeved tunic and headscarf being approached by four officers. As the police stand around her, she removes her long-sleeved top, revealing a short-sleeved top underneath. It is unclear whether or not the woman was ordered to do so. In another image, a police officer appears to write out a fine. The Nice mayor’s office denied that she had been forced to remove clothing, telling Agence France-Presse that the woman was showing police the swimsuit she was wearing under her tunic over a pair of leggings. Last week, Nice banned the burkini on its beaches, following about 15 seaside areas in south-east France where mayors have done the same.
(www.theguardian.com)