Strasbourg court decision on Hijab condemned

Nov 13, IRNA
Europe is victimizing Muslim women who wear Hijab, according to a group which is campaigning for the rights of Muslim women to wear the Islamic dress code.

The group 'Protect-Hijab' has expressed its great disappointment with the European Court of Human Rights ruling against Leyla Shahin of Turkey, who has been pursuing her right to wear the Hijab since being evicted from an examination hall in Turkey in 1998.

The Hijab ban, wherever it is in place, is being used as a disguise for governments to suppress the free practice of religion, said the UK-based group in a statement received by IRNA in Brussels.

"The court's reasoning, based on the impact of the practice of Hijab on those who choose not to wear it, is unconvincing at best, and unashamedly paradoxical at worse." The court in Strasbourg on Friday confirmed an earlier ruling against Leyla Sahin, 32, who was barred from sitting at a university exam in Turkey in 1998 because she wore a headscarf.

"The ECHR is saying that the right of women who choose not to wear the Hijab is greater than the rights of women who wish to observe this religious code." "There is no legal reasoning that can convince us that this is a fair decision. It is simply a reflection of long established European policy on the issue of the Hijab, which has victimized Hijab wearing Muslim women," stated Rajnaara Akhtar, Chai person of Protect-Hijab.

Protect-Hijab said it feels this decision will be unhelpful to the integration of Muslim communities in Europe.

The aim of 'Assembly for the Protection of Hijab' is to campaign nationally and internationally for the protection of every Muslim woman's right to wear the Hijab in accordance with her beliefs and for the protection of every woman's right to dress as modestly and as comfortably as she pleases.

Take a look at this beautiful Hijab Poem