Banning headscarves in public schools

Again The Jakarta Post has devoted ample space to the issue of religious paraphernalia, specifically Muslim headscarves in French schools. Yet again, the issue has been narrowly focused.

Those parents who demand that their daughters be allowed to attend school wearing headscarves, should address a few questions, among them "Do you insist that your child be allowed to wear the headscarf at all times?" If the answer is "yes", then this implies that the child should also be exempt from activities such as swimming and other physical education programs, which are included in the curriculum.

I taught for four years at a school in Malaysia, where the majority of students were Muslims, and have seen Muslim schoolgirls doing outdoor activities during the hottest period of the day, not only wearing headscarves but also full-length skirts. Is this what Western schools should allow? More to the point, should a student be exempt from physical education on grounds other than illness?

Shada Islam said in his article published by The Jakarta Post on Feb. 12, "Neither France nor its neighbors have done much to engage their Muslim minorities..." Remembering that British Muslims leaders were allowed to get away with calling for the murder of Salman Rushdie during The Satanic Verses controversy (they were not charged) and that celebrations of the Sept. 11 attacks have been seen at mosques in the UK, I find this pretty hard to stomach. It is even harder to stomach when you can find in the mill towns of northern England -- such as Blackburn, Oldham and Bolton -- Pakistani women, who have been there for more than twenty years, and who still cannot speak more than rudimentary English because their menfolk have confined them to a very narrow domestic role.

Integration really does require the effort of both parties, although at the same time, integration is not assimilation.

It would do the case of those protesting the secular policies of a secular state the world of good if they were seen to be somewhat even-handed. Where, I ask, are the Muslim protesters over the issue of the persecution of the Christian minority in Sudan -- which barely rates a mention in the mainstream media. Why don't these people protest the lack of religious freedom in Saudi Arabia?

DAVID JARDINE
Jakarta