French MPs back headscarf ban

French MPs have voted by a massive majority, 10 February 2004, to ban the Islamic headscarf and all other overt religious symbols from state schools. Most French MPs backed the bill on the grounds that it protected the secularity of the French state, by keeping religion out of the classroom.

• Primary Source

http://www.ihf-hr.org/viewbinary/viewhtml.php?doc_id=5259 http://www.ihf-hr.org/viewbinary/viewhtml.php?doc_id=5259

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3459963.stm http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3459963.stm

---