Why are turbans banned in france

Sikhs in France want their children to be allowed to attend school wearing a turban and they're hoping for an exemption to the ban on religious symbols in French state schools. Although there are no official statistics on religion, it is estimated that there are around 30, Sikhs in France, a relatively small number, compared to other religions in France. They maintain that the turban is different because it is obligatory for Sikhs whereas Muslim veils and Jewish skullcaps are not obligatory for their followers.

The declare that far from posing a threat to French values, the turban represents liberty, equality and fraternity, the three pillars of the French Republic. Bikramjit Singh, a representative of the main Sikh temple in France, just northwest of Paris, explains that the turban was only worn by the top layer of muslim society five centuries ago and only by the priests in the Hindu religion.

In the European Court of Human Rights dismissed an appeal on grounds of security. It said that whilst Shingara Singh's religious rights had been infringed, France was justified to ban the turban on the driver's licence photo because the turban posed a security risk of fraud and falsification. It has now judged that a turban does not pose a risk to security. In its judgement , reached in July but only now revealed, the UNHRC said: "Even if the obligation to remove the turban for the identity photograph might be described as a one-time requirement, it would potentially interfere with the author's Ranjit Singh's freedom of religion on a continuing basis.

The committee also said that France had failed to explain how the Sikh turban hindered identification since the wearer's face would be visible and he would be wearing it at all times.

Therefore, it argued, the regulation constituted a violation of Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Mejinderpal Kaur of United Sikhs, which backed Mr Singh's case, said: "We now look to France to fulfil its treaty obligations under international law and its moral duty to ensure that the freedom of religion and belief is upheld for everyone who lives within its territory. Mrs Praneet Kaur, Indian minister of state for external affairs, said she was "very happy with the UN's decision and Sikh school sidesteps French ban.

French cabinet approves veil ban. France country profile. A law passed in March forbids the wearing of conspicuous religious signs and covers both schools and identity photos. Authorities have refused to issue him a driving license if he is pictured with a turban.

In December France's highest administrative body, the Council of State, turned down his request that a transport ministry circular requiring bare heads on driving license photos for security reasons be declared void. Muslims have also recently challenged the law. French schools prohibited headscarf-wearing Muslim mothers from taking part in their children's outings, also citing the ban.

A top anti-discrimination body ruled last month that French schools were violating the rights of the mothers. The women had petitioned the French anti-discrimination authority HALDE after they were barred from accompanying school trips or extra-curricular activities. The HALDE stressed the ban only concerns students, and that "the refusal on principle for mothers wearing the headscarf" to join in school activities was a form of "discrimination on religious grounds.

The HALDE recommended that all schools revise their guidelines on parent participation "in order to respect the principle of non-discrimination on religious grounds.

France, which has Europe's biggest Muslim population, is one of the few countries to have passed legislation banning visible religious symbols in public schools. The law sparked a wave of anger and incomprehension among Muslims worldwide, but in France the controversy that surrounded its adoption three years ago has all but died down. A Paris court acquitted the editor of a satirical French weekly, sued by two Muslim groups for publishing cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed.

Germany's most populous state, North-Rhine Westphalia, joins seven other states in forbidding teachers in public schools from wearing the Muslim headscarf.