Posted on 02/05/2004 5:31:28 AM PST by Eurotwit
No plans to ban hijab in Norwegian schools
Education Minister Kristin Clemet said during question time in parliament on Wednesday that she had no plans to ban the hijab - the head scarf worn by Muslim women that has recently become increasingly associated with Islamism. The Progress Party's parliamentary group agreed Wednesday to propose banning the hijab and the burka from elementary schools.
Muslim women demonstrate in Oslo in January 2004 for their right to wear the hijab (headscarf) without discrimination. The sign says "I decide" - to counter the argument that the garment is a symbol of female oppression.
Progress Party (Fr.P) deputy leader Siv Jensen told newspaper Dagbladet that the party would raise a debate along the lines of the current discussion in France, forbidding religious symbols from schools, and also hoped to strengthen the ability of employers to enforce dress codes.
Jensen said the proposal aimed to integrate and believes the hijab repressed women.
"I don't think this will be a big problem in Norway. That some disagree, I think is more for political reasons. Many have claimed that these are political symbols in the Islamist movement. One labels a group of people, in this case young girls," Jensen said.
Jensen said the Fr.P had not considered religious symbols such as the crucifix, turban or calotte because they did not consider the hijab a religious symbol, but a political one.
Clemet said that the government had no reason to see the hijab as an obstacle to education or integration in schools.
"It is typically Norwegian clothing that has caused more problems in Norwegian schools, from the feedback I have had," Clemet told the Storting, Norway's parliament, on Wednesday.
Clemet emphasized the hijab's religious significance rather than the Fr.P's political argument.
"The shawl or hijab can be regarded as an article of clothing or a religious symbol. It has not been customary to regulate either of these in Norwegian schools," the education minister said.
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