When religious dress and politics collide

AS SECULARISM grows in most countries, religious education and societal dress codes still court controversy.

The Sri Lankan government, on the second anniversary of the Easter Sunday bombings, is pushing for bills to be passed in parliament to ban Muslim women from wearing the burka, a traditional head and face covering.

It is also intent on banning more than a thousand Islamic schools, or madressas, which it claims are flouting its education policy laws.

It further claims that an increasing number of women are now wearing the burka, which is suggestive of growing extremism.

France is a secular country. Secularism is the freedom to have an opinion. It is not a belief. A law passed in 2004 prohibits all clothing or other attire displaying religious worship to be worn in schools.

In 2010, it banned the wearing of the burka and any associated forms of full-faced veils and coverings.

It said it was a security risk and an impediment to facial recognition regulations.

France was rocked by jihadist attacks in 2015 and 2016 and, more recently, a French schoolteacher was beheaded by a pupil for showing his class cartoon depictions of the Prophet Muhammad.

One will recall that the January 7, 2015, Charlie Hebdo massacre – in which 12 people were killed – was also related to caricatures of the prophet being printed.

By contrast, Turkey, a Muslim republic, which claims to be a secular country, promotes religious classes, which are now compulsory for nine years out of a 12-year schooling career.

In 2014, girls as young as 10 were allowed to wear headscarves to school. Prayer rooms became available at Islamic schools and the curriculum of evolution theory was replaced by jihad in Islamic law.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish president, is a faithful advocate of the indoctrination of religion at school level.

In his 2023 vision, he has pledged financial support for schools – while emphasising that all citizens are equal in terms of access to education.

Earlier this year, Israeli schoolgirls from liberal backgrounds, at the height of the pandemic and during a heatwave, demanded the right to wear shorts to school and they won.

Recently, an old-fashioned cabinet minister from India made snide and salty comments about Indian women wearing torn or ripped jeans. This resulted in a backlash from women.

Here at home, similar incidents have taken place.

An Ndebele man, dressed in traditional gear, was recently thrown out of a retail outlet in an upmarket mall for being inappropriately dressed.

Needless to say, the story went viral and attained national media coverage.

A negotiated settlement is still on the cards, even though talks have stalled.

We are revered for having one of the most progressive constitutions in the world.

The right of a religious person or group must be consistent with the provisions of the Bill of Rights, which is entrenched in the Constitution. This implies that other rights may not infringe on the right of freedom of religion or culture.

With regard to dress codes at public schools, our Constitution guarantees pupils fundamental rights, including those of freedom of religion and culture.

The SA Schools Act requires schools and their governing bodies to develop and implement a code of conduct for pupils, according to the constitution, when drawing up dress code regulations. KEVIN GOVENDER

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